For the past four years, Darryl Bueckert and his family have been spending months at a time volunteering in Mazatlán, Mexico. After years of feeding families and promoting education, there’s one moment – a brief interaction – that will always be with him.
Bueckert, his wife, Jodie, and their two children, Emily, 12, and Ben, 10, found inspiration for their volunteerism after a short vacation to the area. After returning to Langley, they knew they had to help, but didn’t have a plan. They decided to spend six months in the impoverished area to understand how they could make a difference.
While planning the philanthropy-inspired trip, Bueckert connected with his friend and former colleague, Matt Deeter, owner of Kintec White Rock.
Deeter offered to supply Bueckert with an assorted cache of orthopedic-based products that Bueckert could take to Mexico.
“We’re not talking chump change here, this stuff is worth a fair amount,” Bueckert noted.
Bueckert, who has a background in orthopedic care, took the items and told Mazatlán community members to contact him if they had a hip, foot or knee issue.
That’s how he met Jesús.
“It was about one week before we were leaving (Mexico). I was out in his community and I saw him. He can’t communicate with words, but he definitely communicates. You can joke with him and stuff, but he can’t say a word,” Bueckert recalled in a phone call from Mexico.
Bueckert, who speaks limited Spanish, spoke to the boy’s mother through a translator. He estimated that Jesús was in his early teens.
“He uses a walker. Now, imagine using a walker on a road with no pavement, with stones and bumps. His condition has also affected him so he has very little muscle control over the front of his legs. As a result, he’s unstable and his feet kind of flop when he picks them up.”
Bueckert remembered that within his cache of miscellaneous orthopedic supplies, he might have a set of Ankle Foot Orthosis (AFO) braces. He made the comment to Jesús’ parents, without knowing for sure if he had the braces, or if they were the right size.
The next day, the teen and his mother made the journey to meet Bueckert.
“That morning I woke up with a cold sweat because I really hoped I had a pair. Do I have the right size? Do I have a right and a left? Sure enough, in my box was only one pair of these AFO braces, a right and a left.”
Usually, Bueckert explained, these braces require modification to fit, and he didn’t have his tools with him.
“When I put them on him, they fit like they were cast to him.”
Bueckert said the boy tried to walk with his walker, but his first steps were awkward because he was adjusting to the new brace.
After about two minutes, the boy mustered the courage to walk a short distance.
Bueckert turned to the boy’s mother, and said through a translator, “How is this different from when he walks without the walker at home?”
“She said, he doesn’t walk without the walker at home.”
Bueckert said it was a powerful moment for him, and his family.
“It was validating, I guess, personally, that the effort was worth it.”
That event took place late-April 2015. Bueckert said he checked in with Jesús last year and he was using a similar brace.
“With something like foot care… not everybody knows what they need until they need it. People may have a problem but don’t know how to fix it.”
Now, instead of continuing to do six-month trips, the Bueckert family blocks off three months of the year to spend in Mazatlán. They have also fine-tuned their philanthropy scope.
Bueckert said there are several missionaries and ministries that are doing great work reaching the poor communities, but the ministries are finding it a struggle to effectively, and accurately, let the world know of the work they’re doing.
That’s where the Bueckerts come in.
They’ve made it their mission to help the groups update their website and online profile – an effort they’ve dubbed the Help-Project.
“It’s awareness on a social-issue level. You meet some of these kids… the most extreme example is one particular community. Once they become 14 years old they’re allowed to go up to the city dump. What they do in the city dump is pick through trash and find something valuable to use or valuable to sell. It’s common in the Third World, for sure.”
“They can’t see themselves elevating their position. As a result, their parents don’t value education for their children.
Even his 12-year-old daughter is getting involved.
Emily started creating bracelets to sell to tourists, and 100 per cent of money she collects is used to buy meals for the poor.
“As a result, each time she’s raised enough for 500 to 600 meals each season.”
Bueckert says donating to these impoverished communities provides much more than just basic needs – it provides hope.
“Down here what you hear a lot is that they’re overwhelmed that people like us, vacationing people, think enough of them to come to do it. To take the time out of their day to bring them food and water. That outpouring of love really gets them, even more so than the food.
“Showing that someone cares about them, it speaks to their spirits.”
For more information on their work, and organization, visit www.help-project.org