Mark Brady - The Homepage

INTRODUCTION (Written in 1995 approx)
In 1984, Mark Brady, a businessman, from Flower Hill in Navan, was on holidays in the United States. He decided to take a train south into Mexico. On that journey he saw for the first time, from the train, a group of people who were to become very important in his life - the Tarahumara Indians. Little did Mark realise, at that time. that he would eventually end up living among these people for six months every year or that each year he would return to Navan to raise funds for them.
In the beginning, Mark returned to the Sierra Madre Mountains on holidays each year. He learned more and more about these simplistic people and began to understand their culture and traditions. But the poverty and lack of development in the area soon made him realise that he could, perhaps, do something to help them. After a few years Mark began to help the people and in the last ten years he decided to raise funds for the Tarahumara, spending half the year raising money and the other half working with the Indians.

WHERE DO THE TARAHUMARA LIVE
The Sierra Madre are the main mountain range of Mexico. They are fold mountains, formed ,when the Pacific Plate and the American plates collided. They rise to a height of 5,700 metres (13,000 feet) and have many volcanoes, the most important of which is Popocateptl, which last erupted in 1920.
In the north west of these mountains lies the state of Chihuhua, the largest state of Mexico. It is in this area that Mark lives and works among the Tarahumara Indians. The mountains are high and generally inaccessible, apart from the railway line running through, bringing tourists who want to see the magnificent scenery. The environment is harsh and rocky. The summers are hot, too hot for people used to air conditioning. Temperatures on the mountain reach 100 degrees fahrenheit and in the valleys, 120 degrees is common.
This is during the summer. In Winter, despite the fact that the region is just north of the Tropic of Cancer, temperatures plummet, minus 25 degrees is common during the night hours.

THE PEOPLE
Life in these harsh conditions would be very difficult for most of us, even with air conditioning in summer and central heating in winter. But the Tarahumara have no such luxuries. They live in caves or in shacks made from trees or adobe blocks, which are exposed to the elements. In fact, it is the cave dwellers who have a more comfortable existence! if you can call it that. The caves are natural, not man made and temperatures inside remain constant throughout the year. They are an agricultural people, farming the land. They live at a subsistence level, it is difficult if not impossible to make a living from the poor barren soil. For the last five years drought has hit the region. The rains, which should come in July each year, have failed. The rivers have dried up. Water, essential for growing crops is in short supply. Mark provides many of the people in the area with basic food supplies, like beans and maize, their staple diet. He also provides sugar and salt and many other necessities. Without this help, many would suffer starvation.
They are a forgotten people, living in isolation from the rest of the world. Most have never seen the outside world; they know little about it anyway. They have no electricity or running water; television, which would make them more aware of other cultures is unknown to them. Mark is the only "white man" they know. It is almost forgotten by the government; It has no riches, so it is almost ignored.
Some 100,000 Tarahumara live in an area the size of Ireland. Mark cannot help them all, but he helps those he can. In an area where the birth rate is high, so too is infant mortality. Many children die before the age of five. For those who survive, Mark is building school classrooms, hoping that an education may make life easier for some children. Most children in the area receive no education; even if schools were available, many would be kept at home to help in the fields. In 1999, Mark began a sports programme and hopes to hold his 5th annual sports project in October 2003. Sports come naturally to these children. The tribe are known as 'fleet footed Indians' - they are capable of running very long distances very quickly.
One of the main things Mark brings back to Mexico every year is medicines. There are no local hospitals or clinics - sometimes the survival of a child can Depend on the simple medicines Mark brings back from Navan. He has established what almost amounts to a local industry, in the form of making sandals -sandals so the children can walk comfortably to school. Old tyres are collected and used to make these shoes. If you see Mark down in Navan Shopping Centre look at his feet; the sandals he wears are made from these old tyres.
Money collected in Navan also goes towards basic essentials for the people. Things like soap and blankets to keep them clean and warm, essential especially for babies and young children. With no running water, it is people to observe even the basics of hygiene, which would prolong their lives. But even in this area Mark is making a difference. With the money he raises, he has employed engineers to bring a water supply down from the mountains. Pipes are run from the mountains, where water is available, three or four miles away, down to the valley, where a pump is available for people to make use of.