November 2008 Journal
Casa el Buen Pastor… Mexican Orphanage 2008
Well here we go again…I spent 9 days at the orphanage again this November and I want to tell you all about it…if you have time to read it and are interested??? Get a cup of coffee and sit back…do not take it all in one reading... that might be too much...
Index of people mentioned in this Journal...
Glenda Knudson…My cousin from Renton WA Mary Libby...My cousin from Birch Bay WA Jake and Charity…Missionaries from Portland who live in a home on the orphanage grounds… Sara…the director of the orphanage Fernando…head dad and main cook Sandra…our full time teacher Casa Ville Amanicer…Poor orphanage out by the airport Flor…Member at large of our Board for the orphanage who lives in Morelia Linda…American lady living in Morelia and tutoring the little kids.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Can you believe it…All three of us got on the same plane out of Seattle and out of LA as well…We were so blessed. This year I had 2 cousins going with me to help at the orphanage…Glenda Knudson, who has gone for the past 3 years and Mary Libby who was the rookie…She does all the books for our orphanage fund, and I wanted her to see the orphanage and get “hooked” on the kids…Mission accomplished!!!!! She loved it there…and it now gives her a better idea of what she is working so hard for…Back to getting on the planes… My generous Cousin Kenny and his wife Donna supplied us with three guest passes on the Alaska Airlines this year…they have been doing this for years now…and we sure appreciate it so much as it makes it so much easier for us to go…If any of you have traveled this way, you know it is wonderful but you take your chances getting on the plane of your choice…and with 3 of us getting on we knew it might be hard…and since there was no way Mary could go by herself, as she had never been there before, and would not know where to go…we had to try and stay together…When we got to the airport the flight we were scheduled to take only had 2 seats available out of San Francisco…where the night before there had been 20…So what to do????? A new Alaskan employee came over and told the guy who was helping us…”here is what to do…” and she got us on an earlier flight out of Seattle and on a flight out of LA with lots of seats…that got us into Puerto Vallarta at almost the same time as we were scheduled for the first time…God is good.
One night in PV then off on the ETN bus lines at 8:45 AM the next day…First stop Guadalajara for a 40 min. lay over…That was better then a 2 hour wait which we would have had if we had missed our connection…Then into Morelia by 7 PM…Beautiful city to drive into at night…Huge city…Lots of lights and traffic…The taxi man found the orphanage with no problem!! When we rang the bell all the kids came running to greet us…Calling Nana and Glenda…It makes your heart almost burst to hear them…They were so excited we were there…Much of the time there is not much excitement in their young lives.
Different rooms for us this year than other years… Nicer I think… and so clean… Everything is so clean…Maybe it has helped that they called us the purex ladies all of those years…Ha…and the kids look so happy…this made me feel very good…After all the hugs and kisses and greetings we decided we were hungry.. Fernando was willing to fix us supper but we didn’t want to mess up their schedule, so we went to the church down the street and had our first true Mexican food. Tasted so good…Big day tomorrow…first thing is the bank…then maybe Sam’s Club for supplies…but for tonight it is sleep time…and I am so pooped…Wow.
Wednesday, November 5th
Up by 7…Good nights sleep…Very hard bed and flat pillow…but I will get used to it…when you are tired anything works…B’fast bar this Am and tea…Not bad…Walked the little ones to Kindergarten …called ‘Kinder’ here…Only 3 of them this year and they always look so cute in their tiny uniforms and so proud to be going to school…only 3 blocks from the orphanage so easy to get to…but they are always walked there and some one comes to walk them home…They are only 4 or 5.
Then took a walk thru the Market…it is almost a block of little businesses like fruit stands and a meat market, a key making place, a couple of places that sell flowers…one place that sells only chickens…You can get almost anything in the Market…Everything is locally done by farmers etc…I love to go in there as it is always busy with lots of people and I enjoy buying from the “little guy” and not always from the big places…Mary was with me and I wanted her to experience this place…I want her to experience everything here….I want her to fall in love with this place like I have…and love it forever.
She brought from home, lots of tooth paste and combs and hair ‘pretties’ for all the girls… and combs and hot wheel cars for the boys…she has thot of everything…Between her and Glenda they have everything covered….One of Mary’s contributors sent a 2 dollar bill for every child in this orphanage… We talked it over with the teacher and director and thot that one night we would take all of them to Mc Donald’s and each child can spend the money on a hamburger and fries and drink…that will be a great treat for them as they never get to go out to eat and they all seem to know what Mc Donald’s is.
