If you've been following our blog, you'll know that most of the past 3 or 4 years have been spent teaching trades in Mozambique in Southern Africa. But I'm excited to announce that Mercy Tech Mission will be starting a second training location that's a lot closer to home, and therefore easier for some volunteers to get involved.
On November 9th, I and Rich Howard (volunteer from Summerland, BC) will be travelling to San Quintin, on the California Baja in Mexico. As you'll see on the map, San Quintin is the red dot about 7 hours driving time south of San Diego, California.
Rich and I will be there for two weeks setting up the training area for a mechanics program that will start in March, 2015. Our first job will be to oversee the building of a concrete pad (hopefully with some shade!) where we can begin teaching young guys how to repair and maintain vehicles. As you can see from my last trip down, the work area will be a big upgrade from fixing cars in the driveway dirt.
Our work is being done in partnership with One Life One Chance, a Canadian charity who owns this 17-acre mission base in Mexico. One of the main staff people that I'll be working with is Isaias Valsquez who manages the base and its maintenance. He is also a local pastor with a small church about 45 minutes north. Isaias and his wife Ana are a great couple with servant hearts and I look forward to meeting the future students with him and seeing what we can do to help young men get training, find better jobs, and begin taking care of their families in ways they never could before.
Proper training takes proper equipment, so we will also be purchasing some of the mechanics tools and shop equipment needed for the teaching program. So if anyone can help out with donations towards that end, it would be really appreciated. You can make your donations on our
Mercy Tech Mission website.
One of the good things about starting a training site in Mexico is that it will be a lot easier to take along donated tools, whereas it was difficult in the past to transport heavy things to Africa. So any shops out there that are upgrading, but have some good used equipment to donate, be sure to let us know.
Thanks again for following the ongoing work of Mercy Tech Mission, where we believe in changing lives, one skill at a time. Until next time, adios, and I'll be sure to have a taco on your behalf!
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