Mi Corazón

Memo on the far right at age 10 (summer 08)

Memo (age 11) and I summer 09

Este es mi amigo Guillermo, pero su apodo es Memo. Èl es un huérfano de Monterrey, Méjico. Él tiene doce años y su cumpleaño es el 17 de abril. Memo viva en una casa hogar con casi sesenta otro niños.

Summer 09

Mis gafas del sol :)

The definition of an orphan is a child who has experienced emotional, verbal or physical abuse or neglect then abandonment. In the country of Mexico alone there are estimated 10 million orphans and an estimated 200 million around the world.  Mexican orphans generally live on the streets or in casa hogars (children's homes). The children who live in casa hogars share everything from toys to clothes to beds. Orphan children are often neglected and forgotten about in most societies. I met Memo the summer of 2008 while on a week long mission trip to Monterrey, Mexico with Back2Back Ministries. When I returned the following summer for another week long trip I was showing some of children pictures I had from my first trip and I recognized Memo from one of the pictures. He was so excited that I had not only remembered him, but that I had returned. Back2Back ministries works in casa hogars around Monterrey and also has campuses in India and Nigeria. During a typical week on a Back2Back mission trip group members do "improvement" work around the casa hogars. Then the groups hold a Bible study for the kids and just spend time playing and getting to know them. I have been on three mission trips to Monterrey, two just as a group member for a week long trip and this past summer I worked as an intern and was there for a month. Memo is one of the few children I have seen during all three of my trips, which is rare because children get moved from casa hogar to casa hogar all the time. He is my favorite child that I have worked with in Mexico and he has my heart. This boy is part of the reason I decided to major in social work and minor in Spanish. I have such a heart for the orphan child and I absolutely love Spanish. In the future I would love to work for Back2Back or a similar organization, because I want to be a voice for the orphan child and show children like Memo that they are not alone or forgotten.

Me and Memo (age 12) summer 2010