7 PM….As I sit here writing in my Journal I am listening to the kids play and run and laugh…talk back and forth…But there is this one little guy out there singing “The lion sleeps tonight”…In a clear high voice…every note and word perfect…I love listening to him…it soars above all the other things happening out there… so nice.
This afternoon we went to Sam’s Club…I spent almost $900.00 in US money on things for the orphanage…T Paper…lots of it…food stuff…oil for the car…plus lots of other stuff…We have 13 girls and 17 boys at this time…could change tomorrow…you never know. We still need mops Also feminine napkins, shampoo, cream for the dry little arms and legs…Brooms, baby wipes, meats, table cloths [vinyl} and so on. We still have a ways to go…The bank will let me exchange only $300 US into Peso’s per time…Some times I then go to a different bank for another $300. The peso is in poor shape this year…Other years it has been 10 peso’s to one US dollar…but this year it is just over 12 peso’s per one US dollar…good for us but bad for the Mexican economy… Any way we have to go to a bank almost every day…which is not a problem…as we can walk to 2 of them…It helps when we are there when they open as there is always a line up… But the Mexican people are so kind…when they see us…looking so American…they help us big time…and I do not mean just the bank people, I mean everyone.
Good dinner today…Beans and rice and 2 fried eggs on top…Fresh eggs from the chickens they grow here at the orphanage… Plus a very good red sauce …like a cooked salsa over the top…Not hot…just good and tasty…School goes on all day for the kids…Different times for different ages of kids…Some leave as early as 7AM…then more at 8…the kinder kids have to be there by 9…The high school kids do not leave till after lunch and do not get home till 8:30PM…But the big lunch/dinner time is about 2:30 PM and most kids are here for that.
No hot water in our shower…But boy, does that cold shower ever wake you up….Ha…It only took a couple of days to get it going good again…Did get a chance to answer some of my e-mails today…They have a computer with Internet connection here at the orphanage…but some times it is just nice to get away for a couple of hours.
Thursday, November 6th...
Gave Sara the checks for the year this Am…she was happy as we were able to give $700.00 US per month, thanks to many of you and your generous hearts and wallets… We are their one main constant source of income…and the extra $50.00 per month will be a big help for them this year.
Remember I told you that yesterday I could only get $300.00 US exchanged… Well today the limit was $1000.00 US…go figure???? But hot dog… Today we went to the bank and Glenda uses the cash machine… It is difficult to know which way is best…carrying the cash with you or taking it out of a cash machine…Problem with bringing it with you is, of course, the danger of carrying it…losing it on the way or whatever… The problem with the cash machines are some times they are down or some times they are just out of $$ in them and there is a charge to use it…Some times the banks are closed… Some times hours are different in different banks…So you have to chose your poison…I prefer carrying the cash, and Glenda likes to use her debit card…both ways good…both ways a pain…But we thank God that we have the funds to help them.
3 PM…Just got home from Costco…Left orphanage at 11 AM and home by 3 PM…Got a roll of pictures developed while there…Glenda paid the bill at Costco…$1,353.78…US…We loaded them up on everything you can imagine…Will not last a year but will for a nice long time…Even managed to get Sara some lotion, shower jell, a jar of mixed nuts and some warm slipper sox…warm and cozy ones…She puts in many long hard hours here and gets very little for it…But she has this soft spot in her heart for these little ones… and stays…After our long hours of shopping Mary got us all pizza and cold drinks…It was nice to sit down and rest…Got home and all the kids trouped out to help carry stuff into the kitchen…Fun to watch cause even the littlest ones helped…In fact the smaller the child the bigger the item he or she wanted to carry... Ha.
The first thing they did when we got home is to clean out the small chest freezer that they have…it was at least 24” deep in old ice cream bars…What a mess…But they cleaned it all up and now they have a great place to put all the meat products we got today…That was good that we bought all of this meat as it gave them a reason to clean the freezer.
Next we are going to the kitchen shop…We need plates and bowls etc. Also Glenda wants to look for stuff for the Amanicer orphanage, out by the airport…they have the idea that they can bake bread and sell it…They want to try and have a little business going…There is a culinary school not to far away and they are going to show them how to do this and how to market their product…Some company gave them 2 huge brand new bread making ovens…plus a mixer that stands on the floor it is so big…they told Glenda they need 18 flat pans and a big rolling pin and other necessities for bread making…I take my hat off to them for trying to be a self supporting organization…that is great. Makes me proud of them.
