How a Chance Encounter in Oaxaca Sparked Years of Giving and Global Connection

By Gretchen Wirtz 

​I chose to retire early in 1998 from a faculty position at Elgin Community College. I was excited to move to an area of the world where I could possibly make a tiny bit of difference. I came to know Oaxaca, Mexico, when my daughter, Mikayla, did a trimester study of the Mexican culture and language in Oaxaca through Kalamazoo College. On my way to visit my son, Erin, in the Peace Corps in Honduras, I spent Mikayla’s final week in Oaxaca and fell in love with the people, the city, and the culture.

Less than a year after moving to Oaxaca, I met an older woman who was volunteering at the library at Albergue Infantil Josefina, a home for abused and abandoned children. She shared with me that she would soon return to her home in the United States and wondered if I would consider taking her place in the library. I can still remember how happy I was at this opportunity. Having met and passed the inspection of the nuns at the Albergue, I began my Saturday sojourn there. Having been an educator of many different levels during my professional life, it was so fun to be with the children of various ages, read to and with them, struggle with my Spanish, and laugh with them when I made a mistake, and they giggled as they corrected me. Volunteering in the library morphed into other possibilities, teaching English to the older young people, going on excursions with them, and even enjoying a sleepover in my yurt house in a mountain village nearby. I had the privilege of listening to their stories, wondering with them about their families of origin, admiring their bravery, their love, and especially their acceptance of their Albergue family.

Other expats in the Oaxacan community learned of my involvement, and some became involved as well. Several also became volunteers; others worked together as we organized a way to be sure each child received a gift on the Day of the Kings (now an event taken over by the Oaxaca Library), made or paid for Christmas dinner for all there, or trained children in the art of running and took them to competitions. So many generous folks.

In my yearly letter to friends and family, I always mentioned my presence at the Albergue, and folks began asking if they could help in some way. So, I began to have a benefit in my home in Chicago when I was there specifically to raise money for the Albergue. I’d make an authentic Mexican dinner with help from friends and serve it to those who came. Others who could not attend because of distance or other commitments sent a check. Actually, it was fun, and we all looked forward to the yearly event.

Marianne and her husband, Vern, came to live in Oaxaca for a year, and she became a volunteer at the Albergue. When they returned to Minnesota, they decided to have a similar benefit. Vern, a chef, was well prepared to offer excellence to their friends. We’d get together when they were in Oaxaca and found we both had some concerns about the tax status of the checks that had been sent for the Albergue. As an Albergue Board Member, I had come to know about Neighbors Abroad of Palo Alto and their connection to the Albergue. It occurred to us that perhaps that might be an avenue of safety for those checks. Vern made a phone call to Neighbors Abroad, and the rest, as we say, is history.

I volunteered at the Albergue for fourteen of the fifteen years I lived in Oaxaca. As anyone might guess, I became close to many of the young people with whom I interacted, witnessing their graduations, marriages, and even the birth of their children. I continue to be in touch with a number of them today, and they continue to enrich my life. In truth, it is important to salute the nuns who raise those children, often to adulthood. My experience of the Albergue children is they become caring, inclusive, helpful, and responsible young people and continue to look upon the Albergue as their family thanks to the nuns.

This does not happen without significant support, and Neighbors Abroad of Palo Alto has been there for them as long as I have experienced the Albergue. From my perspective, that consistency is the key to healthy, happy, engaged children. The newsletter, the advocacy of its members, and the generosity of so many make it possible for those children of my heart to recover from what they need to and learn to be happy, productive children. I was so fortunate to be invited there, and my gratitude knows no end. What more can be said?