Click on pictures to enlarge

Choquito, This was taken in January of 2000.  It shows a part of the village and some of the cornfield.  If the corn grows, they have food, if not, they

 More of the village.

A garden that they are starting.  Rotary district 5730 took a hot house for early crops.

A "traditional;" Tarahumara Indian.  Check his footwear.  He would be a runner and is capable of running up to more than a hundred miles in the mountains.

The Governor of the village.  The man in the middle is the current Governor and the one on your left is his father, the past Governor. Nothing happens in the villages without their approval.

Same group but with Ted Holder of District 5730.

The inside of a nearby meeting hall with a group of ladies gathered.  They are making plans for a future work part at the village.  This building is about ten minutes from Choguita.

District 5300 Governor, Sal Briguglio, Rotary year 2000-2001 had asked that clubs in the district consider two International projects. "Both are affordable for any size club and they do inestimable good", as quoted from the handout from District Assembly in April of 2000. One was SIGHT SAVERS INTERNATIONAL and the other was the FEED THE CHILDREN project.

 A Catholic Sister named Sister Amparo Velador teaches in the Mexican Indian Village of Choguita, Mexico. She has been described as a small, quiet woman from California.  She has asked that Rotary assist her in feeding and educating these children.  We cannot be there to educate, but by providing food, we can provide the impetus for the Indian families to send their children to school.  If the family does not have food to send with their children for lunch, they do not send the children to school.  Sister Amparo has set up a hot lunch program, so that everyone can eat if they have food from home or not.  Rotary can help to provide the food, thus the FEED THE CHILDREN PROJECT.

In the Tarahumara Indian Village there are 250 children ages Kindergarten to 6th grade.  There are 220 children who are infants to kindergarten age.

ROTARY INTERNATIONAL has partnered with BREEDLOVE Dehydrated Foods, Inc. in Lubbock, Texas, which is a non- profit plant to provide a low cost soup mix which when mixed with water and cooked becomes a healthy, nutritious and tasty way to feed the hungry. This partnership is part of the International Program of Hunger Plus which is one of many programs around the world that Rotary International is supporting.  For further information please check their website www.hungerplus.org   The dehydrated food bag when made into soup yields 50 servings for $1.75.  For $10.00 we can feed all of the school age children for one day. Our plan is to also purchase dried beans and rice to supplement the dehydrated foods.  These foodstuffs would be purchased at the Government Warehouse in Gauchichi, Mexico.  Sister Amparo will be given vouchers to use as money to pick up the food.  Because storage is a problem, we will also provide vouchers to send to Breedlove Foods when she needs a supply of the dehydrated soup mix. We will also provide some cameras for Sister Amparo to use to monitor the height, weight and well being of the children who will be consuming the food.  This will provide lasting proof of gains in educational standards as well as health standards for well-fed children.

The North Las Vegas Rotary Club was one of the first clubs to initiate this project.  They invited all of the clubs in Las Vegas and surrounding areas to participate in a Souper Bowl Supper where guests were charged $5.00 for a supper of "the dehydrated soup" and pizza.  Rotary Clubs around the Valley responded in large numbers and pledges to make this project a success.  Over $7,000 was raised in one evening event. (Souper Bowl Supper Flyer)

After discussion with District 5730 in Levellend Texas which has been working with this same Village for the past few years, their ex Assistant District Governor Ted Holder(who also the Chief of Police in Levelland) stated that their district  will partner with us to get the most use of District 5300 donated monies.  They will assist us to match the money from their district and then help us to get additional matches for that money. Ted Holder has also invited Rotarians from District 5300 to make a fact-finding trip to Choguita in late January 2001.  He will take 3 or 4 persons from the District. He will provide the transportation from El Paso to Choguita. You would have to sponsor the person or pay for it yourself. This not a luxury trip.  There are very few modern conveniences in Choguita. We will take our own bedrolls and plan on a camping trip type journey. This is not a weekend at the Hyatt. We will all have to pitch in to pay for the gas for the four-wheel drive vehicle, which is needed for the mountain trip to the Village. Charlotte Leas, International Chair of the North Las Vegas Rotary Club will coordinate this trip with Ted Holder. If someone from your club would like to go, please reach Charlotte at 702-656-2543 or e-mail her at cleas1013@cox.net

Since the District World Community Service Chair Andrea Shields is on Medical leave, Charlotte Leas had agreed to spearhead the Feed the Children Project in District 5300.  She will work closely with Mike Tobler who is the International Chairperson of the Las Vegas North Club.

If you have any questions on how to have you club get involved with this project please reach Charlotte. 

This project need not just be a one time 2000-2001 project.  If you would care to continue the project after we establish the vehicle for getting the food to the village, we can use this as an on-going project since there are so many children in the village.

The Clubs of Arcadia, Barstow and Chino clubs have already agreed to pursue this project.  The Duarte Interact club has requested information about doing a project at this Village.  If there is an Interact Club out there who would like to join with their club and do a combined project, please reach Charlotte or Harry Heflin at h.hefline@ieee.org or Donna Georgino at georginad@accessduarte.com 

The Tarahumara Indians

Raramuri ("The People" as they refer to themselves) or Tarahumara Indians are descendent from the Aztec. They have remained even to this day among the most compact and unmixed of all Indian tribes in Mexico.  The vast ruggedness of the countryside they reside in has kept the Tarahumaras and the wild canyons (barracanas) insolated from the influence of modern society.  Located in the Mexico State of Chihuahua, these mountain canyons are recognized as some of the wildest, most rugged and interesting areas of North America.  The Raramuri culture is rich in style and gentleness embracing brotherhood, courtesy and respect.  Considered the worst sin against their moral code is lack of brotherhood.  Practicing brotherhood and sharing food is considered a sacred duty for the Raramuri.  Respect for others is of primordial importance, giving greater value to persons that to objects.  They make clay pots,carve, weave baskets and make colorful clothes.  To learn more about these truly beautiful people, visit some of the websites we have listed on these pages.