11PM... What a day…We did go to that kitchen shop…got plates and bowls, pitchers and cutting boards for the kitchen. Then back to the car to leave our heavy stuff…Fernando drove Mary and I on this expedition and we were able to take one of the kids with us….Rafael who is our oldest boy…He helped carry the heavy stuff…He had been helping us for the past 2 days…He is the oldest at the orphanage and lots of responsibility is on his shoulders…So on that afternoon I asked him if he needed some new shoes…He hesitated but I pressed the issue and he finally said yes…he did need a new pair of shoes for school… Black loafers…So we went hunting…Not too bad tho as he found them in the 2nd store we stopped at…He was happy and so was I.
Glenda’s son Ethan arrived this eve at the airport and Glenda took a cab and picked him up…He is a Sr. at the Renton high school and a 3 year Spanish student…so he sure came in handy at the orphanage…and was a big hit with all the kids.
The choir had a practice tonight…It is so great to hear them sing…they have such beautiful voices…These kids have a chorus director who comes in twice a week to give them direction in their singing…They get invited to sing at different events…each time they go to do this they have to rent a sound system. As you can imagine a rented system works good some times but not all the time…Some times they get paid for the performance and some times not… But by the time they pay for the rent on the sound system any monies they might make is gone for the rent …They asked what we thot about investing in a sound system that they would own and use all the time…the girls and I had a meeting and put our minds and money together and thot why not…All kids need an activity that they can excel in…our kids here in the states, have sports or music lessons or some thing that they do well…and these kids have very little…So we decided to go for it… Now they have a system that works.
Tonight we went to the big church to eat about 8 PM and we got to take 2 of the bigger kids with us…it was a treat for them…and a treat for us to get to take them…These 2 teenagers had fun as they do not get a chance to go out and eat very often…When we got back to the orphanage …I used my key in the pad lock on the main gate and guess what…It broke in the lock…I was so embarrassed… Sandra the teacher was with us and she finally got the piece that broke out of the lock…but not till we rang the bell and got Sara out of bed to rescue us…What a dummy I am…Tomorrow I will go and get them a new key…With all of that I am so tired I am ready for bed…Good night.
Friday, November 7th...
No school for some of the kids today…the little kinder kids go and the special Ed kids go and the high school kids go but no one in-between…So this was a slow morning…B’fast later then usual. I do love to hear the kids talking when I wake up…sounds so sweet…except when they are fighting…Ha.
At the market this AM I met Calitono, a young man who used to live at the orphanage…He lived there for about 15 years I think…If you remember some of my past journals you will remember me talking about a pair of brothers who had a bad skin disease… Well this young man is the older of the 2, about 24 now and working in Morelia …I was so surprised to see him…and I think he was even more surprised to see me…He looks bad…but he looks good…If you know what I mean.
At 11 AM we all went to the Casa Cuna…this is the baby orphanage… such cute babies…and so many…We did get a bit more information about adopting babies from there…it is hard but possible…Had to be back at the orphanage before dinner as Fernando had promised to make us an Italian dinner today…and boy did he ever…it was delicious.
Just across the street from the orphanage is a bakery…and the owner is a distributor for baking equipment… How lucky can we get…Glenda is gonna put in an order for the things she needs for the other orphanage and their bread making experiment…Isn’t it something how God figures things out????
This afternoon it is back to Sam’s Club…Eight more boxes of toilet paper one more bottle of hand soap, plus some of the school supplies the teacher needed and a laser printer for the teacher’s desk here at the orphanage…Good tools makes her job and life a bit easier…Glenda got her grocery items for the Amanicer orphanage. We were home by 7 and we are dead tired…only 8:30 PM but ready for bed…Maybe I am getting to old for this?????
Saturday, November 8th...
Up by 7AM and guess what…This is the morning the DIF – the Gov. child protection agency came in…10 strong… and cooked B’fast for all of us…It was so good…the kids enjoyed it…Pan cakes for them…some thing they do not get often. Scrambled eggs and ham and orange juice…they even brought a chef and a waiter to serve us…then they played games with the kids and left. I think it was mainly political as they had a photographer there and the head guy ate at the kids table with lots of pictures taken…Oh well…it was a good meal.
