Another Amazing Day in Los Algodones

On Wednesday, we went into Mexico with several others to deliver some food and clothes and love. It was an amazing day.  I need to learn from Marge; she is so good at bringing nutritious food for the children we visit.

 

This gal just had to be a retired teacher; she immediately started teaching Manny how to count in English.

Jennifer, Grandma's granddaughter who now lives at The Safe House, came with us to visit her Granny and her siblings.  That hole he is in will be the new outhouse location... but right now it is a great place to play.

The hands of two strong and beautiful women; Grandma and MaryLou.

This little gal lives across the street and was very curious about us.

When language becomes a barrier, there is almost always someone who can interpret... and the English/Spanish dictionary is never far away.  The neighbor man helped us understand what Grandma was trying to tell us.

This family makes plaster molds; these pigs will be painted and sold downtown.

These two girls really wanted to come over and see what we were doing; each received a toy car and a treat.

When we stopped at Old Maria's home, Jennifer and MaryLou enjoyed the beautiful sunshine and joyful day.

John was turned into a drum for a few minutes...

At Anna's house, all were happy to see us.

Kids entertain each other in all cultures and making faces is a great way to do it!

This is Dulce.  She was born without an anus.  At his moment, she is in the hospital and will have surgery on Monday.  The surgeons are optimistic that the problem will be fixed and she will be given a normal life.  In Mexico, the poor receive free health care, but some Xrays and other exams are not covered; donations helped Dulce to get the necessary preliminary examinations and donations will help keep her mom feed for the week to 10 days that she is in another town where Dulce's operation will take place.  Some clothes were also donated and delivered for Dulce and her mom.

This is their home.

 

This is Martha, Dulce's mom.

And this is the letter she wrote to express her gratitude.  Each Spanish word was looked up in the dictionary and the English word written.  Martha does not speak any English, but she understands love.  This letter was certainly a labor of love.

Our next stop was the wonderful Safe House where Jennifer lives and where several more children are now receiving quality day care.  These two were making good use of the playroom "stuff".

I finally got a good picture of Dalia, the wonderful woman who takes such good care of all the children who come to this home.  She is an extremely calm and capable lady.

Since this was our last visit till fall, we had our picture taken.  It is amazing how quickly we have become attached to the people in this safe house and the people of Los Algodones.  We both had tears in our eyes when we left.

It was an amazing day and it has been an amazing experience working with our northern neighbors and getting to know some of our southern neighbors.

I spent some time today, as we traveled from Yuma to Phoenix,  making a list of things I want to collect and things I want to do before we return in November.  One thing is to accumulate children's books in Spanish and bilingual books - those written in both English and Spanish.  I can't help but think that knowing some English will be beneficial as these children grow up and struggle to overcome generational poverty.  If anyone knows of a good source for quality books or has one they want to donate, please let me know. 

Thanks to donations of many, the refrigerator is nearly paid for.  It has been ordered from Home Depot and should be ready to install in the home early next week. 

Lunch at Cibola National Wildlife Refuge

Last year, we visited this refuge near Blythe, CA for the first time and we discovered burrowing owls.  Two weeks ago, we were there again and this time, we watched Osprey fishing and feeding.  Although we didn't see the actual catch, we did get there before the fish was dead and we were there for the first few bites.

This bird definitely kept an eye on us... he was super aware of his surroundings at all times. Don't you love his windblown hairdo...

 

I took a video and it is really cool, but I cannot for the life of me get it to upload... At one point while we were watching, he tried to pick up the bass and fly away but he was unsuccessful.  Either the bass was too heavy, which I doubt, or his wings were too wet from the fishing expedition.

He took great pleasure in the seafood special of the day.

At another point, he called out and another bird answered, but that one never showed up... at least not while we were there.

We drove away for a bit and when we came back another osprey had caught a fish and was high on the pole enjoying his dinner. 

