CONTEXTHuejotitan or “Huejo” as people from the Village refers to it, it’s a small farmers community, an “Ejido” of aprox. 2000 people; located at the foothills of the “Cerro Viejo”. From Guadalajara it takes’s about 30 to 40 minutes driving to get there. Huejotitan has an elementary school, and a tele-Secundaria (a Junior High school run trough TV). It has basic public services-- water, electric power, telephone and sewage; the majority of the streets are very old cobblestone and not in very good shape. It does not have adequate medical services.
FUNDACIÓN DE “LA ESCUELA GRANJA”
The Hacienda is located in downtown “Huejo”, at the main plaza in front of the church and the civic building. It was built during the colonial period and in 1955 was rebuilt and adapted to be a home for young boys who had no families or were coming from low-income families.
The idea and concept of the place came from Susan and Hugh Hardyman, an American couple who funded the Asociacion Ormsby in Mexico and the Ormsby Hill Trust in the United States and by doing this, they were able to acquire (purchase) the building, restore it and register the place in Mexico City as a “Mexican permanent private charity association”. Today, it is a private institution of social welfare, and is registered under the “Junta de Asistencia Privada in Mexico City. |
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Once the official paper work was done, in February of 1956 the Hardyman began bringing young boys to the “Escuela Granja”. They were looking for young boys whose families had emigrated from the rural areas to the big cities looking for work or boys without a family. The idea and plan was to provide them with a home, an extended family and to teach them basic agriculture techniques, attend formal schools all the way to Collages of Agriculture and eventually as professionals go back to the rural areas an become involve with food production.
You have to remember that during the fifties, two of the greatest needs of Mexico were to improve education and food production so, the original working project at the hacienda had several components: rescuing young boys from walking the streets of Mexico City, providing them with a home and extended family, giving them a good education, and generating professionals of food production
In 1959, to honor a young student from the Hacienda who died wile attending High School in the northern part of Mexico, students and authorities at the Hacienda decided to change the name of “Escuela Granja” to “Centro Escolar Eusebio Garcia”. Do to excessive red tape the idea was dropped so the official name reminded – Asociacion Ormsby - but you will find that people sometimes refer to this place as “ La Hacienda” or “Centro Escolar Eusebio Garcia”
Hugh Hardyman died at Guadalajara in 1960. Also, during those years in the United States, the idea that social private organizations from the united sates were funding programs of social work in foreign countries was not well accepted. Because of that environment in the United States and the death of Hugh Hardyman funds for the program at the hacienda become reduced and less kids and personnel working with them was also cut.
Susan Hardyman kept working several more years in México; due to health reasons she went back to the United States. From there she kept the program at the Hacienda funded and also created several scholarships for students to attend Universities. She died in 1983 and with her death the Centro Escolar lost the other fundamental founder who reflected the original ideals.
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The original structural organization of the Hacienda, as implemented by The Hardymans remains the same. The agriculture production complements the diet, is not a self sufficient activity; it is a very good way of educating young people about food production and time has proved in many ways that the Hardymans were right in teaching young people these basic skills. The Centro Escolar has about 10 to 12 acres of agriculture land, two or three acres of garden and fruit trees, several hog installations, chicken installation to raise broilers, some dairy cows and a small herd of tropical sheeps (Borrego pelibuey)
On several occasions ex alumni have provided assistance when needed but the basic and fundamental funding keeps coming from the Ormsby Hill Trust, today under the administration and management of the Hardymans two son’s Jim and Maitland Hardyman.
The program at the Hacienda has being working mainly with young boys, very few girls, almost all of them coming from rural areas. Some of them without a family or from families at the very low poverty levels. The program does not promote any religion. There are some basic requirements to become a member of this big family: age according with school level and somewhere in the range of 8 to ten years old. The only restriction has been not accepting young boys with congenital or clear psychological problems, as we do not have the right personnel and resources to provide the needed support
At the hacienda there are no formal classes, the young boys and girls attend public school at Huejotitan (elementary level), Technological schools at nearby towns or cities (Junior High and High school). To attend Universities, scholarships are provided. At this level, the students are encouraged to supplement their income by working half time somewhere in a field related with their studies
At the hacienda two things are fundamental: “Study and Production”. Everybody has to attend school, help with work at home and at the farm and follow the norms of discipline that has been agreed upon. The mission of the institution can be summarized in four words: Study, production, peace and happiness according with the following representative emblems: |
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Asociación Ormsby |
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Institución de Asistencia Privada |
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History |
