Who We Are

History, Social Impact and Vision

The non-profit organization Amigos de los Niños (Friends of the Children) took its first step toward committed community service when a group of people living in Cabo San Lucas showed interest in helping some of their less fortunate neighbors.

Joining together during the holiday season, they decided to dress one of the members up as Santa Claus and distribute Christmas gifts to marginalized children in the 'Barrios' and out-lying areas of Los Cabos.

Although a lot of laughter and smiles were provoked, they found that this was definitely not an adequate solution for the much greater problems that these children and their families faced. They also learned that the children looked for The Three Kings to bring them presents on January 6, not the December Santa Claus whom they had seldom ever heard of, let alone seen such a hilarious version of!

After holding a series of general meetings open to all the interested public, a consensus was formed on what the ideas for the Amigos de los Niños Mission were while taking into consideration the cultural differences that made it necessary to meditate the 'How to' of effectively delivering the aid. It was decided to elaborate and carry out projects that would address the heart of the problem and effect change for a better quality of life for the children.

Now, with a vision of looking for significant ways to help, they started looking for worthy projects.

The public schools in Cabo San Lucas did not have water purification systems, so, the newly formed group, ADLN, installed this service, improving the basic health of hundreds of school children.

With this project accomplished, a vision for the future was formed by Amigos de los Niños: to help alleviate the tremendous need for quality medical care that these marginalized children so desperately required.

This need was being further accentuated by the rapid growth of the Los Cabos area, up to 18% annually and the fact that the majority of jobs available were of the lowest paying — no-benefits jobs such as construction and service work to accommodate the acceleration and demands for luxury resorts and multi-million dollar homes that were putting Los Cabos on the international map.

Many of these mainly immigrant families looking for better opportunities in Los Cabos were not included in the Mexican Social Security medical program for workers, or the attention they received from the institution was inadequate due to the lack of staff and supplies within this governmentally supported organization. The BCS Secretariat of Health, which oversees several hospitals and basic health care centers state-wide, suffered from the same problems, also due to the huge growth of the area.

In 1991, Amigos de los Niños became incorporated as an official non-profit organization, an 'Associacion Civil' in Spanish. The Mission:

Amigos de los Niños provides quality health care in Los Cabos to children up to the age of 18 who have no other means of receiving same or whose health care provider is deficient arranging for external medical consultations, organized clinics and assistance in setting up medical treatment for special cases of the severely ill or disabled.

All these methods for providing medical attention for the children through Amigos de los Niños are totally free of cost to the children and their families.

ADLN can achieve the success of this Mission exclusively through donations from our local community supporters and foreign visitors who are made aware of our work, and wish to help make a better quality of life possible for these children. We also receive in-kind support from many local businesses; this is basic for being able to satisfactorily complete the work at our Free Clinics and the fundraising events our volunteers organize for this purpose. ADLN's managing policy is that what comes in goes to the children as soon as they need it; there are no investments or other money producing enterprises, and there is always a child that needs immediate care!

Amigos de los Niños is also fortunate to count on the help and support of many local doctors and medical facilities that donate their work, or do it at a fraction of the normal cost. Without them, we could not do what we do.

In 2003, ADLN saw over 1,500 children, and in 2004 another 1,000. In 2005, ADLN held clinics in Cardiology, Asthma, Ear Nose and Throat, Audiology, Plastic Surgery, Pediatrics, and Adolescent Gynecology, and 41 Special Cases were in different stages of progress in the medical specialty that they required.

In 2006 our Special Case Children grew to over 60, Free Clinics were added to some of the others in the specialties of Pediatric Dentistry, Ophthalmology, Neuro Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery and Optometry gifting more than 1,000 pairs of glasses.

2007 has seen over 80 Special Cases and specialty surgeries never before preformed in the State of Baja California Sur, along with seven Free Clinics. Amigos de los Niños is committed to keeping up with the need of these children. Our budget for 2007 is $250,000 US and we don't have a penny to spare!

The majority of doctors who assist in our Free Clinics come from the USA, but many of the local physicians have been inspired by them, and are now doing Free Clinics, consultations and Special Case work for ADLN on their own.

Some of our Special Case Children are receiving treatment in the USA. They have been taken, through the help of many caring people and organizations, to medical facilities in the USA that specialize in their particular medical problem, treatments, surgeries and care that cannot be done here in Los Cabos.

Amigos de los Niños completes the everyday work necessary to the organization with a four-person team at the office located in a small house donated to ADLN for this purpose. More than twenty faithful volunteers assist with all the fundraising projects and help with clinics, translating, bringing and setting up the equipment, transportation and entertaining kids while they wait for their appointments.

The four-person office staff began their jobs in January of 2004 as a result of the huge increase in the workload to accomplish the ADLN Mission. It had been carried out up to then by the Board of Directors and volunteers on a smaller scale. The decision was made by the Board to keep up with the growth and need in Los Cabos by increasing our capacity to serve. The office positions are; Executive Director, Director of Clinics and Special Cases, Director's Assistant and Secretary.

The ideals of all the people who take part in Amigos de los Niños, Office Staff, Board of Directors, Ex-Officers, Volunteers, Donors, and Medical Personnel are based in the belief that all children deserve a life of equal opportunity and circumstance to insure the most important aspect of life: health. Without health, life is extremely limited.

Our Mission is based on ethical work to achieve this end, and in faith to provide for some miracles when we fall short of what is needed to save or change a child's life, and in resignation to be able to go through the times we fail to win the battle, and then to get up and keep fighting.

Amigos de los Niños also tries to console and guide the parents and families of these children as they go through these trying times.

The joining together of all these people, those who give and those who receive, activate the best learning device possible for showing how to humbly help your fellow man. This is an integral part of the social impact of Amigos de los Niños, along with the thousands of children whose lives have been helped, saved or changed through this Mission.

As a fruit of this effort, there are more willing people everyday to lend a hand to their community and its people. Over the years, the children Amigos de los Niños has attended have grown into men and women who help as they were helped.

Sickness is not the only thing that is contagious. So are love, faith and lending a helping hand.

The example of Amigos de los Niños is a direct cause in furthering the culture of community involvement and returning a part of what you have been given in the community of Los Cabos. ADLN is currently networking with other Non-Profit Organizations in working together to help the children. We hope we can count on your help also!