{"id":11034,"date":"2024-07-29T10:39:17","date_gmt":"2024-07-29T15:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.feedthehungrysma.org\/?page_id=11034"},"modified":"2024-07-29T10:48:45","modified_gmt":"2024-07-29T15:48:45","slug":"educating-a-village-feed-the-hungry-san-miguel-and-los-ricos-de-abajo","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.feedthehungrysma.org\/es\/educating-a-village-feed-the-hungry-san-miguel-and-los-ricos-de-abajo\/","title":{"rendered":"Educating a Village: Feed the Hungry San Miguel and Los Ricos de Abajo"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

The following was written in 2014, upon the 30th<\/sup> anniversary of the Feed the Hungry San Miguel. <\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

Educating a Village: Feed the Hungry San Miguel and Los Ricos de Abajo<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

By Dianne Walta Hart<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

It began in 2004 with a man offering a woman a ride on a dusty rural road near San Miguel de Allende. This was contrary to country etiquette \u2013 women do not take rides from men who are alone in their cars \u2013 but in this case, the woman, Lucha Jim\u00e9nez Rodr\u00edguez, the director of the nearby elementary school, accepted. During the ride, she talked about her school at Los Ricos de Abajo, its poverty, and the odds against its residents. The man, Bob Haas, said he\u2019d try to help by talking with his friends at Feed the Hungry San Miguel.<\/p>

Months later, when both Bob and Lucha had forgotten each other\u2019s names but still remembered the promise, Feed the Hungry volunteers showed up at Lucha\u2019s school in Los Ricos de Abajo with a plan to attach a kitchen to the school and feed the children. After clearing the way with officials and receiving donated funds from the Michael Chadwick family, Feed the Hungry constructed the addition \u2013 with serious help from Bob Haas, Andy Swann, and their favorite workman, Gustavo. They hired two local cooks, and in January 2005, began serving daily meals.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

The next year the Chadwicks asked if there was something else they could do for the village and the decision was made to teach English. At that time, of the eight students on average who would finish the sixth grade, only three or four would go on to the seventh grade in Atotonilco. When Michael Chadwick heard the children\u2019s stories in person, he remembered his father in England who was taken out of school after the third grade to work in a textile factory. He then started sponsoring scholarships to promising students in the sixth grade. With the help of the volunteer teachers and other donors, that program has been extended to all students who finish the sixth grade at Los Ricos.<\/p>

The specific results of that chance encounter in 2004 that brought Feed the Hungry San Miguel to Los Ricos de Abajo are as follows:<\/p>