Community Members of Queretaro

Members of El Arca en Querétaro

Community Leader: Cristina Hernández (Cris)

Live-in assistants (House): Maria Isabel Peñaloza (Isa) and Johanna Kanniess

Core members (House): Moisés Hernández, José Sancén, Bertha Ramírez, Iván Aguayo

Assistants at the workshop: Isabel Saavedra and Diana Rangel

Core members at the workshop: In addition to Moisés and Iván, Guillermo Juárez (Memo), Rocío Merino (Roci) and Juana Isela Guerrero (Juanita).

Teacher at the workshop: Olivia Musiate

Community Council: Magaly Eguiarte, Manuel Nava

Board members: Alberto Parás (Founding member), Kathy Seib and Javier Vargas, Ana Maria Ramírez and Rafael González, Gerardo Peñalva, Cynthia Maldonado, Carlos Eguiarte, Roberto Ledesma and Mireille Kheirallah.

Close friends: Luisa Arley, Martha and Mathieux Viel, Chavo among others

 

Hello, my name is Maria Cristina Hernández Rodríguez, but friends call me Cris. I am 44 years old and I live in Querétaro. I have 3 siblings: 2daughters (22 and 14 years old) and a son (23), as well as 2 granddaughters.

I have known El Arca since 11 years ago where I have acted in different roles, and for the last year and a half, I am the Community Leader.

My favorite food is “pozole” and I love mangoes! And purple is my favorite color. I love to spend time with my family and with the core members. In this photo, I am with Bertha.

I’m looking forward for your visit, our brothers and sisters in the mission, and to be able to share about experiences. We are preparing with great joy your visit and thank you for your efforts to come and celebrate with us. Hasta pronto!

 

  Moisés Hernández, also known as “Moy” is a person with Down syndrome. He arrived in December 1999 as the first core member in our community. This year, Moy will turn 40 years old having lived 15 years in the community. In his free time, he likes to copy texts, draw things especially from nature, take photos, and film scenes from our celebrations in the community. In the last year or so, he has become a very avid “recycler”, gathering daily plastic bottles, aluminum cans, and cardboard from his surrounding and going to sell it. He uses the money to buy some things for himself, but sometimes also for others. He says that a person his age always needs some things. He likes to socialize with people from Santa Bárbara where he lives. He has a particular way to make sure nothing important is missing from the community, letting the person in charge know what needs to be purchased. Moisés is a big fan of Michael Jackson and enjoys dancing on his music; he brings a lot of life to our community!