48 hours at Oasis

Most students here go to school in the morning or afternoon. The morning session lets out before lunch and the kids from this rural town scurry back into the streets. Back into their world. When your parents work long hours in the field, you are trusted to be responsible for your siblings the rest of the day. You get around by foot or bike and are fearless to roam for whatever you may need. There's pretty good accountability in small towns, but there are also lots of potential dangers to encounter at a young age.

Left on your own after school, what do you eat for lunch?  It is likely that you do not have a kitchen or even electricity at home to warm up some leftovers. To satisfy the immediate hunger, you pull out a few pesos for some chips and a coke at the market. If there are no parents home, who is going to ensure that you do your homework? Who will come watch your soccer game? Who will know that you aren't being lured into the temptations of the streets such as vandalism, stealing or drugs? 

Oasis will. Just as the name describes, this is a place of protection for kids in Vicente Guerrero.  I wrote a bit about this program (here) after spending a week in the town this summer. Across the street from the Baja Missions church,  the vision began from the members there, and is now beginning it's fourth year as an after (or before) school program for kids of all ages. We had the opportunity to help with various projects at Oasis a couple days this week, and I loved getting to see it fill up with precious hearts and contagious laughter.

Oasis is a Christian environment that provides a safe place for kids to learn, grow and be loved. They have teachers that help with homework and provide various classes such as Bible, English, computer, or music. Oasis provides a hot nutritional meal, which may be the only one they eat all day. They talk about dreams and encourage children to pursue their passions.  They play, form friendships and have mentors that desire to guide them along good paths.

This great place was started by our friend, Karly Dallas, a native from North Carolina who moved down with big dreams, a bigger heart, and huge trust in God to create and sustain this program. Karly meets with parents upon their child's enrollment and gets to know each child and where they come from. A Spanish and Psychology major from Pepperdine, she reasons with the children out of love and has fostered this program's continued growth each year. She fights for justice and equality for the migrant workers and their families by seeing that the children receive adequate education in fulfillment of their often discriminated rights.  The list goes on and on in the many ways that she is a light to this community!

It is so fun to be at this place and absorb the growth that is taking place each day.  Please pray for Karly, her staff and all the lives they will touch as they kick off a new school year.

We are so thankful to be friends of Oasis and wish many more great days to come!