By Hollie Harris
On 20th April, a 76 year old Tewantin woman will board a plane to Mexico on a two month mission to help children who have been abused, neglected or have become homeless.
Retired teacher, Judith Watkins will head to a children’s refuge in Tapachula and volunteer her body and mind to do whatever she can to help.
“I will be able to help them with their homework and learning activities but also help prepare and tidy up after meals, do general housework, and put the younger children to bed,” she said.
Judith has been blessed with a privileged life in Noosa. During her travels she witnessed many children living is terrible poverty. When she heard about the Love, Life, Hope family home in Tapachula, Mexico, run by Cooroy couple, Alan and Pam Skuse, she saw her opportunity to pay her good fortune forward.
“So far I have raised $1245 and I am hoping that with the help of the good people of Noosa, I will reach my target of $5000. This will be enough to pay the medical bills for the forty children for a year,” Judith says.
Volunteering at the orphanage provides a loving, secure family home for children of all ages who have been abused, neglected, orphaned or abandoned, and mostly from backgrounds of extreme poverty.
“My journey towards Tapachula began in 2012 when I saw the movie ‘The Way’ and decided that I would give it a go. At the age of seventy-one I headed for Pamplona on my first solo overseas trip, to walk the more than 700ks to Santiago.
“I was scared out of my brain until I started walking and then it was amazing. In 2016 I was off again to repeat the walk but starting in the Pyrenees in France.
“Unfortunately, I had a fall and after five days I had to give up and bus and train it to Santiago and wait for my friend and my brother. Before this second trip I had started to learn Spanish, not an easy task for someone with hearing and age related memory loss.
“Once home I kept studying and last year I decided to spend a month at language school in Mexico City.
“It wasn’t until after I had booked that I heard about the Refuge, first from someone at church and then from a friend in a group I belong to. Of course it was too late to think about going there but when a third person told me about it I decided that I was being given a message and started my own investigation. After a police check, a first aid course and an interview on Skype I was accepted.”
The Refuge receives no ongoing financial support from the government, so their growth has only been possible through individual donations and support from businesses around the world who want to help make a difference.
The Refuge, Misión M¨¦xico was founded in 2001 and run by Australian couple Pam and Alan Skuse, with the all-important dream of creating a family environment for the children.
Over the last 17 years Misión M¨¦xico has grown from a small home housing seven children to a huge home and a small NGO that provides a safe home, education, healthcare, life skills and work-training opportunities for up to 40 children and young adults at any one time, giving each child love, life and hope so they can reach their full potential.
“I have asked that my fund raising goes to educational needs” Judith said.
Judith has done her dance with overseas travels over the years.
“I have been overseas several times with my husband and once with a friend to visit my brother who is a priest in the Phillipines, but when my husband Peter became ill in the eighties I thought that I would never travel again
“Going to Spain 2013 took a leap of faith. I had to block out the voice that kept telling me that I couldn’t do it,” Judith recalls.
For six months Judith trained before leaving for Spain. This gave her an inner strength to begin walking again.
“It was on that walk l came to terms with the death of my 38 year old son in 2007 and also it was there that I learn to be grateful. Each day, I would set out walking not knowing whether I would have a bed for the night. Some were very ordinary, but it didn’t matter. I was grateful.
“I said before that first solo trip that if I could walk the Camino I would be complete – I could die happy! Not true!”
“Twice more I’ve packed and headed off each time certain that it would be the last.”
Word of the refuge became part of her consciousness and Judith was lured again.
She has taught herself Spanish so she can really step up and give love, hope support and anything else that is possible as she embarks on this journey of compassion once more.
“Fear is always my companion when I set off. For me, the hardest part is getting there. Strangely, I have found if I am uncertain or confused, someone usually comes up and offers help and in spite of all the warnings of my friends – they have always been the good guys.”
Travelling at Judith’s age has its challenges but she trusts the journey and those who come her way on the road.
“My inner voice that says “you’re too old” is very annoying. When I went to language school in Mexico, I asked to be with older people, but when I arrived I found myself with the most amazing group of young multinationals who took me under their wings.
“Who would have thought that I would be going to night clubs and dancing into the wee hours? Now another year older, I can assure that the body does feel another year older, I don’t stop. Keep breathing. Keep moving. Keep going,” Judith says.
“After seventy this amazing life one is given becomes finite. How lucky am I that I am still mobile, breathing and most of the time, mentally capable.
She encourages others to follow their dreams and take one step at time to bring them into reality, no matter what age.
“If you have the slightest wish to do something new and you don’t think that you can then just try. Start reading start talking, start planning and get going. What’s the worst that can happen? Better to greet death on a mountain top than home regretting missed opportunities. By seventy we know life is short.”
Please help Judith make a difference in these precious children’s lives. Jump onto Go Fund Me – the link is gf.me/u/gu934i.