 

 

(Remember to click on the picture if you want to see it bigger on your screen.)

 

 

Betrayal and Love

Now that is a catchy title, don't you think... This is really a continued story of the orphanage in Los Algodones, Mexico.  Mike and I are back at Pilot Knob RV Park in Winterhaven, CA - by Yuma and yesterday, we had an opportunity to go visit .  All is well and the house definitely feels like home... but there have been some changes.

When Mary Lou and Jack decided to begin an orphanage in Algodones, they teamed up with a friend of 11years with whom they had worked on many outreaches to Mexico.  As a native of Algodones, she not only would serve as a good interpreter for legal work but she knew how the governmental system worked.   This is where the betrayal comes in... it seems that on all legal documents, she put herself as lead director and MaryLou as "President of Visitors" which basically means nothing.  Shortly after the orphanage officially opened, she had people on the street begging for donations.  When MaryLou got word of this (she has an amazing network in Algodones), she enlisted the help of others and immediately severed her relationship with Maria.  Can you imagine how it must have felt to experience that betrayal and loss of longterm relationship? 

Anyway, when this relationship was severed, with it went the name Bryan's Home (and the beautiful logo)  as that is what was legally registered in only Maria's name.  This is where Love comes in... MaryLou says that as soon as that door closed, God came at her with so many ideas, she could hardly believe it.  Out of what could have been the end, God granted a new and even better beginning.  The home is now not only an orphanage, but a daycare.  The mayor of Algodones tells MaryLou that the need is great for daycare as many children are left alone.  Within a day of putting up this simple sign, two girls were signed up and little Jennifer was a fulltime resident.

These three enjoyed playtime together on the new (donated) mats.

Dalia (house Mama) and MaryLou pose in the kitchen - Dalia made a meal for us that was absolutely fabulous.

MaryLou gave the two school age girls a real treat - a ride in a car to school.  They go to school from 1 to 5 pm.  They are usually walked to and from school by Dalia.

These two created a little "play casa" within this safe new home.

The fellows assembled a bookcase

and put together bunk beds (donated).

It was a wonderful feeling to watch kids at play and hanging out at this very safe and secure home.  Rest assured, all of you who have given us money or sent checks, that money was not compromised and is being well used.  And also know that Mike and I are so committed to this mission that we have decided to workamp for 5 months next winter at Pilot Knob.  We want to be able to help more and we want to be able to welcome all of you who decide to visit!

Now, if anyone has a new energy efficient refrigerator or knows of where, in this area, to get one, please let us know.  The house has a very old fridge that uses way tooooo much expensive electricity.  Have you priced new refrigerators lately - wow!  Thanks for whatever you can do to help.

The One Day Tour of Yuma

When we were at Quartzsite, the Meyers joined us and since they had never been to Yuma, we decided to give them the quarter tour.  Of course, we had to stop at the little church along highway 95.

And harvest is always a worth a look.

I still love how they plant the leaf lettuce - ready for the salad bowl.

 

While Lonny and Lee visited the Territorial Prison, I checked out the new park and watched the trains.

By this time, it was time for lunch and what trip to Yuma is complete without a stop at Lutes.

 

You never know what you are going to see at Lutes...

Our next stop was the town of Felicity - known for its "History of the World in Granite.  We were lucky in that a young man was hard at work.

Now how often are you going to see a church and naked man all in one picture...

Every year, the work becomes more complete.  And it is a good bargain, they have lowered the price to $3 a person.

Since we were so close to the border, and because they didn't have passports with them, we did a little off roading and showed them Algodones from the river.  That is the multimillion dollar fence you see.

This is "Grandma's" neighborhood as viewed from the U.S. - we were so close that I am confident we were on the border patrol's radar.

The day trip to Yuma was completed at Shield's Date Gardens where I was too busy enjoying my malt to take any pictures but this one of a freshly watered rose.

It was fun to show good friends a bit of our life along the side roads.