Gargoyle, Vol. XVII, No. 4

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VOL. XVII No. 4 The Gargoyle, Flagler College, St. Augustine, Florida December 16, 1986
Season·'s
Greetings
From Mexico
(Editor's Note - The Following report on the
project to aid victims of the Mexican earth­quake
was written by Dr. Michael Sherman.)
Following the earthquake just before
Christmas of last year, in which thousands of
people were killed and many more left home­less,
some of us at Flagler College wanted to
assist our less fortunate neighbors.
Accordingly, we went to Mexico city in No­vember
.of 1985 in the hope of finding a way to
help. The extent of the damage was so great
that we wondered whether anything we could
do would make any difference whatsoever.
Nevertheless, during our stay in the city, we
did locate several projects which seemed
manageable: a hospital, a large school which
had been forced to close as the result of a de­stroyed
water tank, and our very favorite of
all, a school for little girls from six to twelve
years of age. They were either orphans or
they had relatives who were unable to support
them. The earthquake had caused enough
damage so that a substantial part of the
school had to be vacated until repairs could
· be made. The school immediate.ly became
known to us as "The Orphanage."
Upon our return to St. Augustine last year,
we began a fund-raising drive. The response
of students, faculty and the people of St. Au­gustine
was truly heartwarming.
Donations of time, energy and money were
so generous that we were able to raise a,bout
$10,000, within four weeks. The money was
hand delivered by our students at the College
· to ensure its safe arrival, and within a rela­tively
short time all building repairs had been
completed.
Ten days ago some of us at the College re­turned
to visit "The Orphanage." Mexico City
was much colder than St. Augustine. The air
was crisp and clean, and the traffic as tan­gled
and dangerous as ever; pedestrians
dodged automobiles with a dexterity only to .
be learned in the world's largest city. On the
way to "The Orphanage" our cab driver be­came
lost. We vanished into Coyaocan, an
area of markets, street vendors, plazas and
colonial buildings. We were all lost.
( Continued On Page Two
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There probably will be another Christ­mas
tree to trim when they get home,
but meanwhile the College tree in the
Rotunda helps get students in the spir­it
of the holiday season. Pictured in
front of the Coll e tree as we p~epare
for long-awaited holiday break are
Susan Heller (seated) and Jennifer
Cosmidas, Paige Keller, Kim Gordan,
Ed Sweeney and Maryann Parkinson.
(Photo by Lori Wilcox) .