The way a person speaks when they are excited by a cause is a dead give-away. Passion knows no boundaries and those that are inspired can't help but express it in the way they talk and act. Such is the case with Brenda Raucho de Vega, Baja's First Lady. As is customary in Mexico, the governor's spouse usually heads the regional Integral Family Development (DIF) organization, and takes on really important community projects during the tenure. One of the special items on the agenda is known as CRIT, the Children's General Rehabilitation Center which still needs about 126 million pesos to get off the ground.

The project has supporters and critics, and these are things the First Lady takes to heart, but nobody can deny the conviction and strength that she has to take on this cause. Ms. Raucha is covered head to toe in the CRIT cause, wearing the same colors as the project's insignia and tons of cloth bracelets for various campaigns.

With a collection box in hand, Ms. Vega has knocked on hundreds of doors to fund the project, which she says will be the most community oriented and wide based in the entire country.

Raucho said that 17 years ago, when Fundacion Teleton just began (a very popular nation wide television charity campaign that funds these specialized children general care centers), she asked herself when Baja California would open an general care center of this type. She would have never in her wildest dreams imagined that it would in fact take place under her watch.

Currently, 21 states have a CRIT, but this will be the first in Baja California, despite the fact that this region is one of the biggest contributors to the annual Teleton campaigns. If all goes as planned, this December when the Teleton takes place, part of what is collected will be used to construct the CRIT in Baja California.

There is still no word in which city it will be located, as this will be decided by the Teleton Foundation, but they are already searching for a place that is at least 5 hectares large in any of the five municipalities in the state.

Brenda Raucho has confirmed that there have been families that have had to leave Baja California because a center of this type does not exist, and even nearby Sonora or Southern Baja are not an option, which means they must go quite far if they depend on child care of the type these centers provide.

The First Lady has no doubt that she will obtain the needed 126 million pesos required for Fundacion Televisa to get started on the project, given that thousands of Baja Californians have joined the cause as well.

Although for now CRIT is the main goal, there are many more things in the works for the First Lady. She states that DIF in Baja California continues to be committed to 43 other programs in addition to the CRIT goal.

Once the CRIT has come to fruition, she anticipates shifting focus to the Ambar Museum, which has been at a stand-still for the past five years due to budget constraints, and also the promotion of CRIT village, which will be a housing and accommodation area for families that will come to wherever the CRIT is established to seek treatment. She also plans on completing the Women and Children Hospital that was left unfinished by the prior administration.

Regardless of what happens in the near future, Baja California will benefit from this campaign, because thousands have been involved and a new culture of empathy and respect toward people with different needs has evolved.

With solid experience working in the education sector in Chula Vista for nine years, Raucho is confident that the community on both sides of the border will get involved with the projects DIF is working on. The CRIT is just the beginning of brighter things to come.

Why so much effort on CRIT instead of other projects?

In Baja California, there are 109,000 people with some type of disability according to the 2010 Census. DIF is the primary caretaker of this vulnerable group, and works day in and day out with 43 programs that care for children, adults, and the elderly alike but the realm of disabilities is very broad and cannot be adequately addressed with the current infrastructure, and it is something we need to focus on. It is not just about collecting funds, but also about expanding knowledge and the culture of caring about this issue.

The last tallies we had are from 2010, but that has surely increased over the past four years especially considering the influx of migrants. We already have two general care centers in Tijuana and Mexicali, and three basic ones in San Quintin, San Felipe, and Tecate. Some states don't have anything. But, the next step for us is to have a place specifically for children.

It seems as though this is coming at a high price. It takes a lot of effort to collect that amount. What justifies the cost?

The 126 million that we are collecting will go toward the work capital, and is requested as a sort of guarantee by Teleton Foundation. This is very logical, just as if you rent a house the owner asks for a deposit. The national collection raised by Televisa Foundation is destined toward the construction and equipment of the center, but they want to ensure three years of work capital to operate it. There have been cases where the foundation constructed a CRIT for the state and a year went by without money to operate it, and another year, and it is such a costly investment, and so specialized that if the government isn't going to back its operation there is no way for it to function.

And what kind of feedback from the community have you received?

Excellent, people have been very involved and enthusiastic. An important fact is that in the 21 states where Teleton Foundation has installed a CRIT, the governor, his wife, and community weren't going door to door collecting donations. The money came out of the state's budget and nobody knew that. Here in Baja everyone is involved. Congress approved 40 million for this project, but when people ask me about that amount and seeks answers, the answer is that I haven't even touched that money and I have no access to those funds. In terms of public funds, Baja's CRIT will be the most community-based centers in the entire country. It is not the work of Brenda Raucho, but rather of thousands of Baja Californians. It is not the governor and first lady's project, but a project by and for Baja California. What this has shown us is that if we work as a team, and unite across party lines, religious beliefs, and with help of the media which has helped us spread the word free of cost. The answer is that it has been great, in a short time we have received quality results, and I think we will break records with our collection.

What have been the things that stood out the most, and what is the ideal scenario?

We have also planned on reaching the finish line. It has been hard work, and lots of effort has gone into this for us to say "maybe we won't make it." From the first moment we started working hard. This has all been volunteer based and I didn't inherit volunteer forces at a state level, it has all been constructed. This is why so many events and activities outside of DIF's initiative. DIF only launched the "for the love of Baja California" campaign, and is now working on the Bajaton campign. Everything else have been citizen efforts. All of this work is not to see if we wil make it. Forget about that. All of this is because we know we will make it.

You worked with Latino children in California. Tell us about that.

The last nine years before Kiko became governor, I supported the rights of the latino community in San Diego, specifically related to english as a second language learners, almost all of which are Mexican. During the last three years of the nine, I worked with special education needs children and that led me to be the representative of parents in the Chula Vista district where I worked withe the Parents Consulting Committee for the english language in the school district, and with the California Bilingual Education Association. One of our achievements was that we managed to make the school calendar for elementary school, junior high, and high school the same, as previously they all ran on different schedules and which got in the way of family unionity when vacation and days off didn't line up.

The eyes of the world are on the border, now that more children and teenagers than ever before are arriving. What does DIF do for them?

DIF works day in and day out on 43 programs and one of those is the Minor and Family Defense agency where we work with unaccompanied migrant children when they are turned over to us from the immigration authority. The majority of those cases these children are waiting to be claimed by their family members, but in worst cases we have to look for their family members when these children are from states other than Baja, so, we reach out to DIF in other entities to look for their families, and in extraordinary cases this can take a long time or no family members are located, in which case they are integrated into a shelter that houses children who are victims of abuse or neglect.

What is planned for the near future?

There are many more projects in the works. On August 2nd the Bajaton comes to an end, but there is no doubt that on the 4th of April after taking a day off to rest and recover we will get started on what is next. If you didn't get to support the CRIT campaign there are many more ways you can help out in the future. One of the more immediate projects is the completion of the Ambar Museum, which is one of DIF's projects and still needs millions more to complete. Independently of who started the project, if it is good then we should work on finishing it. Just because it wasn't my project to begin with means that I am going to do away with it. The other is the CRIT villa in order to complete this project and fully support families of children that don't have a place to stay. There are many necessities, but we have a strong community and we are not going to stop. We are going to continue to ask for support from the community, this is only the beginning. When you are doing well you should help out, because life is a cycle and you never know when you might need help, so it is important to do your part when you can.

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