Lydia Patterson Institute Is Saving Lives

For students living in Palestine or Afghanistan, we expect their journeys to and from school to be less than safe.  Maybe some of us are even surprised that they make the effort to attend school at all when much of their own societies are in absolute chaos.

We do not expect the same to be true for students in El Paso, TX.  Yet, for the young people who cross from Juarez (Mexico) every day to attend the Lydia Patterson Institute, they too face incredible danger for the opportunity to learn.

Since 2008, nearly 8,000 people have died in Juarez as a result of cartel violence; more than 600 of those deaths occurred the first three months of 2011.  In fear of losing their lives or being kidnapped, some of the students at Lydia Patterson refuse to wear their uniforms as they travel to the school.  Instead, they change after they have arrived.

Every chapel service the students have a time of prayer and they often ask to pray for their communities in Mexico that are experiencing unimaginable levels of violence.

I had the opportunity to attend one of these chapel services last year.  That day, I was supposed to speak to them about children suffering from malaria in Africa.  After hearing the prayer concerns they had, I almost felt guilty talking to them about children dying so far away, when they were experiencing death in their backyards on a level I could not even comprehend.

But I did talk to them about the children in Africa.

Following chapel, two teenage girls came up to me and asked if I would eat lunch with them.  At lunch, they wanted to discuss how they could save children’s lives and they were serious.  In thirty minutes, they set a goal and drafted a fundraising plan for their school.

These girls will save 100 children in Africa from malaria.  They have already saved 28.

Their fundraising ideas ranged from selling homemade tamales to showing a movie.  They planned to have a different fundraiser every couple of months and they wanted to involve their communities too…so they did.

On March 12, 2011, Lydia Patterson Institute held a health fair for the Segundo Barrio.  They raised awareness of Imagine No Malaria, gave out health screenings, and even had face painting available.  The entire community was involved in a festival like environment, with tents, dancing, clowns on stilts, and much more!

My expectations were wrong.  I expected these students to ignore the problem of malaria, since they have so many problems of their own that jeopardize their wellbeing, but they didn’t.  They chose to protect 100 children, because they believed they could make a difference.