Cristo/Attempts to help over the years

Posted by Nancy C on May 30, 2008, 7:00 pm
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Many of you who are relatively new to La Manzanilla don't seem to know about the various attempts over the years to help Cristo. My dates or exact details may not be accurate, but it is the best I can recall. I will only highlight a few examples. Over 10 years ago, Nancy Underwood worked diligently to find a residential school for the deaf in MX. She found one and got him admitted with absolutely no cost to the family. He attended for less than one month, when Nacho, his mother, pulled him out and refused to allow him to go back. Nancy, who was totally fluent in Spanish, along with other community members, tried to convince his mother of the benefits for Cristo. This was unsuccessful. Another attempt was made a few years later by other gringos to find a vocational school where he could learn a skill to enable him to work. A good day program was found that agreed to accept him with the following condition: his mother must attend class with him to interpret and to prepare his meals. This was not an exceptionally lengthy program and all expenses would be covered. This, too, was rejected by his mother. When he was young, an uncle taught Cristo how to wash cars as a means of earning money. A number of us hired him to wash our cars often and paid him a good wage. That ended when he was seen attempting to break into one of the houses where he washed cars. Those who I recall investing emotionally, financially and with their time, were the Obergs, the Bosletts, and the Humbers, among others. I am sure that those with an even longer perspective on the problem, such as Daniel, Helga, Apache Richard, Dave Charney, Canadian Dave, Eileen Zack, the Hostetlers, and the Rutherfords could add more examples. In summary, the vast majority of gringos in La Manzanilla are caring and involved in a number of helpful endeavors. We are all saddened that the efforts to help Cristo, for whatever set of complex reasons, have failed. He is now a strong adult who has always fallen back on house thefts. In my humble opinion, that will not change. Worse, it is only time until one of his escapades ends in a real disaster.

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