Mexico’s Copper Canyon is spectacular. It is five times larger than our Grand Canyon and many of the indigenous people there—the Tarahumara Indians—are still cave-dwellers whose culture and rituals have changed little over the generations. With no major roads, the region attracts only the most adventuresome travelers.

I flew to El Paso, took a taxi across the border to the Jaurez bus station, bused the five hours to the big city of Chihuahua, spent the night at a local hotel, then caught the train the next morning to head Creel, the main town in the Canyon. I stayed at Margaritas, a lively pension I have enjoyed on each of my visits over the past 12 years. At an altitude of more than 8,000 feet, Creel’s air, as usual, was thin and the weather was crisp. I knew the snows would begin in less than a month. It’s hard for many to believe, but in the winter, temperatures can reach sub-zero in these beautiful Mexican highlands; yet, in the bowels of the canyons below, the climate remains sub-tropical year-round.

I had returned last week to this rugged and isolated region of Mexico, simply because it won my heart years ago, and I must go back from time to time. The rich culture of the colorful Tarahumara might have died out years ago had it not been for a modern-day saint named Fr. Luis Verplankin who came to the area in 1964. The infant mortality rate was then 80%! Today–largely due to his efforts to establish a local clinic and clean-water wells for the villages–the infant mortality rate has dropped to 1.5! Luis died 4 years ago, but there are many who are committed to carrying on his lifelong work.

Canvas on Demand sent me on my trip with three lovely canvases which I planned to donate to the Mission Store in Creel since all proceeds go to support the clinic. The three images, which you can see below, were taken at a Tarahumara School far off the beaten path by a friend who had haccompanied me to the Canyon nearly 3 years ago. (Thank you, Mia Hinkle!)  I made the presentation of the canvases to the store manager on day, but noticed the next day that they had disappeared. When I asked if they had sold, I was simply told that the local priest had taken them.

Immediately I tracked him and the canvases down to see why they had been removed before they could be sold. The padre explained that the canvases were so beautiful that he couldn’t bare to see them sold. “The children at the school rarely, if ever, have an opportunity to see photos of themselves,” he explained. “I want to hang them right there in the school so they can enjoy them every day!”

My heart was deeply touched. Thanks Canvas on Demand for your generousity AGAIN. Nearly two hundred school children will enjoy those canvases every day! Mom

See the photos below…

Tarahumara mother and children in front of Mission Store

Tarahumara School Children

Children in Creel

Presentation of Canvases