“Think of every day as an opportunity to make the world a better place and help improve the lives of the least fortunate ones.”
If you want to find a more meaningful way to spend your time in Guadalajara, there are plenty of charity work opportunities available at institutions such as “Acortar Distancias,” http://www.acortardistancias.org/. Here you can find different types of volunteer opportunities available, what to expect when volunteering, their mission, vision and the birth of this institution. Volunteer work is a wonderful way to spend your time but if you are looking for a way to make money, “Acortar Distancias” is not the place to start off with; there is a possibility to work your way up and possibly become part of its team of employees though.
Meeting Magui Merino the founder of “Acortar Distancias,” has helped many people become aware of others’ needs and realize that there is a huge gap between the social classes in Guadalajara, a lot bigger than what many believe. She takes us back to the beginning of one of her lifetime goals, to make a difference in the less fortunate ones lives.
Magui says, “Ever since I was a little girl I became well aware of other peoples’ needs. I come from a large family (10 siblings) and one of my brothers has Down syndrome. Looking at him and having daily contact with him helped me become more sensible to peoples’ needs and feelings. That is how the love of giving a helping hand grew in me. In 1998 when I was teaching Ethics at Universidad Panamericana I realized that the students didn’t listen, they didn’t have a clue of the awful living conditions some people live in, they only knew of one world, ‘their world’ where money was never an obstacle. It was then when I started a project in which my students had to come up with a program sketch, they had to design and develop ways to improve education, the housing conditions in the poorest areas in Guadalajara, legal assistance and health. I was thrilled with their ideas and the outcome of it so that what our leading step to “Acortar Distancias.”
“In 2000, the demand for institutions like this one was very high so we decided to take the next step by researching institutions in other countries who envisioned the same concept.We looked for many peoples’ support, places and after hundreds of calls, countless meetings with potential donors, and with all our effort and time “Acortar Distancias” finally became official in 2002. I would love to say that we found a sponsor and found a building shortly after that but we didn’t. We ran into many obstacles until finally in 2005 we were lent a warehouse to use it as our development center but we ran into a few minor obstacles, we had too many people for such limited space. In 2006 we were lent a small piece of land designed to meet our needs, we rented a small space and thanks to this we were able to extend our hours of operation along with having more assistance programs for children.”
In 2007 “An interdisciplinary team of investigators joined our organization to support us in the implementation of a plan focused on Psychosocial Intervention, adopted from the “Centro de Educación en Valores en el Tiempo Libre” the Community Development Center. We projected such big impact once our Development Center was established that other states like León Guanajuato and Culiacan Sinaloa founded institutions following our concept.”
“As of 2008 our Development Center has held 5 programs, 16 projects, 24 permanent employees, 9 student internships, 60 college graduates completing their social service, and 16 volunteers.” “Acortar Distancias” assists 200 children and teenagers (ages 2-18 years old) and 90 parents daily. Our workshops target a whole range of values such as; early childhood, art, physical education, morals and values, spiritual education, Planned Parenthood and birth control. We break up the children and teenagers in age groups and assign them to specific workshops according to their needs.”
“The workshops we offer to parents are focused on improving their self-esteem, we also teach them about family values and education, self motivational, spiritual education, as well as “domingos familiares”one Sunday of each month in where all our volunteers and students get together not only to spend time with their own families but they get to mingle around with other families as well. We give them the opportunity to get to know each other so they become conscious of the high number of families living below the poverty level; we encourage them to help one another. We have to really pound these morals into their heads because these families grow up lacking many things, most of the parents are illiterate, and they are surrounded by violence, sexual or psychological abuse. Therefore the upcoming generations tend to follow the same pattern because they grew up seeing this so they think that it is normal behavior.”
“We also offer “Programa de Servicios integrales” a program where people receive different types of assistance “consultoría general”, in areas such as psychological assistance, legal assistance, information about other helping institutions such as how they can upgrade their homes at a minimal or zero cost.
“Our main objective is to get children and mainly young adults out of the streets, gangs, violence, theft, drugs and alcohol, bring them to “Acortar Distancias” and teach them morals, values, good habits, solidarity, respect, and form them into better human beings when they are faced with obstacles and tough situations. Another one of our purposes is to motivate them unleash their potentials and become successful beings. Help them see and reach outside their boundaries.
“In 2009 Acortar Distancias was funded by the DIF (“Desarrollo Integral de la Familia”), family planning and development they lent us a building (5,359.786 square meters) along with another building adjacent to it located on Cerro del Colli, Ave Prolongacion Guadalupe, where we moved in June of this year and it has been a blessing for us and for all the families in this marginalized area of Zapopan.”The demand for Development Centers like ours increases day by day, so we want to make it our goal to assist up to 700 people daily by merging both dwellings.”
“We have many projects for the near future, one of them is to increase the reading literacy so we are in the process of opening a library, we are asking schools to donate books to start a reading club/class and teach adults how to read. We are doing this little by little and when we start getting overwhelmed, we remember that Rome wasn’t built in one day, plus we have many people who have been there for us since the beginning making it possible for us to reach all our goals.”
So today and always keep in mind that there are many ways to show people you care about them. Teach someone to read, sit a while with someone who is lonely, do volunteer work, not only donate money, time is more valuable, serve food at a shelter, spend time with children, compliment someone, teach someone to read, listen to what someone has to say, visit hospitals to read and chat with the patients, wave to the women sitting in the window at a nursing home, tell someone you are thinking about them and tell take at least 15 minutes to talk to them. Be a role model, a mentor, a guide. Work to build a house with habitat for humanity, have a garage “sale” but donate all the things you don’t use or need. Use your money generously, walk for what you believe in, fight for your morals, values, respect and integrity. Listen to someone when they are sad, smile and greet all the bystanders when you go for a jog or a walk Participate in a food drive, bake or buy something from a bake sale. Donate all the clothes that are piled up in your closet. Doing these acts of human kindness won’t guarantee happiness but they will fill an aspect of your life and they you will make you a better human being.
Remember that giving a lending hand will put a smile on many peoples’ faces so keep the following list in mind:
Cultural Adaptability: As in most countries in the world rural communities are usually more traditional than urban centers. As you will be working closely with the local population you will have to dress and behave in accordance with what is acceptable locally. Don't expect any organization to run efficiently and without glitches. If you have any piercings make sure you remove them before you go or if you have any visible tattoos, don’t forget to cover them up, it is not a good idea that you show up full of tattoos because they may think that you are there to teach morals and values not to expose your body art.
Getting Sick: Your chances of getting sick will increase. Make sure you take all the medicine and precautions you need. It is more likely that the organization you work with should brief you about health issues and don't forget that local nurses and doctors will have plenty of experience with these common afflictions. You may encounter a few problems coping with the area and its surroundings.
Personal Growth: Anyone who has done volunteer work at “Acortar Distancias” will probably tell you that the biggest impact their project had, it has been not on the community but on themselves. Spending time immersed in another culture will change your perspective of life and it is part of the appeal of volunteering.
Basic Conditions: Most volunteer opportunities take place in rural areas where you may not have access to running water and electricity. Housing can be very basic and you will likely be staying with local families.
