Through the Hospital Infantil de las Californias, which she co-founded in 1994, Dr. Elizabeth G. Jones has helped thousands of children on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Located in the Mexican state of Baja California just a half-mile from San Diego’s Otay Mesa border crossing, the hospital serves children from low-income families.

The Canadian-born Jones told Efe that she began her work in Mexico 35 years ago, after a Spanish class at the University of San Diego where a nun urged her to do volunteer work south of the border.

“I’ve never been able to say ‘no’ to a nun. I told her my Spanish wasn’t good enough, and she told me to look after my nutrition and the Spanish would take care of itself,” she laughed.