Since 2014, St. Mary Magdalen has maintained a sister Parish relationship with the Dominican Parish (Parroquia) de Santa María de Guadalupe in Mexicali, Mexico.
Mexicali is a city of over 1M, the capital of the state of Baja California, and is right on the border across from Calexico, CA. The Parroquia serves a poorer section on the eastern side of the city and has a main church and three chapels (Capillas).
On a voluntary basis, parishioners from St. Mary Magdalen have been donating to and supporting the Parroquia by funding some small capital projects including building and outfitting climate-controlled spaces for catechism. In addition, our regularl support helps the Parroquia meet other pressing needs as they arise. Our giving is administered by the Dominican mission foundation.
Since 2022, parishioners of the Parroquia at St. Mary Magdalen have also been donating to support a scholarship fund for two sisters, Laura and Citlali, to attend Catholic school. Laura and Citlali are part of the Parroquia, have gone through some difficult family issues, and were identified by a lay leader, the late Maria Teresa Bastides.
Sharon Henthorn-Iwane is the primary contact for both the mission giving and the Laura and Citlali scholarship fund.
Opportunities to Give
Mexicali Guest travel expenses: If you’d like to help defray the cost of the Mexicali parishioners’ travel to Berkeley, you can choose to donate to the general Mexicali Mission Fund here and you can put a note on the second page that comes up. Thankfully, the only real cost is roundtrip airfare from San Diego which has been kept very reasonable. Transportation and lodging are all being provided by the SMM parish and the generous hosting of Sally Smith.
Laura and Citlali Scholarship Fund: If you would like to contribute to the Scholarship Fund, you can donate online here. You can also send a check made out to St. Mary Magdalen Church.
June 2023 Update
Welcoming Visitors from Mexicali!
We will be welcoming seven guests from Mexicali during our centennial Mary Magdalen festival:
The Rivera Family (Alvaro and Laura and their grown children Alvaro Jr., Ricardo and Andrea)
Javier Elizondo (the sisters’ uncle)
Betty Valdez, our new bilingual PoC in Mexicali who is helping us to manage the scholarship initiative on behalf of the girls.
Please make sure to get to know them if you’re in town for the festival. Sally Smith will be hosting a party at her house for all the Mexicali guests as well as housing the Rivera Family(Thank you for your hospitality, Sally!). All Mexicali Mission friends are welcome- Please mark your calendar!
Some Sad News
We learned this week that Maria Teresa Bastides passed away on June 25th in Ensenada after a bout of illness. We are awaiting more details about her funeral, etc. Maria Teresa was a key lay leader who helped us, along with Father Miguel Rolland, to establish a real connection to the parish. Maria Teresa also visited twice in Berkeley, even providing a response to the main talk at a prior Mary Magdalen Festival. She will be sorely missed. Alex and I will be attending her funeral mass in Mexicali next Saturday, July 8 at 11am. If you would like us to bring a card or pass on condolences please let us know.
February 2023 Update
Visiting Mexicali and Reconnecting with the Parish:
- Father Nick, Juan Carlos Soto, Alex and Sharon Henthorn-Iwane traveled to Mexicali in February. This was our first chance to reconnect in person with the parish since right before the pandemic started in 2020.
- It was a real gift to have Juan Carlos with us, as he is fluent in Spanish.
- We visited the catechetical centers at the main church and at the Capilla San Martin de Porres in Flores Magon (one of the neighborhoods within the parish). We were blessed to be able to see them in action, with lots of kids in class!
- We met and got to know a recent addition to the Dominican friars serving the parish, Father Roberto (who we subsequently learned had spent time at Saint Mary Magdalen in Berkeley).
- We attended a birthday celebration for Father Bart and spent time with parishioners.
- We attended mass at two of the chapels during our visit, the main chapel at Santa Maria de Guadalupe Church and the most financially challenged chapel in Via Zapata.
Forming New Connections:
- Shortly after arriving on Friday afternoon, we visited Instituto Salvatierra, the Catholic middle and high school where we are sponsoring sponsorships for Laura and Citlali. Maria Teresa Bastides’ bilingual granddaughter Yolanda joined us, and we were guided around the school by the P.E. Director who was very sympathetic and relayed that he had gotten to know Laura a bit and noticed that she was struggling somewhat. If you had missed the previous update, Laura struggled in her first semester and has had to step away to do catch up schoolwork in order to re-enter.
- As we’ve continued to learn about the school, we are gaining a growing impression that they are taking a nurturing and attentive approach to education.
- Over a lunch hosted by the Padres in their house, we met with as many parishioner folks as we could gather who are actively supporting the girls. We met Javier (the uncle of the girls), Xochil, and Betty. We are excited that Javier and Betty will be coming to our Mary Magdalen Festival this summer and you all will have the opportunity to meet them!
- We had the opportunity to finally meet Laura and Citlali in person. We gathered with them before Mass on Saturday along with their grandfather, Javier their uncle, and Yolanda who along with Juan Carlos offered translation.
- Laura: It was an emotional meeting, as Laura was clearly very sad to not be at Instituto Salvatierra and perhaps also felt ashamed to meet benefactors who she may have felt she was disappointing. One of the big questions we had was whether she was still motivated to try to get back into the school. Her response indicated that she wanted to try her best. Laura appears to be more withdrawing and introverted–this may have made it harder to connect and make friends at Instituto Salvatierra.
- Citlali: The younger of the two, Citlali is more outgoing, and we all seemed to agree that since she’s starting earlier and has more social energy, that she may fare better. Betty Valdez (see below) has arranged for Citlali to receive proactive evaluations by Instituto Salvatierra and is working with Javier to arrange tutoring, so that Citlali will be as ready as possible for the Fall.
