Both Noemi and Eduardo were born in Oaxaca, Mexico. They met when they were both going to work in the fields on a bus. They began to talk and spend time with each other. From these encounters their relationship arose, and they have been married for 24 years. They migrated to Tijuana 17 years ago because there was little work in Oaxaca. Since Noemi’s family is very large, they needed to move on to find work.

Son Cristo was studying when they were in Oaxaca but when they came to Tijuana, they couldn’t find a place to enroll him. Now he can’t study because the family is big, and they don’t have enough money for everyone to attend school. Carlos wants to join the national guard and is very excited about the idea of being a soldier. Julio is not studying because of lack of money and space. Leonardo is in elementary school and sometimes says he does not want to study but his mother encourages him by telling him that this is his future and that he should take advantage of it even though his brothers did not have that opportunity. Evelyn likes to study. She says that when she grows up she also wants to be a soldier and Arleth is still small but she is a very cheerful and talkative girl.

Arleth was diagnosed with a heart murmur when she was born. They used to take her to the cardiologist but since the pandemic began they have not been able to take her.

Eduardo is a welder and earns 2,800 pesos per week (@$160), when he can find the work.

In Noemi’s own words:

“The difficulties right now are that when it rains, my husband can’t work. Also he has to take public transportation but the buses get very full and he has to wait a long time. Our house is made of scrap wood. For this reason, the cold seeps in through the holes and the rain also gets in through the holes in the roof. My husband tries to fix it but there are constant problems.”

“The truth is, having a decent house would be a blessing to all of us. In fact, my girls are excited about the potential of getting a house because they say that we will not get wet nor be cold. Our income is low, so we can’t afford to have something better or to have a house as nice as the ones you build. I would like to say thank you very much. If you could provide us with a house our whole family would be very grateful because we really need it.”

Thank you to all of our loyal sponsors for enabling Project Mercy to make such a profound change in the lives of impoverished families.