Mexico: keeping in mind those most in need
In the field of education, in 1992 the Santa Maria School was born, within the “El Diamante” citadel (Puebla). Its objective was to respond to the needs of the surrounding population. It currently welcomes 500 students, from kindergarten to lyceum. In order to take the project forward, many children are helped through the Support from a Distance project of the New Families. Collaboration between teaching personnel, parents and state agencies, makes it possible to give a more complete formation, and the students acquire the necessary skills to act positively in their socio-cultural context. Many initiatives come about, to respond in a concrete way to the needs of the population. These initiatives bear witness to how fraternal relationships can generate solutions that were previously unthinkable. These are some examples of actions that are taken forward with the contribution of AMU (Action for a United World), that is an international agency of the Focolari and is active in the social sphere: 
The mobile medical-dental clinic “Igino Giordani” situated in the large and poor periphery of the city of Mexico, in the commune of Netzahualcoyotl. It emerged in 1989, to respond concretely to the health needs of the region, at the request of the local Church. The clinic offers free medical services, including dental service. Also included are the medicines, dietary advice, to improve the level of nutrition and the distribution of clothes and toys. Social Centre Hallelujah (Hornos, Las Aguilas). The work here started 26 years ago, at the foot of a large residential zone in the City of Mexico. It is a neighbourhood permanently at risk, also owing to the high incidence of alcoholism, drugs and prostitution. The work is taken forward in close collaboration with the Commune, the Parish, and the private schools of the richer zone that recognise in the Centre a strong means of resolving the conflicts of the region. !4 persons currently work within this structure; some of them are locals, who are indispensable to build a society that is transformed from within. They offer their services in various areas: psychological, medical-social, educational, dental, etc. It is possible to take this initiative forward also thanks to the collaboration with the German association Mexicogruppe. Moreover, groups of doctors, dentists, social workers, nurses, youths and other volunteers move sporadically for some time to the commune of Huejutla ( in the State of Hidalgo), to offer help, free of charge to 32 native communities.
On this sunny afternoon in the end of the austral summer, the atmosphere at Mariapolis Lia was serenely festive. This was the fourth anniversary of Chiara Lubich’s birth to Heaven and this year the focus was on the relationship of the Movement’s founder with youth. It was also the opportune moment for the academic opening of the Gen School’s annual course on the Culture of Unity, for the youths who had arrived from seventeen different countries. Eighty young people from the American continent and a few Europeans have interrupted their studies for a year and gone to the Argentine pampa to be part of this training course in becoming builders of brotherhood in their home environments. “All the moments of the day, from workshops to sport, from moments of study to the liturgy, from welcoming visitors to the Mariapolis – all of it is part of the training,” explains Adriana Otero who specializes in microbiology and the environment and is in charge of the Gen School. “In practice,” adds Omar Diaz, Education graduate and in charge of the Gen School for the young men, “as Chiara had suggested, the daily life of this school revolves around four daily “communions” – the Eucharist, the moment by moment living of the Word, the neighbor and Jesus in the midst of the community, a presence that becomes palpable when there is mutual love.” Most of the students have just finished high school and are having their first work experience here. They live in small groups of seven to ten young people, with all that community life implies: preparing meals, caring for the house, being attentive to one another’s needs. . . all flavoured, naturally, with that typical flavour that internationality brings. “It’s beautiful to then see how each year they arrive as adolescents, but leave as adults with their minds and souls expanded toward all of humanity,” explains Silvana Verdun, a Bolivian psychologist and instructor at the school. 