The Canal : Reynosa, Mexico from Bedouins International on Vimeo.
This excellent six-minute video produced by Bedouins International gives viewers a revealing and moving look at life in the kind of shantytown we are working with.
A couple of caveats:
1) The video states that land was deeded to the residents of the canal community by the City of Reynosa. This is certainly not true of the community that we are working with, and will likely never happen, due to proximity to the canal and railroad, and inevitable flooding. These areas are ill-suited for permanent human habitation.
2) While the video gives insight into the problems, we believe that sending teams of Americans to build houses for one or two weeks, while not without value, is far from the most effective use of time and money. It makes more of a lasting difference, in our opinion, to empower families via education and job training to eventually relocate, or to fund local Mexican Christian workers who provide ongoing personal attention and guidance–the resource that is in shortest supply and that the children of these communities need most.
We invite churches and others to come and join us in visiting the kind of community that the video shows, to get acquainted with people and needs, with a view to raising money over subsequent years to support local relationally-oriented ministries that will permanently change lives.
