A Good Day
Adam Smith, Friend of El Faro Board Member

Today is a good day.
It is a challenge to make such a statement day to day, but today...today it is easy.
Today is a good day.  
The question Why is today a good day, requires a multimedia explanation:
 
More than seven years ago, in our 2003 fundraiser video (click link to watch) our friend Jose asked several kids what they wanted to do when they grew up.  One of the boys, Lorenzo, said he wanted to be a doctor--to bring babies into the world.  Today he is attending his first day of university to become a doctor.
 
Seven years ago our children were not allowed to go to public schools in Tijuana and we had no money to send them to private schools.  We built classrooms and hired teachers to teach our children at our home. 
 
As you know, all our kids are in public and private schools now and they are at the top of their class.
 
I learned quickly and I learned painfully that no matter what I want for our children, what dreams I have dreamed for their lives, the hard truth is that it is their lives, and their dreams, and all we can do is do our best, to keep them safe, to keep them healthy, to give them a strong moral foundation and to give them the best education we can provide, the rest is up to them.
 
This is Lorenzo's day. 
This is Mama and Papa's day; this is their dream, their hard work and faith and God's blessing.  For Mama Carmen it is and has always been about education. 
And the staff--today is a day of celebration.  Cooking and cleaning and laundry and building and repairing and teaching and taking care of the kids--day to day, day in and day out, every day, 24/7.    

And today is our day. 
Everyone who has traveled those dusty unpaved roads and visited with the kids, provided love and encouragement and financial support.  You have open up the hearts and minds of our children and they have noticed.
 
Lorenzo is one of six kids who are going to University this year.  This is a dream come true, and with these first six, our other kids no doubt will join them, as they lead the way.
 
One last thing, the other boys in that video--they are now young men, good men of fine character and big hearts.
 
Yes, today is a good day....tomorrow is tomorrow and we'll need to set up a scholarship fund--but for now... all I have is gratitude.
 
Thank you all.

 
--Adam