History of the Chiapas Project

The Chiapas Project was inspired by the efforts of Nick Brody, a then 16 year-old high school student who spent the entire summer of 2001 as a volunteer at a boy’s orphanage in the capital city of Tuxtla Gutierrez, run by the Salesian Sisters. Nick became fluent in Spanish and learned how very much he had to offer to the boys, while learning the benefits of helping those in need.

Nick’s sister Kim (then 13 years-old), mother Joanne Liegner (gynecologist), and father David Brody (dentist), along with Sister Ernestina Vieyra of Mexico City, joined him in August for a week’s work in the remote town of Ocotepec. This small group represented the first medical/dental volunteers to travel to Ocotepec, the center of the Zoque people. Since then, the Brody/Liegner family has led a semi-annual trip to rural Chiapas. The Project has grown such that 50 volunteers from 3 countries traveled to Ocotepec in March 2003 to provide medical, dental, and opthalmalogic care and surgery. Our August 2003 trip is already in the planning stage and will include opthalmologists from Brazil and Argentina, as well as Mexico, Canada, and the U.S.A. Dentists and dental auxiliaries are especially needed.