Inspiring Aussies, Alan and Pam Skuse, celebrate 15 years and 250 lives saved by volunteering at a Mexican orphanage

By Melissa Bickford

Living in New York, it’s very easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of this fast paced life. We’re all so ‘busy’. Earlier this year I came across an article on Alan and Pam Skuse. I took some time to read about the incredible work they’ve done with Misión México. Their story gives me goosebumps and is a reminder to maintain perspective. Watch this video to see why:

This couple have selflessly devoted a significant portion of their lives to helping orphans who come from backgrounds of poverty and neglect. They boldly left their comfortable beachside lives on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, their children and grandchildren, to lend their skills to a small community in Mexico who needed help. People travel for many different reasons, for this pair it was to volunteer their skills to help people in need. It’s not easy to pack up life in one country and move to another, that lingering life-changing question: stay or go? It all began back in 2000, when Alan and Pam decided to go. They volunteered in Mexico for 6 months, teaching kids to read and providing them with a loving supportive home. The couple found themselves so embedded within this community of young children they continued to spend 11 months of every year supporting them from 2000-2015. With major life choices like these comes sacrifice, for these two it was leaving their own family behind. Throughout 15 years, the pair have raised and housed more than 250 children in lieu of being around their own. Providing them with basics like shelter, food and education. They also went a step further and successfully built out a program where they taught these kids to surf. Pam has been involved with AWNY and AAA and we are so proud of all she and Alan have done. After meeting her a few years back, AWNY committee member Heidi Gerschwitz and her sister actually volunteered at the Mission Mexico orphanage in the Summer of 2012. They were so inspired, they decided to take action. Heidi said of the experience ”Volunteering at Misión México was filled with highs and lows, teaching and learning experiences, tortillas, sharing crafts and games, improving my rusty Spanish, mosquitos, humidity, enjoying beach days and BBQs and experiencing daily life in a typical Mexican town. Volunteering here gives you a glimpse into the positive living situation of these lucky children, who are loved and are planning their futures.”