The Strength of Our Community: How Helping Families in Need Changed my Perspective
Written by Rebecca Mildenhall
From the very first expedition, the experience of delivering food baskets or “despensas” to the local rural community Cristo Reyes has left me with a whole heap of mixed emotions. While the world is struggling with this new reality we are forced to live in due to COVID -19, seeing how the most vulnerable families cope with the situation has been truly heartbreaking. Some have lost their jobs and their livelihoods. Others have been removed from their homes and are now just trying to survive. From day one, witnessing their struggles and being able to provide some help was an eye-opening experience, one that put things into perspective for me.
Through Maya Luxe and thanks to our caring community, we were able to raise money to supply the food baskets to those that needed them most. The packages contained an assortment of essentials that would last each family for approximately 2 weeks. Lentils, rice, beans, and long life milk among the main items. We also steered away from using plastic as much as possible to deliver the baskets, keeping in like with ML ethos. Averaging a drop every two weeks, we soon got to know these families and were able to check in with them and receive updates on how things were progressing within the community.
After the huge tropical storm Cristobal forced us to postpone a programmed delivery, we joined forces with Good Intentions Project, an NGO based in Playa del Carmen, and were able to deliver baskets to the neighborhoods Colosio and Villas Del Sol, where you could see a lot of damage from the storm as well.
The thing that stayed with me the most was that even during this hardship the community vibe was strong. Everyone was extremely grateful and kind to us and with each other. Families with children and the elderly were our first priority, and although when we didn't have enough bags for everyone, people understood this and did not argue or complain. Those who had still even basic work did not take from those who didn’t.
On an average trip we took from 30 to 40 baskets and were able to eventually map out a route that got to everyone adequately. On our second to last and last trips we were starting to see that people had gone back to work which was comforting. The overall community spirit was lovely and everyone seemed generally happier with things slowly returning to normal.
Want to get involved? Donate to our Rise Relief Fund on our GoFundMe page. Join us and help us support vulnerable communities in the Riviera Maya today.
From $1,600 USD / night