Local shoppers may have noticed the recent absence of the blind beggar who has been a regular fixture at Ajijic’s weekly tianguis street market and the entrance of SuperLake for many years.
Jose Luis Vazquez Rios, known to his chums as Chelis, has been bedridden since late June after suffering severe injuries from a terrible two-meter fall that occurred as he was making his way towards the humble home he shares with his widowed mother in upper Chapala.
According to Araceli Orgel, head social worker at DIF Chapala, Vazquez was taken for treatment at Guadalajara’s Hospital Civil on June 21. He was released a week later and sent home to recover in mid-August after undergoing a laminectomy, the surgical procedure employed to repair his fractured spine. He will be confined to his bed in a body cast for at least another four months. Doctors will then evaluate his condition to determine whether he is a candidate for physical therapy or be permanently left a quadriplegic.
With her son laid up, elderly Maria Rios is not only doing her best to care for 54-year-old Chelis, but also regularly hitting the streets to solicit cash to keep their meager existence on track. But since she lacks the warm personality that made Chelis a favored recipient of hand-outs among local residents and businesses, the going has been rough.
While DIF is providing regular vigilance to attend to their most urgent needs, friends and neighbors have also taken Maria and Chelis under their wings, helping out with meals, diaper changes and other day-to-day necessities of survival. Local silver merchant Julio Cesar Lopez and his wife Ileana and long-time expat resident Pete Molesky have been active in collecting donations in cash and kind and paying frequent visits to the sparse shack where the pair live.
People wishing to contribute to the cause may deposit donations in a special account set up at Banco Actinver. Account number 7225022 is registered to DIF Chapala, with all funds ticketed and managed exclusively to benefit Chelis. Checks in pesos should be made out to Banco Actinver, S.A.
For further information contact Molesky by phone at 766-4179. Or look for the silver vendors at the Monday Market, Wednesday tianguis or their shop Tlaxco, Colon 51-A, Ajijic.