COMMUNITY BACKGROUND:

Ligüí and Ensenada Blanca are the two largest rural communities and the center for AsistED programs.  Rancho Ligüí grew up around the ruined Mission of San Juan de Bautista de Malibat y Ligüí (1705).  Its neighboring community of Ensenada Blanca, which lies about 2 miles to the southeast, started as a fishing camp in early 1960’s.  Together they grew to about 500 inhabitants, only to decline in the early 1980’s as fisheries began to fail.  The population began to increase again in the 1990’s when running water was brought to the communities.

Present population is about 450. Most houses are of wood and cardboard, but government aid projects have resulted in some cement block houses.  Most of the houses have dirt floors and lack indoor plumbing, and use a 12 volt solar panel and battery (supplied through a government project), or use their car battery, for lighting and to run a TV.

Adult literacy is close to 40%: few men and fewer women have completed sixth grade.  About half of the population is school-age.  Except for the store owners and the fish buyers, the families are subsistence fishermen, who raise a few goats, cattle, and other animals to supplement their diet and income. Now there are a few jobs at the small resorts in Ensenada Blanca, and some part time work in the communities. Average per-capita income is estimated at $600 per annum.

These communities are typical of the rural coastal communities of the municipality. Others include Aqua Verde, 18 miles south by water (pop. 83), and Tembabichi (pop 35),  12 miles south of Agua Verde.  All are involved in the AsistED program.

Many of the people in Ensenada Blanca migrated here from Agua Verde and have relatives living there.  And almost all the families in the coastal communities have relatives who live on the mountain “ranches” and raise goats and cattle.  Although some ranches have been abandoned in recent years there are still many active ranches with school-age children that are involved in the AsistED programs.