Mexico: ADRA and Adventist University Sign Agreement To Work on Special Community Projects

Montemorelos, Nuevo Leon, Mexico…[Benjamin Garcia/Libna Stevens/IAD]

Earlier this year, a special agreement was signed between the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) in Mexico and Montemorelos University, an Adventist institution, to join forces in special community projects.

The agreement, which was signed during a special ceremony in front of hundreds of students in the health care profession, will strengthen the service that the Adventist institution offers to the local community through the evaluation, training and support of ADRA Mexico to recruit funds, among other actions.

Montemorelos University committed to provide the human resources and the logistic platform for the execution and completion of projects.

Ismael Castillo, president of Montemorelos University, underlined that “the horizon of ADRA, the compassionate arm of the Adventist Church, is the horizon of the professionals sensitive to the needs of others,” he said at the ceremony.

Students will tackle the first project in August of this year. The project will help teach agriculture to 32 poor families in the community surrounding Montemorelos University, according to Rafael Garcia, director for ADRA Mexico.

“They [the students] will be equipped with tools to work alongside needy families in the process of preparing the dirt, planting, and care of their home garden,” he says. Many of the families that will benefit from this initial project are single parents, with no job or income, according to Garcia.

Garcia said the project calls for a full year of funding and follow-up from the students involved in the program.

Dr. Korniejczuk, vice president for academic affairs in Montemorelos University, emphasized during the ceremony the four key elements of community service: sensitivity, creativity, teamwork and a willingness to work alongside government and non-government organizations.

Wally Amundson, director for ADRA Inter-America, said the project will see long-term benefits not only for students and the local community, but far beyond.

“This is a very unique agreement, for it will not only be manifested in Monterrey, it’s not limited to the local community projects but I see benefits reaching the rest of the country, eventually,” he said.