Mexico Work Project: Thursday

Thursday was an early day for most of the group. It was a chance to serve breakfast to the children in Tijuana before they headed off to school. These kids come from families who have built homes in the city's old dump, using materials that were discarded. Kent and I went on this outing together a few years ago, and it was the highlight of that trip for me. This time around, leaving at 4:30 a.m. sounded unappealing, so we and a couple others stayed at camp to fix a late breakfast for the rest of the group upon their return.

A little mission has built a kitchen and dining room along with a chapel to provide this daily meal for the children. Volunteers show up early to prep the food, serve it, and clean up afterward.

This time around, they also had a quick birthday celebration before school. Lauren is the one cutting the cake. She is a volunteer from California who fell in love with this work and has lived at Door of Faith for almost two years. She manages the visiting volunteer groups and is our go-to person when we're on site at the orphanage.

Following breakfast, volunteers usually have a bit of time to play with the kids and get in a quick tour of the neighborhood. Look at how the houses are built almost on top of each other.

Check out the power grid that residents have created.

Who said tobogganing wasn't a sport in Baja?


The two things I love about the people at the dump are their ingenuity (did you see those walls built from old tires?) and their self-respect. The children who came for breakfast were clean with neat clothes, many in school uniforms. The girls had their hair carefully styled. And they were all happy. When I was cleaning dishes, two little boys brought me flowers for my hair as a thank you gift. There is always a sense of gratitude from those good people, and never entitlement.

Because the majority of our group had waken early, we gave them the option of resting up for our big soccer game against another orphanage that afternoon. A few of us, though, went back to Buena Vida to work on building a bathroom for the girls' dorm. Our job was to make the floor. It was interesting to learn how to mix cement by hand...and it made me grateful for cement trucks. That heavy stuff is hard work!



Kent had prepped us mentally for that afternoon's activities. The group would all travel to Casa de Paz Orphanage in the valley above Ensenada, where we would deliver supplies, play with the kids, and most importantly DEFEAT THE ORPHANS AT SOCCER for the first time ever! Every trip, the volunteers play against these kids, and every trip we end up buying sodas for said kids because they ALWAYS win. But Kent assured us that was not going to happen this time!

The half hour drive is beautiful. The valley is covered with vineyards and olive groves. Kent kept our "team" pumped up--or at least entertained--with his music and dance moves in the van.

In no time at all, the game was on!

Admittedly, we had the advantage in numbers. I think it was six of them versus a dozen or so of us.

Within 10 minutes, we had four goals unanswered by them. They were probably making us feel good about ourselves, because at that point the tide turned.

After they ran the score up to ten goals against our original (and only) four, we called it quits.

You'll notice that I was only behind the camera. Soccer brings up bad childhood memories, so I was happy to watch from the side and jump rope with a few of the kids. By the time the game ended, I had learned a new jump rope song; but it was in Spanish, so I have no idea what we were singing!

We wrapped up our time at Casa de Pas by making crafts...

...and making good on our loser's treat.

While Kent was off buying soda, I fell in love with this little three year old. During the end of the soccer game, he stood next to me on the picnic bench, wrapped his little arm around my neck and pointed with his free hand to the players. When the field was empty, his caregiver blew bubbles, which he happily chased for half an hour. (He reminds me of #5.)

In the evening we headed to Ensenada for shopping and dinner. Sometimes we do our shopping in Rosarito. Either way, without fail someone always buys a sombrero and a serape.

Luchador masks are also popular, and on past trips my kids have always found the candy store.

I've learned to buy small, easily packed items, such as jewelry, which I selected while Kent enjoyed a seated massage out on the street.

Kent always takes the group to his favorite restaurant in Ensenada. He loves the birria there.

Birria is basically a bowl of meat in soupiness that you eat with corn tortillas. I'm not a big fan, but it is fun to enjoy Kent enjoying it. On his trip this past April, someone promised $1,000 to the foundation if Kent would eat the serrano chili from his plate. Kent's throat swelled and turned red and he desperately searched for something to take away the burn, but he earned that donation!

