October 2012 - Helping the blind



Some months ago a van pulled up to the Lord’s Food Bank in Juarez, Mexico, and out piled a group of people. We had never seen these people before, not have we ever had a group like this one — all of them were blind except the driver.  They had come looking for help and told us their story.

When the violence associated with the drug wars in Mexico erupted in Juarez, many companies and businesses either moved out of town or had to close down due to the severe economic crises that this chaos brought. One of the small factories that was forced out of business was the one that employed these blind people. “All of us lost our jobs when the factory shut down,” one woman said. “It’s hard enough for an able-bodied person to try and find work in this economy, but for us who can’t see?! It is impossible.” One of the men shared, “I want to work and provide for my family, but no one wants to hire a blind man.”

As we spoke with them some more, it turned out that they all lived in very different parts of town. Juarez is a huge, sprawling city, and some of these people lived very far from the Food Bank. We try to focus on the needs of the people who live in the general area of the Food Bank location, but we could see that this was a very pressing case. These poor folks had gone all over looking for help, but had been repeatedly turned away.

As we discussed the problem, Juan, the friend who had driven the group in his van, offered, “Why don’t you deliver the groceries each week to my house, and then they can come and pick them up. That way, you don’t have to drive all over town.” Everyone agreed to this solution.

So that is what we do. Every Friday we take bags of food to Juan’s house and one way or another, the blind people get there to pick them up.

“We can’t thank you or God enough for helping us in this way,” Maria expressed recently. “May God bless you for coming to our aid!”

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