Help Don Mateo's Mexico Trip Come True!

Dear Friends,

I wanted to take a moment to introduce you to a new friend of mine, Don Mateo. I've had the pleasure of meeting a lot of remarkable people in my traveling adventures, but Don Mateo stands out as one of the most special, humble, and sweet individuals I have met.

Don Mateo immigrated to Costa Rica from Honduras almost 20 years ago. He works in a beautiful hotel in Nosara, where I stayed last Feb. He spends his nights in the hotel lobby welcoming guests back to their rooms as the security guard. He's had this job for 16 years.

One night when he welcomed me back to the hotel, I sat down to talk to him and ask him about his story- getting just a small taste of this man's life. He talked about his family and his dreams of travel. Curious and eager to learn more I invited him to join me for breakfast at the hotel's restaurant. I didn't know this at the time, but after 16 years, that was his first time ever dining at the hotel restaurant!

After learning about his 5 children, granddaughter and their struggles in adapting to the culture and lifestyle in Costa Rica, he shared with me his lifelong dream of traveling to Mexico to visit the temple of Guadalupe. The temple is in the City of Mexico and it is the most visited Catholic-Shrine in the world.

I asked what it would take for him to be able to make the trip and he said money. His needs are not much- he plans to take a bus to the city of Mexico on his own to make his pilgrimage. It was a no-brainer that I could easily put together some effort to help him collect some money to make his dream come true. He needs $700, but I am hoping to raise more should he want to travel more comfortably or take one of his daughters or his granddaughter along with him!

I have put together this fundraiser in hope that we can make his dream come true and also to help him with some extra for the expenses that are quickly adding up for him to care for his mother in Honduras who recently became ill. Being the humble man that he is, he has never asked for money, the trip or to help with his mom. But he needs our help.

If you have the means, would you please consider helping Don Mateo care for his mother and make his pilgrimage to see the Virgin of Guadalupe? I'll be collecting donations for the next two weeks and I'd like to present him with the funds before August if possible.

Meeting people like Don Mateo reminds me how remarkably lucky and fortunate I am to have the resources, the means, and the opportunities that I do. He also reminds me how beautiful and remarkable people are, how resilient, how sweet and tender people can remain in spite of so much struggle and adversity. I know first hand the major obstacles that are presented in one's life when you migrate to another country, so when he spoke of the love for his homeland, his family, cuisine, and culture, it tugged at my heartstrings. It's a hard reality confront- that of people who have to leave things they love so much out of necessity and desperation... so in honor of his hard work and effort to survive and thrive in the world, I would love your help in extending this gesture of love and kindness to someone that very much deserves it! 

Let's send him to Mexico!!!

I thank you for any contribution you have to extend to this sweet and special man.

~ Brenda