Esperanza 20th Anniversary Celebration -20 Years of Hope-

Saludos to all of you Esperanza supporters out there; both the seasoned professionals and those newbies that are just beginning to become Esperanza addicts! This is Claire (long term volunteer) and Angela (group leader) hoping to give you a little taste of what we experienced at the Esperanza 20th Anniversary Celebration.


To celebrate the 20 years of community development and home building the Esperanza team, communities members, and volunteers from the U.S. put together a fabulous evening of recognition, celebration and dreams for the future. In preparation for the big event the Esperanza community members came together to paint a beautiful mural and decorate the posada with pictures from the worksites and communities. We and the other volunteers present added to the native plants garden and helped repair its brick walkways. We also added gravel to enhance the landscape for the occasion.

Five families from each of the Esperanza communities were invited to join the festivities as well as group leaders and previous long term volunteers from the U.S.. During the celebration, Esperanza International and Fundacion Esperanza de Mexico board members were recognized for their continual support of the program as well as groups leaders, long term volunteers, and the Esperanza team members. Esperanza Director Josefina Pataky-Duran was recognized for her continuous hard work with a special video tribute from the Esperanza team, community members and long term volunteers. It was quite an emotional experience and wonderful for her to hear how much her work is appreciated by all!

Previous Esperanza team member Sergio, his wife Lourdes, and two community members from the Sta. Margarita community (Berta and Teresa) prepared the delicious meal that was served at the celebration (we were lucky enough to help Sergio cut the pig skins for the home-cooked chicharones!). After the recognitions there was dinner, dancing, a bouncy castle for the kids and a mechanical bull which got the best of everyone, even el Toro (Eduardo). All in all the day couldn't have been a better representation of the true community spirit that the Esperanza communities and group members experience during their time together.

We sincerely wish that all of you could have been with us in Tijuana as it was truly an honor to have been present. It was wonderful to be part of putting together such an amazing event and to celebrate the 20 years that Esperanza has making life changing experiences possible for everyone involved with it's mission. A big thank you to all of you for your continued support of the ogranization that has stolen our hearts. Here's to another 20 years with Esperanza!