I'm including a picture from 2008 where I'm sitting with the Bratt Family. Perry is the president of A Child's Hope Foundation and has led most of the work project trips with Kent. He just happened to not be able to come this time around.

Adios for now!

Mexico Work Project: Wednesday

Somehow I ended up on kitchen duty a few trips back, so Wednesday morning I get to wake up an hour before the group and make breakfast with whomever has volunteered to help me that day. (It's really not a big deal, since I wake up early on my own anyway. I just think it's funny that my role as cook is always assumed. I used to cook for 50-60 employees at Jacob Lake Inn each night, which turned out to be good preparation for this little work project role.)

After breakfast, the whole group headed to Door of Faith Orphanage (DOFO) for a tour of their facilities peppered with Q&A about their philosophy and how they manage the physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of 100+ kids. I won't go into that here, but it is amazing how smoothly they operate and care for their very large family. It comes from many years of trial and error and the wisdom and experience of their staff of 27 caregivers and long-term volunteers.

Kent usually wanders off to prep for the work we'll be doing, but I always love to tag along on the tour. Here are some photos of recently completed projects at DOFO.

The new dorm for elementary-aged boys. The wing on the left is a library, and the wing on the right is the barber shop. (Can you imagine keeping up with haircuts for over 100 children?!)

I love the bright colors of the buildings, inside and out. Fun tile murals are everywhere, too. Check out the tile in the new boys' dorm:











This year a landscaper came down with a volunteer group and turned a packed dirt bed into a lovely and productive vegetable garden. Some of the kids get to help maintain it, and the food goes straight to the kitchen and poorer families in the community.

Here are some interior shots of the baby dorm, which was built largely by ACHF over the course of several work projects. While the DOFO kids have their routines and jobs to stick to, this is the one building where volunteers are always welcome to come play with the babies.











After the tour, we have to pull the volunteers away from the children and get to work!

Kent divides the group into smaller teams to work on different projects at Door of Faith Orphanage and Buena Vida Orphanage. This trip our group was asked to gently demolish the old boys' dorm, starting with the roof. We were being careful to save materials, which DOFO had promised to neighbors in La Mision who needed to make repairs to their homes. I spent Tuesday pulling nails from plywood. A smaller group put in a track for a sliding gate at Buena Vida and painted some of their dorms. Other typical work projects include laying block walls, framing interior walls, applying stucco and paint for exteriors, landscaping, and pouring cement floors and paths. When we have families with us, the children are typically put to work painting or scraping mortar alongside the adults building walls.



I usually give Kent a hard time because he does very little "work" on these work project trips. I see him doing a lot of this:

Sure, I know someone has to coordinate the projects and drive people to work sites and fetch the tools and track down directions from the orphanage directors. It's just hard not to covet his cushy job while the rest of us are swinging hammers in the sun. (I'll also admit that it doesn't get that hot; usually only up to 80 at the highest.) But still...












This trip, however, I witnessed a miraculous thing. Kent put on his work gloves...

...and picked up...

...a granola bar! (Bossing people around all morning works up a person's appetite!)

Oh yeah. Then he picked up a sledge hammer--so I really should cut him some slack.

Between 1:00 and 2:00 p.m., we put away the tools and took our lunch break...at the taco stand! Then we took a vote to see who wanted to go to the beach. The result was 20 to one in favor of the beach, with Kent being the only naysayer. When I realized a few years ago how much he doesn't like the beach, I had to consider that maybe some people just simply don't enjoy the peaceful sound of the tide and the soft sand between their toes. After our vote, I've concluded that the rest of us do like those things, and I married the only person alive who isn't enchanted by the beach. Oh well. Marriage is about sacrifice, so Kent came with us and didn't complain once...though he was really excited when I suggested we go warm up in the van and get the group headed back to camp. (The Pacific Ocean is COLD!)



(Did you notice in that last photo, where Kent gets to have chili-lime coconut, he is almost smiling while at the beach?)

After cleaning sand off our clothes, we went back to Buena Vida for dinner and we spent the evening doing what always becomes the group's favorite activity: playing with the orphans until bedtime.























