Give school & love to abandoned girls in Mexico

Dear Santa,

I´ve been very good this year, I ve done my chores and I´ve had good grades in school.(*This is how every letter, of every single child should start, our girls included).

All our girls have been good this year, they do their chores, they have good grades and they wish for something special this Christmas, mostly what every girl wants! The younger ones wish for dolls and toys, the eldest ones would love clothes or sports gear, make up etc.

Maria, graduated from university with a Bachelors degree in Law. Since then, she’s been working on her independence program and will leave Puerta Abierta very soon!

Angie begins here last semester in January and as soon as she finishes we will begin her independence program also.

Moni starts her sixth semester in January, she continues to make us proud with her Marketing degree grades and is also responsible for a start up bakery.

We are so proud of them, but most importantly so are they. 

Brisa, is one of the girls who makes us and herself the proudest of. She arrived in Puerta Abierta when she was 16 years old coming for a very violent situation and has taken every opportunity given. She is doing a degree in education and nothing will stop her.

Karla and Ximena are doing good at school, Karla is a nice and sweet young girl who will be 18 in January and by Mexican law will be considered an adult, she is far from becoming independent as she is still in high school, we will keep supporting her as she wants to become a lawyer. Ximena is doing very good at school and she is exlling in Tae Kwon Do.

Alyson is a very sweet girl who is strugling with issues of her family at the moment. She will finish middle school next summer. We will continue to keep an eye on her and accompany her during these times. 

Paula Ximena is another of our teenage girls who is going through a rough time questinoing why she is not loved by her Mother she has ups and downs. Something that is very hard to go through and particularly at this age. She is sorrounde by all of us and specialized people who have offered her tools to cope with it all and become stronger. We are confient she will do it. Her grades could be better but she knows it and will get to it soon.

Kim who arrived without reading and writing at 10 is now in 6^th grade and doing very good, we are so proud of her. She loves her dancing class.

The rest of our girls, the little ones all are good girls and I can tell you they behave good and are doing fine in school, Paulina and Lluvia are a blessing, they bring so much joy to the family and we could not be more grateful. They dream of barbie dolls and Christmas, we hope Santa will give them a good surprise this year!

And Brenda who arrived at home in August is the one who has more struggles, she has had so much violence in her life that has hard time to manage her emotions, we will keep working with experts to let her know that she can be loved and that we wont abandon her. She needs to trust adults again. She loves role playing, loves our dog Bella and will hopefully have a very Merry Christmas this year.

 

We wish you very happy holidays!

Love from all of the girls!

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Brenda

We all know the importance that the early years of childhood have in us, humans.

How important is that first contact of a baby with her parents. That embrace given to a baby so that she can feel again her mother heart, hear her heartbeat and feel secure, as when she was developing in her womb.  But now, after birth, being hugged, kissed and lovingly whispered to.

These love rituals are vital to establishing a close and loving parent-child relationship.

This seems obvious, but it is not always the case, sometimes parents are indifferent to their new born children and even reject them. Children react with endless crying, which generate even more aversion on behalf of some parents.

Brenda, a new girl to our Puerta Abierta family, underwent such an early childhood. 

This situation generated in her, a constant state of defense to survive.  Now, in her new environment she is at odds with receiving care and attention, she is having difficulty even in understanding her new situation, while at the same time having trouble in expressing her feelings.

Her tutor has been careful even in showing her love and care so that she can slowly but surely adapt to her new family and new surroundings.  Allowing her to understand there is another world to the one she lived before. This process is a long one, as Brenda learns how to express her feelings, follow new rules and manage her needs and make them known to us.

Also, we need to teach the rest of the girls to understand her, as they find her strange and even awkward.  The tutors are fully aware of this challenging situation and are striving to promote patience and are helping in solving conflicts among them.

Tutors are also being trained to better handle this new environment with Brenda, especially how to manage and handle frustration and tension among the girls.

We at Puerta Abierta are fully aware that mental health is crucial to the wellbeing of each family member.  Thus, we make a special effort in selecting and training tutors, so that our girls are better taken care of and are prepared and nurtured to become happy, friendly, emphatic and caring as they grow up.     

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