La Morita Mission, So close. Yet… So Far!

By Patricio Espinoza, OblateMissions.org

La Morita is a community south of the California, Mexico border.  Here Oblate Missionaries serve more than 250,000 people.

In 2010 Partners visited La Morita Mission, as part of a  field trip to the site during the Missionary Oblate Partnership Meeting and Retreat in San Diego California.

La Morita is only minutes south of the Tijuana-San Diego border.  Four Oblates and one brother manage Casa San Eugenio, several chapels , a clinic, a community center and more.  The streets are only dirt roads that turn into thick layers of mud during the rainy winter months.

And life? Life is not easy here, most families survive doing odd jobs, many are elderly, and the young are unemployed. Often a family’s weekly income barely covers their basic needs like groceries.

Oblate Missionaries in La Morita bring as much comfort as their resources and donations allow. Their medical center helps children and the elderly, there is also help and education for children with special needs, and on a weekly basis many of the families receive their “despensa”, a groceries bag with basic foods including milk, rice, beans, oil.