Libby Townsend has just announced plans for a fun-filled Fajita Party at La Bodega restaurant on Saturday, June 22, from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. She hopes the event will generate enough money to buy school supplies for the Tarahumara children attending the indigenous boarding school in the Copper Canyon.
“Of course, we all say we know the value of education,” said Townsend. “To us education is a given, a right. It’s obvious, like food, clothing, and housing. What most of us don’t understand because we’ve not seen people in extreme need, is that those very basic needs aren’t always readily attainable, especially for the indigenous people of Mexico in extremely remote areas.”
The Tarahumara families served by the the Complejo Asistencial Clinica Santa Teresita or free Tarahumara children’s hospital and nearby (kinder through prepa) boarding school have become sharply aware of the power of an education. It’s become necessary for area children to learn the tools so they can cope with and protect themselves from those in the outside world who come into the mountains with schemes to profit by taking advantage of them and the natural resources. Other indigenous students plan to leave to obtain further education either in Mexico or the United States. Some will return as doctors, dentists, and teachers in order to give back and help their people.
Townsend tells a fascinating story full of crisis, problems, stumbling blocks, and coincidences, along with the kindness and trust she experienced from the Tarahumara that led her to realize that she is the “someone” who was needed to help find the clothing, food and needed supplies to help the people of this extremely rugged and remote area. In the 1980s, while living in Chihuahua, she encountered a priest raising money for the Tarahumara. She worked hard to help his cause.
On another occasion, after encountering a pair of young girls walking two hours to reach their school, barefoot, in the snow, she no more thought that “someone” needed to help than she heard the beloved grandfather of her Montana childhood saying, “Be someone.” Thinking it a fluke, she immediately asked him to send her a sign that this was to be her path. Days later a musician walked into the Old Posada playing her grandfather’s favorite song. Minutes later he walked up to Townsend and said, “By the way, my name is Montana.”Like it or not, Townsend knew that her time was no longer her own. She was hooked into an obligation to help the far-away poor Tarahumaras in the Copper Canyon. That first night she passed the hat in the bar and collected 3,000 pesos. Then she collected food and clothing, held a garage sale, and packed three vehicles for her intended one-shot donation.
When she walked into the free hospital she immediately noticed a picture on the wall of the project’s founder. It was Father Verplanken, the priest she’d helped in Chihuahua 20 years before.
“I knew I was hooked and that this one trip wouldn’t be nearly enough. I had to continue doing what I can for the people.”
That was about seven years ago, and that’s when Townsend started working in earnest on the Tarahumara Project. Her work is under the nonprofit umbrella of the free Tarahumara children’s hospital.
The indigenous school is a boarding school for students in kinder through 6th grade. They are first taught in their own language, and then they are taught Spanish. They are taught to be proud of who they are and where they come from. They are encouraged to be who they are and to follow their traditions. They are also taught how to survive in the outside world if that is what they wish to do, and how not to be taken advantage of by outsiders.
They are fed two big meals a day and receive regular medical checkups. Classes are Monday through a half-day Friday, so the students can make it home for the weekend. Most live at least a half days walk from the school.
While those things are in place, what is desperately needed is supplies for the school. From paper to pencils and notebooks to toilet paper, there is a need for it all.
“That’s why I’ve planned the Fajita Party,” Townsend said. “La Bodega has agreed to donate the proceeds from the bar and from the sale of beef, chicken or vegetable fajitas to the fund. There will be photographs of the Copper Canyon area available for sale as well.
“You don’t have to eat to help. People can come and purchase Tarahumara handcrafts, make a donation of cash or bring school supplies.”
Jose Melendrez will be selling eclectic goods for the home and body and donating a healthy percentage of his profits to the cause, too. Anybody making a donation made of cash or kind (school supplies, blankets, warm clothing etc.) will receive a chance to win a prize. And there’s more – there will be a 50/50 draw, live music and a number of special surprises.
During the event Townsend will unveil the new Jeanne W. Chaussee Education Fund that honors her late mother. This fund will be built to help supply the indigenous school with classroom supplies and books. It is hoped that one day the fund will provide scholarships so that promising students can continue their education through university.
For more information about this fun summer party and how you can help the Tarahumara, call Libby Townsend at (376) 766-1167, or email her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..