A country-style Fiesta Mexicana will be held on Saturday, October 12, 6 p.m., as a fund-raiser to support the Pepe Martinez Equine Therapy Center (CET). The event will be held at the CET home on the grounds of Rancho La Ilusion, located approximately one kilometer off the Libramiento bypass via an unpaved road that branches off to the right just before the entrance to the Chapala Media Park. The entry donation of 100 pesos per person includes free parking and a platter of pozole (pork and hominy stew).
A live entertainment program will feature mariachi and banda music, ballet folklorico dancers, demonstrations of dancing horses and charro lariat tricks and Toro Gol, a cowpoke take on soccer in which participants try to score goals by rounding up a baby bull.
CET is operated through a cooperative effort between Chapala’s DIF (family assistance agency) and the non-profit organization Nuevos Pasos Pepe Martinez. The program is geared to treat children and adults coping with impairments associated with cerebral paralysis, multiple sclerosis, spina bifida, Down syndrome, anorexia, bulimia, drug addiction, neurosis, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, behavioral problems and deficiencies in learning, language or motor skills.In contrast with the defunct Pasos Milagrosos, CET provides therapy sessions four afternoons each week, currently attending over 50 patients residing in the lakeside area and more distant places such as El Salto, Tlaquepaque, Guadalajara and Villa Corona.
Program director Eduardo Lara is a professional physical therapist. He works with a team of five volunteer assistants, including a foreign resident who is a trained psychotherapy coach. Modest service fees charged to patients as partial compensation for staff transportation costs are based on DIF socio-economic studies determining their capacity to pay. The DIF also handles individual godparent sponsorships for patients of extremely limited means.