My experience with A Child's Hope Foundation in Mexico was unforgettable. It's amazing how small moments and small acts can have such a great impact on the lives of others, as well as yourself. The weeklong trip to Baja California consisted of a wide variety of emotions; ranging from sorrow, happiness, and exhaustion. We spent half of each day working at various orphanages. The first day consisted of cooking and painting, and the second and third, were full of digging and mixing cement. It was exciting to see the progress we made and our completed projects at the end of the week.
I loved meeting each child and watching his or her face light up with excitement to play with us visitors. We colored, painted nails, jumped over the ocean waves, played soccer, braided hair, and played on the playground. It was fun to learn what each child enjoyed doing and sharing that experience with him or her. It was also very touching to see the children cherish the small gifts we brought for them.
One of my favorite moments occurred while digging up dirt to create a cement patio at the Buena Vida Orphanage. While I was digging, a few children grabbed shovels and started helping me. It was so refreshing to see the children excited about work. They were truly appreciative of what we were doing for them, and wanted to help in any way they could. I was more than happy to be helping these children who valued our contributions. You truly love the children there because they instantly love you unconditionally back. My only regret is not sneaking an orphan home with me!
I loved meeting each child and watching his or her face light up with excitement to play with us visitors. We colored, painted nails, jumped over the ocean waves, played soccer, braided hair, and played on the playground. It was fun to learn what each child enjoyed doing and sharing that experience with him or her. It was also very touching to see the children cherish the small gifts we brought for them.
One of my favorite moments occurred while digging up dirt to create a cement patio at the Buena Vida Orphanage. While I was digging, a few children grabbed shovels and started helping me. It was so refreshing to see the children excited about work. They were truly appreciative of what we were doing for them, and wanted to help in any way they could. I was more than happy to be helping these children who valued our contributions. You truly love the children there because they instantly love you unconditionally back. My only regret is not sneaking an orphan home with me!
Over Thanksgiving, I had the opportunity to go to Mexico through my job. Round House Racing, who I work for, recently partnered up with A Child's Hope Foundation; an organization which provides a healthy caring environment for orphans in developing countries. I was lucky enough to be able to invite my family to come along with me. So, the Saturday before Thanksgiving, Chito, my dad, my mom, Allison, Alyssa Jo, and I drove to California. We made it just in time for Sunday dinner with the Hales, long time family friends. The next day we splurged and went to Disneyland and California Adventures- I never get sick of those places.
Tuesday, however, was when the real fun began. We met the rest of the group from A Child's Hope Foundation at a Walmart parking lot near the border. We then all caravanned across the border and drove an hour south to Ensenada. We stayed at an orphanage called Puerta de Fe. They had several small buildings with make shift bunk beds for visitors to stay in. It wasn't the most pleasant sleeping arrangement...but it's hard to justify complaints when you are around orphans. That night we played with the kids for a while and then had an interesting experience eating out. Our group organizer told everyone they had to try the food at Guzmans. He raved about how good it was. So, naturally, we decided to go there. Upon arrival, we sat down at one of the three tables. We watched him cook our food.. next to his full sink of dirty dishes, he gave us fresh homemade tortillas.. with his bare hands and we ended up standing half the time to make room for others..but all in all it was good food and a funny experience.
The next morning started off early. My family along with one other family took a van into the heart of Tijuana. There we visited "the dump." Previously used as a land fill, people would scavenge for food and other materials to use. They then started building "homes" and living at the dump. It is now a community of very poor people. There is a small church there, however, which cooks a hot breakfast every morning for all the children in the area. We had the privilege of cooking them breakfast that morning. Now when I say breakfast, I mean whatever donations the church can get. That morning, we cooked top ramen, instant potatoes, and sliced small pieces of bread. Talk about carbs! It was very humbling to see the small amount of food they received (for many, that was the only meal they had all day) as well as their living conditions. We finished the work day with painting buildings back at the orphanage. My favorite part of each day was when we were able to play with the kids. They loved having visitors. All of them would call us "amiga" (friend) and would pull us around the playground to see different things. That evening we took the kids with us to the beach. A few would put their feet in but most of them just liked just playing soccer or building sand castles.
On Thursday we went to a different orphanage called Casa de Paz. I met the most adorable little girl there. I wish I could have brought her home! (Mexico does not allow outside country adoptions) That day I learned how to make a side walk, from complete start to finish. We started by digging. Digging, digging, and more digging. We had to make sure it was level and cut boards to frame the outside of the walkway. We then shoveled gravel and dirt to make cement. Yup I can make cement. The boys wheelbarrowed the cement over and poured. It was pretty fun to see it all come together start to finish. That evening, the group went out to Rosarita to eat dinner and do a little shopping.
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On Friday, we went to a third orphanage, my favorite, Buena Vida. There we did more digging and shoveling to create a cement patio. This orphanage was the smallest and only had a dirt "playground." These children were all from the system. Many still had parents but they are in jail or on drugs. The government takes the kids out of their home and send them to this orphanage, but does not give the orphanage any money to provide for them. They are constantly coming up with ideas to make more money. The children use to make and sell candy, but quickly found that they lost more money on the electricity, water, and ingredients rather than make any. On Friday though, I believe it was some sort of teacher prep day so the kids were home from school. This made the day more exciting for us because we were able to interact with them a lot more. Here we pulled out the buckets of things we brought with us. Toys, jewelry, sunglasses, coloring books, nail polish, ect. They loved it! It was so fun to play with them while they were playing with the things we gave them. My favorite part though, was when some of the kids starting grabbing shovels and helped us dig. It was so touching to see that they were whiling to help us and truly appreciate us helping them. That evening we had a big soccer game with everyone from our group and all the orphans. Me, not really in the soccer playing mood, sat with some of the kids who didn't want to play and talked with them/they loved playing games on our phones. We then had dinner that night at Buena Vida, where some of the older kids helped to cook the meal. And obviously we ended the night with a pinata :)
Saturday morning we packed up, cleaned our "camp site" and headed out for breakfast on the beach. We had delicious pancakes with coconut syrup-I highly recommend trying that. Baja California is an interesting place because it use to be very touristy. Many Americans would go there for a cheap beach vacation. After our economy dropped and violence rose in Mexico, Americans stopped coming and it greatly affected the people there. Many are out of jobs. We passed several hotels only partially completed. It really is such a drastic change driving from Tijuana into California. Very poor to very rich.
I was exhausted by the end of our trip. We worked hard and were very sore, but it was all worth it to see those cute little kids' faces light up. I wish I could do more for them. With my company, we donate partial proceeds from our races to A Child's Hope Foundation. We hope to raise enough money to buy land and build a new orphanage for Buena Vida. They are being kicked out of their building because the owner wants to get a lessor that will pay more. My company is also holding a 5k run TOMORROW with ALL proceeds going to the charity. I am really excited about this goal and hope we can reach it. If you are interested in running one of these races, going on a service trip with the organization, or just want to donate, feel free to ask me or visit their website at A Child's Hope Foundation
Seriously though, this was a wonderful way to spend my Thanksgiving and I would highly recommend everyone go on a service trip like this at least once in his or her life.
I loved reading about your experiences! It sounded like such an amazing trip! Miss you!
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