Evaristo's Journey of the Heart

Evaristo Garcia: Making a difference in his community

by Jan and Jerry Rife

Determination is the hallmark of Evaristo Garcia’s life. 

Having worked hard all his life and overcome many obstacles to build a successful business, his heart is now set on helping the youth of San Miguel de Allende so that their journey may not be as long and difficult as his. He recently demonstrated his desire to help when he made a commitment to fund a five-year university scholarship for a deserving Jóvenes Adelante applicant this fall—thus becoming the organization’s first Mexican sponsor.

Evaristo is a well-known and beloved figure among San Miguel’s expat community. “He has a big heart and loves helping other people,” says Elisa Borrego, owner of Buenos Días Cafe. “He is always generous with his time and energy.”

Seeing Evaristo in his tidy real estate office on Cuna de Allende, one would never guess he started out as a barefoot goat herder. The youngest of 11 children, he was raised by a single mother in Rancho Viejo, near Atotonilco.

“I’ve always had this restlessness, this dream of a better life,” he said. Evaristo channeled that restlessness into hard work. At age 13, he landed a job cleaning bathrooms at Mama Mia restaurant. For most of us, going from herding goats to cleaning bathrooms might not seem like a great advance. For Evaristo, however, this was a golden opportunity. “This was a way to earn money and with money I could continue my education. My older sisters and brothers were not so lucky.”

It took dogged determination to pursue his studies while working hard at Mama Mia. But step by step, like climbing a staircase, he worked his way up in the restaurant and at school: from dishwasher to busboy to bartender to waiter to headwaiter; from completing secundaria to graduating from preparatoria.

As a teen, while watching the Seoul Olympics on TV, Evaristo caught a life-changing glimpse of another world. “It excited me,” he said, “to see Asia, this very different part of the world. There was such a sense of organization, such a work ethic. I said to myself, I must go there.” With his imagination on fire, he began planning, calculating costs, searching for ways to earn and save.

The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. Evaristo’s step was across the border into the US. “I was 19, and it was difficult and scary. I entered illegally and six times they caught me and sent me back. The seventh time, I made it.”

He worked his way across Texas, Florida and Georgia, laboring as a construction worker and nurseryman. He planned and saved and dreamed. One day, standing in a grocery store line, it dawned on him that he needed to learn English. “We Mexicans were all lined up and this guy in the front of the line had to do all the talking for all of us. I was embarrassed. Suddenly, I knew I had to learn this new language.”

With characteristic determination, Evaristo started devoting his weekends to language study. Finally, at the age of 21, he was ready to embark on the next leg of his life journey. Taking his hard-earned savings, he flew toward his Asian dream.

In Japan, he again struggled as a newcomer, an outsider to a new language and culture. "It was hard. I could speak some English but no Japanese. I needed help with every little thing, in banks, in restaurants, everywhere. But suddenly I saw my opportunity. Foreigners need a lot of help. I saw I could put this to use.”

Evaristo returned to San Miguel and began reaching out to the expat community, offering them his help with just about everything. He already knew about construction and restaurant work; he learned about property management. He became, in essence, a facilitator. “He does whatever you might need,” says Pat Harding, president of Jóvenes Adelante, “before you even realize that you asked.”

As the owner of Portal Real Estate, Evaristo has risen from a humble beginning to become a pillar of the community. Evaristo’s was a solitary struggle. Today, thanks to Jóvenes Adelante, a local organization dedicated to promoting higher education, promising students who dream of a better future are not alone. In addition to financial support, in the form of US$100 per month for five years, each Jóvenes Adelante student is matched up with a volunteer who provides ongoing mentoring and encouragement. Additionally the organization provides its students with computers whenever possible and the opportunity to study English weekly with member-volunteer teachers in small informal groups organized by skill level. “I would love to have had something like Jóvenes Adelante when I was growing up,” Evaristo says. “It would have meant everything to me.”

Evaristo is making a difference in his community. Through his support of a Jóvenes Adelante student, he is touching the future of San Miguel. His sponsorship means another talented, disadvantaged local youth will attend university and not only achieve a professional degree but also bring pride to his family and community and affect in a small but significant way the economic future of the country. Evaristo is a man who knows that one never stands taller than when stooping to help a child.

With Evaristo’s generous sponsorship, Jóvenes Adelante is launching its spring pledge drive. The organization’s goal is to award scholarships to at least 25 of the more than 70 applicants this year. Receiving a scholarship is a life-changing event for these exceptional students, many of whom are the first in their families to complete preparatoria, much less to dare dream of a university degree. It can be life-changing for sponsors as well. Sponsors realize great satisfaction in their decision to fully fund a young person’s university education. Sponsorship includes the opportunity to know the student and his or her family personally as well, and to participate in the adventure of the next five years of the young person’s evolution from rural teen with limited experience and opportunity to proud and confident young professional.

To his enormous credit, Evaristo did this alone, but thanks to his inspirational contribution, one promising youth will have the funds and a support system to see him or her through university. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to help,” Evaristo says. “If we all work together, it makes a better life for everyone. From my heart, I want to do this.”

To sponsor or co-sponsor a student hoping for a Jóvenes Adelante scholarship this fall, see How to Help or email Info@JovenesAdelante.org.

by Jan and Jerry Rife