This cutie is Mia. She is a tiny five-year-old who wouldn't speak but only made cute cat noises once her face was painted. She went from person to person encouraging us to pet her head. I wish I could bring her home--along with about four other kids!



What I always love about these kids is that our groups bring games and crafts for the orphans' enjoyment, and the kids always turn it around and make things for Americans.












After saying goodnight to the kids, we wrapped things up with a nice devotional and a hilarious round of phone charades, which I will tell you more about on Friday's post when we had a repeat performance.

Nighty night!

Mexico Work Project: Tuesday

Two weeks ago Kent and I headed to Baja California, Mexico where he led a work project for A Child's Hope Foundation. Kent leads these trips about five times each year, and since people often ask what these projects are all about, I thought I'd outline each day for you all. This makes four times that I've gone with Kent; he has been about 20 times. This most recent trip was organized for single adults, but since families usually come, I'll include some pictures of past trips, too.

Monday is reserved as a driving day for families or others who want to carpool and want their own vehicles in Mexico. Kent normally flies to San Diego, as do a few other volunteers, on Tuesday and rents a van for anyone who needs that transportation. The group meets at a shopping center north of the border during the early afternoon of Tuesday. We hand out walkie talkies to all the drivers and caravan across the border.

Our friends and family often ask about how dangerous it is to cross into Tijuana. While there are plenty of media reports of drug lords targeting each other, tourists are safe. Over 100,000 Americans live in Baja California, and the Mexican military and police have been revamped in recent years to weed out corruption from within and protect their tourist industry.

I've never felt in danger while traveling in Baja, and the military checkpoints and police presence only increases my sense of security down there. When we cross into Mexico, we stay on a toll road along the coast, barely entering Tijuana, and head to the quiet little valley of La Mision.



Normally our group stays at the Door of Faith Orphanage, which has a "campground" for volunteers. DOFO was hosting two other groups this time, though, so we stayed at another campground within walking distance of Buena Vida Orphanage where ACHF is their exclusive source for volunteers.


This new campground was built earlier in the year, and has the same amenities as the Door of Faith campground except for one important difference: the pipes at the new campground are big enough to flush toilet paper!









The dorm rooms are grouped like an apartment building, with four shared bathrooms in the middle. Each room has several bunk beds with *new!* mattresses where we rolled out our sleeping bags. Facing the dorm building is an enclosed kitchen and pavilion for dining. Each campground also has a large fire pit where our group gathers each evening for a short devotional, planning time, and group games.

When everyone is settled in, we head to the orphange to meet the children.


When we approached the Buena Vida Orphanage, Kent told me to pull out my camera so I could take pictures of the children mobbing him. I thought he was kidding. (It's true. After 14 years of marriage, I still don't always know when he is being serious and when he is joking.) Anyway, when they saw him, the kids ran up to him in waves yelling, "Ken! Ken!" and wrapping their arms around him. It was very sweet. Then they started grilling him to see if he could remember their names. This is a little game they play each time he comes. By the end of the trip, he remembers all their names; but matching names to 32 children on the first day is nearly impossible, and the children find his incorrect guesses very entertaining. (At the end of this trip we got a group photo signed by all the children, so he can study up for his next visit in August.)


This is Sarah, who helps to run things at A Child's Hope. She is the one who organized this single adult trip. Anyone can put their own group of at least 15 people together, and Kent will take you down. Family reunions are especially fun. Or you can join any of the regularly scheduled holiday trips during the year.

After everyone gets two or three dozen hugs and some time to play with the children, Kent takes us to the second most important location in La Mision: the taco stand!


Yep, this is where the carne asada inspiration comes from. Next door is a little restaurant with more delicious food. This first night, many of the volunteers were blown away by the tastes at one establishment and tried to pack in a second meal at the other so they wouldn't miss out on anything. We just tell them to pace themselves. It's easy to put on a few pounds during a week in Mexico.

We close Tuesday on full stomachs with a short campfire devotional and plans for a busy workday to follow.