Mexico, July 2007

The Bread of Compassion Humanitarian Campaign to the Tarahumara People of Mexico was a great success. A team of 12 volunteers from Boston set out to reach this indigenous tribe who reside in the "Copper Canyon" region of Mexico's mountains. After arriving in Los Mochis, the BOC team took a train for over 12 hours to Creel and then on to the interior where the Tarahumara people live.

The Tarahumara people are adversely affected by drought in the Sierra region of Mexico. Because they rely on traditional subsistence agriculture, these indigenous residents are particularly vulnerable to extended dry spells. Thousands of Tarahumara in the region are suffering from repeated crop failures.

The Tarahumara people live in caves and primitive stone houses. Bread of Compassion purchased 20 tons of food staples such as rice, beans, corn meal, sugar, oil, pasta and salt to distribute among the people. The team worked hard sorting, bagging and preparing the food to pass out to the families who were notified of their arrival. Fourteen hundred Tarahumara people came to the festival and received food from the BOC volunteers. The team also provided hot meals for the people who had come from miles away during this three day event.

You can help us reach the Tarahumara people with your love and compassion. One of the greatest challenges they face as a people besides crop failure is the mortality rate among young mothers. When a woman feels that it is about time for her to deliver her baby she will go off by herself into the wilderness, brace herself between two small trees and attempt to have the baby safely. There is a very high infant mortality rate among the women. Bread of Compassion is partnering with a midwife outreach to train and educate the women to give birth under these extreme conditions.