Amigos Reunion in Celaya and Apaseo - July 2013
By Dan Early
I had lost touch with amigos for the last few years alter retiring with my wife, Julia, in Mexico City; so when Bill Taylor, an old friend from Berkeley and an amigo from the La Villita-Apaseo project, told us there would be a reunion in Mexico we were excited to reconnect. Of course I knew that a scholarship program had been started for students in the Apaseo area but I had no real idea of how it worked or if it was really helping those in need.
Our first chance to meet some of the scholarship students was at La Rueda, an outdoor restaurant in Apaseo, where we were greeted with a banner that said, “Thank you for fifty years of generosity”. The banner had many photos of Father O’Looney. I was very moved and felt his presence among this large group of amigos and Mexican friends brought together fifty years later continuing what he started. I spoke with one of the scholarship students and her mom. She was starting law school and her mom told me that without the Amigos’ support it would have been impossible for her to attend school. Gradually I realized that this young woman was blind.
The next day we gathered for a Mass at the La Villita chapel near Apaseo. Bill Taylor had worked there 50 years ago. Word got out that he was there and he was surrounded by villagers that remembered him as a young student. We had a wonderful lunch at the Cabrera colonial style home; all the scholarship students were there. We conversed with Esperanza and her mom. She is a biomedical engineering student. Her father is a peasant farmer in the area. She was very concerned about environmental degradation and maintaining traditional values in the face of the rapid industrialization taking place. I was struck with how each and every student had been carefully selected by Rosalia and supported throughout their studies. We were told, “Ya no hay gente como ustedes” [There are not people like you anymore].
So I learned that, yes, the scholarship program is truly helping those in need and making a real difference in peoples’ lives.
By Dan Early
I had lost touch with amigos for the last few years alter retiring with my wife, Julia, in Mexico City; so when Bill Taylor, an old friend from Berkeley and an amigo from the La Villita-Apaseo project, told us there would be a reunion in Mexico we were excited to reconnect. Of course I knew that a scholarship program had been started for students in the Apaseo area but I had no real idea of how it worked or if it was really helping those in need.
Our first chance to meet some of the scholarship students was at La Rueda, an outdoor restaurant in Apaseo, where we were greeted with a banner that said, “Thank you for fifty years of generosity”. The banner had many photos of Father O’Looney. I was very moved and felt his presence among this large group of amigos and Mexican friends brought together fifty years later continuing what he started. I spoke with one of the scholarship students and her mom. She was starting law school and her mom told me that without the Amigos’ support it would have been impossible for her to attend school. Gradually I realized that this young woman was blind.
The next day we gathered for a Mass at the La Villita chapel near Apaseo. Bill Taylor had worked there 50 years ago. Word got out that he was there and he was surrounded by villagers that remembered him as a young student. We had a wonderful lunch at the Cabrera colonial style home; all the scholarship students were there. We conversed with Esperanza and her mom. She is a biomedical engineering student. Her father is a peasant farmer in the area. She was very concerned about environmental degradation and maintaining traditional values in the face of the rapid industrialization taking place. I was struck with how each and every student had been carefully selected by Rosalia and supported throughout their studies. We were told, “Ya no hay gente como ustedes” [There are not people like you anymore].
So I learned that, yes, the scholarship program is truly helping those in need and making a real difference in peoples’ lives.