May 13, 2008
In the middle of a violent city, one community in the South of Juarez is very lucky. With the arrival of a single man, the forgotten streets of Colonia Oasis Revolucion have slowly been transformed into a place that has set an example for the rest of Juarez.
The community of about 70,000 people is in a part of town where more than 54 percent live in poverty and another 27 percent live in extreme poverty; meaning that the combined salaries of a husband and wife are less than $500 a month. Most of these people only have a junior high school degree so many of them work at the “maquiladoras.” Therefore, they are forced to leave their children alone while they try to make a living. And try to make a living with not much.
Amidst this poverty and lack of education, 39 year-old Mario Manriquez has taken an incredible approach towards helping this community to unite families and reinforce social values.
In five years, he has built an elementary school, a high school, a day care, and a park. He also has established countless workshops to help parents deal with their children, and for young people to avoid drugs. He has created sport tournaments, computer classes and music lessons. He has hired a psychologist, a lawyer and three doctors to lend their services for free to the members of the community, all of this without the help of the government or any sponsorship. He has brought hope to thousands of people, but this is only the beginning of his mission.
Mario Manriquez is not a politician, though he should be one, with his ability to mobilize people and their hearts. He is not a millionaire either since he lives in that same community. Mario Manriquez is a priest.
“You can’t tell people about God and expect them to change their surroundings, you have to help them change their surroundings and they’ll find God,” he says.
The first thing Father Manriquez did when he got to the city was unprecedented. He conducted a social survey of the people living in the community of his church Santa Teresa de Jesus. The survey included information about their economic status, their education, their health, and their needs. He hired sociologists, criminologists and psychologists to get the best results.
“No other church has taken this approach, not even the local government,” he says.
He believes that true change can only come from knowing the specific troubles of people. And so he has created tailored solutions for each of their problems.
“I have studied all of the aspects of this community, I know what they need and I am working to bring back the notions of happiness and love to the people who have lost them,” he says.
The money for his mission, “Misión por la familia” has come from the same community.
“We sell burritos, we do car washes, we sell newspapers, but more importantly, the people in this community have contributed together to change things. They volunteer and share what they have with others,” Father Manriquez says.
The teachers, cooks and doctors that work at the schools and day care all receive a salary.
Father Manriquez works like a detective. His office, which is also his home, looks like a police station; he has maps of the city on the walls separated into zones. He has identified the dangerous zones and has a big red mark on them. He has even found out the exact addresses of the drug stash houses in the area.
“Local police have approached me to obtain information about gang members and drug dealers because our research is so extensive,” he says.
Even though he has not provided any of that information, he has provided police and local government officials with something more.
About a year ago, Father Manriquez was worried about children and teens being alone at night on the streets. So, he had a meeting at his church with hundreds of parents and they all decided to implement a curfew in their community. The name of their program is “Después de las 10 en casa es mejor.” (After 10 it’s better to be home.)
The program entailed that minors should not be out on the streets unaccompanied by an adult after 10 p.m. It started out being enforced by parents.
“I would drive by the streets and I did not see a single child or teen alone on the streets. The police patrolling our area were surprised. I did see however, families playing basketball at 11 p.m. I was happy to see kids with their parents,” he says.
After several months, the program showed to be extremely successful since there were less gang fights, less graffiti on the streets and families started bonding more with their children in that community.
This program got the attention of national news in Mexico, and was adopted by the city of Juarez by former Mayor Hector Murgia. Juarez had never had a curfew for people under the age of 18 in its history. However, when new Mayor Reyes Ferriz took office he called the program unconstitutional and got rid of it.
However, for Father Manriquez politics and religion go hand in hand. He was not happy with the decision and for months has been fighting to get it back with the help of parents from all parts of the city. Their fighting has paid off and after several meetings with Reyes Ferriz the curfew program will be implemented again in June.
“The drug dealers can continue to kill each other, but we should protect our kids,” he says.
Father Manriquez loves children and knows that parents, specially the ones in his community, need all the help they can get. The day care he created, “Solos NO” (Not alone) gives children some of the best care they have ever had. The children between the ages of 4 and 12 get medical attention, psychological treatment, and meals designed by a nutritionist. They even have a driver that takes them to school since some of the parents don’t have a car or work late night shifts.
“Parents are grateful and some have even offered their own money to hire a dance instructor for the kids,” he says.
He loves children so much that he created a special mass for them on Sundays where he uses puppets.
“People don’t fit in the church; families drive from different parts of the city just to bring their kids,” he says.
Father Manriquez says that despite all he has done, he still has plenty of work to do.
“What we have done is not enough, the numbers show that in my community 80 percent of the people here have not gotten married by the church. If this was a business, I’d be bankrupt,” he says with a smile on his face.
However, he is still hopeful and his mission is growing with the numbers of people joining him.
Father Manriquez is teaching everyone about God without preaching about him. Instead, he is showing with extraordinary actions what a man armed with love and some statistics can achieve.
Alejandra Gomez writes about Juarez people for Newspaper Tree. Father Manriquez can be reached at misionsantateresa@gmail.com