Road Trip to Creel, Mexico - June 2014

Creel is a town in the Sierra Tarahumara of the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is the second-largest town in the municipality of Bocona. It is located some 175 kilometers (109 mi) to the southwest of the state capital, Chihuahua, Chih. At the census of 2005 it had a population of 5,338 inhabitants. Near Creel is Divisadero, perhaps the best-known overlook of the "Three Canyons" area of the  Copper Canyon, as well as Basaseachic Falls, one of the highest waterfalls in Mexico. Creel was historically a logging town, although tourism has become the primary job source over the last 20 years. There are many hotels, restaurants and a number of tours down into the canyons and throughout the surrounding area.

Numerous goodwill gestures have taken place over the years. Many Tarahumara Indian children and their families have benefited by the visit of these and other Rotarians. A gas stove was purchased by the Sweetwater Rotary Club to replace a wood stove in an elementary school in Kawirare for Tarahumara children high in the mountains near Copper Canyon. This made providing meals more efficiently to the children. Many bottles of children vitamins were given to the teacher to administer daily to the children who attended her log classroom.  Continued help and assistance was provided for a number of years for the purchase of food and gas. Toys and clothes were also distributed among the children. This was done until the Mexican government stepped in to help.  Donated Computers from the Sweetwater ISD were taken to a dormitory in Creel that provides a place for the Tarahumara students who would travel from the mountains to stay while attending school.  Old bunk beds were replaced with the help of Rotarians.  Warm blankest have been donated. In addition, stacks of rice, flour, and beans were also provided to the dormitory.

A small orphanage in La Junta was given an industrial stove that was taken across the border. A swing set for the children was purchased by the Sweetwater Rotary club and installed with the assistance of the Guerrero Rotary Club. Groceries, toys, clothes, and medicine were also provided with funds from Rotarians and friends. The orphanage is now in the hands of local and state government agencies.

In the past, an orphanage in Cuauhtémoc administered by a nun was given toys, clothes, and financial assistance for the children. Now the local Rotary Clubs in the city continue to assist the orphanage.

Wheel Chairs, walkers, and crutches have been taken across the border and given to those in need of mobility. Shoes, toys, and vitamins have been handed out to small children as the Rotarians involved traveled in country.  Over 6000 Christmas stockings have been distributed to children in and around   Cuauhtémoc and Creel. 

The group has travel to Samachique to visit a hospital for Tarahumara families. The hospital has received medical equipment thanks to Rotary matching grants. Wheel chairs and crutches have also been donated.

Currently there are 6 children in Mexico receiving personal and Rotary Clubs (Sweetwater Rotary Club and  Mexia Rotary Club) scholarships to finish school and to continue their education. Elementary schools around Creel have received financial assistance in order to purchase needed school supplies, uniforms and, video equipment,

Now these few Rotarians are involved in helping a small school for children with disabilities in Creel. The children attending have mental retardation, physical disabilities, and learning disabilities. Small amounts of items have been provided such as school supplies, small physical therapy equipment, a child wheelchair, walker, activity toys, supplies for arts and craft, and funds for transportation fuel (to pick up the children and take them back home). In December 2012 a TV set and DVD player were donated. The teachers are all volunteers, who after a day’s work come in the afternoons to assist the children with handicaps. The teachers do not receive compensation for their time and work. They use their own personal vehicles to transport the children. The teachers have asked for a small bus to transport the children, physical therapy equipment, and other teaching aids for the disabled.

Most of the assistance provided comes from items collected or purchased by the traveling Rotarians, financial aid provided by the home Rotary clubs of the Rotarians involved, donation made by business friends, and by personal donations of those involved.

Besides the hours of visiting those in need and visiting with friends and Rotarians from the surrounding clubs, there are times to go out and enjoy the beautiful scenery of Copper Canyon (known as Las Barrancas del Cobre). Located in Mexico's Sierra Madre Mountains, Copper Canyon is four times larger than the Grand Canyon and is the homeland of the cave-dwelling Tarahumara Indians, the world's greatest long-distance runners. The area is accessed by one of the world's most spectacular train rides. The newly opened Adventure Park in Divisadero includes a Cable Car (the third largest cable car in the world ) or Teleferico ride into Copper Canyon; Zipline rides between hills in the canyon, and rappelling over the cliff edge down into Copper Canyon.

The trip to Mexico in itself is an adventure, the roads are sometimes bumpy and dusty, the days are long and the nights are cold, the miles are almost never ending, and the comforts of home are not all there.  But at the end of the journey, on the drive back to Texas, just thinking about the smiles of the children whose picture you might have just taken as a reminder of your trip gives you a warm feeling in your heart knowing that you are indeed doing Service Above Yourself.

If you are interested in finding out more about the trip or on how you or your club can help make a difference for the children of Mexico please contact by e-mail:  PDG César Caro cmcaro@live.com or Lynn Simpson  lynn.simpson@navarrocollege.edu.

"You must give some time to your fellow men. Even if it's a little thing, do something for others - something for which you get no pay but the privilege of doing it."  Albert Schwetzer (1875 - 1965)

"The noblest service comes from nameless hands, and the best servant does his work unseen." Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894)

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. James 2:14-17