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 News from Around Banderas Bay | May 2005 
Helping Poor Mexicans Inspires Sisters
 Shlee Daye - Penticton Western
| | Helping out - Chanel Chartrand, 14, hands out food and clothing to families living on the outskirts of the dump in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Chartrand and her sister Emily, 11, saved money made through their small business to purchase supplies to donate to the needy families. |
Off the beaten tourist path in a Mexican city known for its white sand beaches and luxurious resorts lies a mountainous dump - the source of income for poor families living in the communities surrounding it.
Every day, as trucks bring loads of discarded items from area hotels, dozens of families await their chance to tear open and search through the bulging garbage bags, fighting buzzards and seagulls for bits of food, clothing and other salvageable materials.
When picturing a spring holiday in sunny Puerto Vallarta, few people imagine spending their time atop an 80-foot pile of refuse. But for young Summerland sisters Chanel and Emily Chartrand, a recent visit to the Mexican dump was an eye-opening and "inspiring" opportunity to help children and families less fortunate than themselves.
When Chanel, 14, and Emily, 11, decided to spend their hard-earned money to visit their aunt and uncle in Mexico, they began to look into lending a hand to charitable groups at work in the area.
Since starting their own business a year ago - selling Snowman Poop and Ogopogo Poop candies at local businesses and fruit stands - the girls had developed a plan to donate 25 per cent of their profits to organizations and charities that they deemed to be a good cause. Having sent cheques to UNICEF's fund for educating girls and to their neighbour, mogul skier Kristi Richards, the sisters wanted to look into a more personal way of helping others.
Through talking to their schools and church, the Chartrands discovered Children of the Dump, says Chanel. The organization is a Christian relief group dedicated to providing food and medical treatment for families living near the dump in Puerto Vallarta, as well as facilitating short-term mission projects. According to its website, Children of the Dump feeds more than 2,500 children per day.
Upon finding a way they could personally help, Chanel and Emily spent the winter months at work gathering items to take on their trip for the families living at the dump. Emily and her classmates held a school supplies drive to collect pens and pencil crayons to donate to Children of the Dump's School of Champions and the girls became regulars at area stores, picking up items including sewing kits and shoes.
"I think we cleared Wal-Mart out of diaper pins," says Emily.
In addition, friends and neighbours of the sisters began combing their closets for clothing donations, she says. The Chartrand's dentist - Dr. John McIntosh - gave them a bag of toothbrushes and toothpaste, which the sisters and their friends added to the 60 "goodie bags" they created for the trip, says Chanel.
When they arrived at the dump in Puerto Vallarta, the sisters had nearly 200 pounds of food, clothing and supplies to give out to needy families, she says. "They crowded around us and took what they wanted," says Chanel. "There were kids without shoes and babies with big adult shoes - One older lady came to the car and said 'water, please, water.'" "I wish we could've given more," says Emily.
After visiting the dump, the girls took $80 to the store to purchase soap, beans, rice and water to bring to some of the communities surrounding the dump. Though it may not seem like much in Canada, the money was enough to purchase supplies for 30 families, says Chanel.
The sisters also spent time at the School of Champions and a few other Puerto Vallarta schools, helping to teach English to the students so they can eventually find paying jobs in hotels and resorts, says Emily.
Though they were doing the teaching, the girls also learned a lot from interacting with the children and families living at the dump, says Chanel.
Even with homes made from dirty mattresses and fences of rusty bedsprings, the people in the small communities they visited remained positive and friendly, she says.
"Everywhere you went, people would say 'hola!'" says Emily. "They don't have what we have, but they're happy," adds Chanel. "They don't want more and more the way we do."
The charitable entrepreneurs plan to return to Mexico next spring to visit the children of the dump and have already started work on this summer's line of Ogopogo Poop, says Chanel. |
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