My friend Maggie and her daughter came at noon and we walked to town and took them out for lunch…I love this wonderful city…Home by 4:15…We are hoping to take the kids to Mc Donald’s for dinner tonight…a treat for them…Mary had all the 2 dollar bills but of course that was not enough for 27 kids and 6 adults so she paid the rest of the bill her self…The kids had a ball and when it was time to sit and catch their breath before we went home we had no arguments…and when we told them it was time to go they all marched out and thanked the crew at Mc Donald’s and not one “can’t we stay longer…or Do we have to leave now”??? Good kids…We stuffed 14 kids and one adult into each of 2 vans and the rest of us went in Sandra’s car…Traffic was awful but we got home safe and sound…Three of the older girls could not go…the kids are on a point system here at the orphanage…At the beginning of the week each child is given 100 points. Then they can earn more points or lose points all week long. If they have less than 50 points by the end of the week they are not allowed to participate in the fun activity planned for weekend, i.e.…the Friday night movie or the Saturday afternoon picnic or bike riding expedition with Flor or like this week…going out to Mickey D’s…These 3 gals goofed up this week big time in some way…I do not know how…but they had to stay home…It is a good incentive for the kids to behave during the week…Like do not talk back…don’t bully the little guys…do good on home work and Help help help around the orphanage…It is not hard to keep your 100 points but lets face it…they are kids after all…Kids…think about how your own kids are…or were…It was just under $100.00 bucks at Mc Donalds tonight for Mary…and I say $ well spent... as it is something these kids do not get to do often.
This year I once again brought 4 beautiful dresses from a young gal at our church…Anna…She saves her church dresses each year and I bring them to our little gals at the orphanage…The kids at the orphanage go to church each Sunday and they love to dress pretty…We found 4 little girls the dresses fit and boy were they ever happy…It is 10 PM and I am dead tired…it is bed time.
Sunday, November 9th...
A beautiful Sunday morning here in Morelia…Called Tom at 8 this AM…Was 6 AM in Blaine…got him out of bed…Oh well…Off to church by 9…Great service…exciting pastor…wonderful people…Home by noon and Mary and I got the job of watering all the plants…Some thing new this year.. Hanging baskets all around the inside grounds of the orphanage…10 geraniums and 10 Ferns...They make the place look more cozy and like a regular home…Jake is the mastermind of a drip system they are putting in for these plants…running a hose on the roof of the orphanage and then a small tube down to each plant…A group from Alaska came and bought and planted these baskets…I love any idea that makes it more pleasant for these kids… I think you have to fill the soul and imagination as well as the tummy…Which is also the reason I am so in favor of the music classes…I think a more “rounded” child makes for a more “rounded” adult.
Once again we are at Sam’s Club. They are beginning to know us by our first names as we have been there so often these past few days…Glenda had to get beans and rice and eggs and milk for the Amanicer orphanage and I had a few things for our orphanage also. When we got home we loaded everything in a van and a Land Rover and off we go to the Amanicer orphanage. Terry, the lady out there was so happy to see us…She has 48 kids this year. She has one little older lady on crutches to help her…She is so crippled up you would think she was the one who needs the help. I wish I had an army of cleaners to go in there and clean and organize. But you know what…it was pointed out to me that Terry has probably always lived this way and sees’ nothing wrong with it…Plus I guess if I had 48 kids to take care of I would let the cleaning slide too…Glenda has done a wonderful job of supplying them with an amount of $200.00 US per month for the past 2 years. But it has not been an easy job for her. She had 2 giant garage sales this past 2 summers…that takes so much planning and hard work that she will not be able to do it again… So we will have to see what we can do next year…I will be looking for special contributions next year to continue our support for this orphanage…I do not mean from one person of course…But hopefully from several persons…We got to take 4 of our older boys with us. It was fun for them to go and the reason they were picked was because they had done so well this week at school and at the orphanage. It is very good for all the kids to realize that extra privileges go to the kids who try harder…it is a life lesson.
Then home and off to the Internet…Then home to bed after a bowl of swiss chard and noodle soup…Tonight I am over tired.
Monday, November 10th...
B’fast with the kids this AM…a wonderful rice and milk dish with cinnamon sticks and sugar to spice it…Maybe as a kid your mom fixed this for you??? But I bet she didn’t do it in a 4 gal pan!!!!! They fix it the night before and let it sit all night giving the cinnamon flavor time to get all the way thru it…Then in the AM it is real creamy and wonderful for B’fast… My mom served it hot with milk on top…good and healthy…Bank this Am. again. I need to use my ATM card. Later this afternoon we have 2 meetings with 2 different ladies about the kids here and any special problems they might have. They are both very involved in the welfare of these kids…Flor and Linda… We are also trying to get a short history on each child here…it will help us determine any help they might need. There are families of kids here…One family is 3 sisters and one brother…then we have a family of 2 sisters and another of 2 brothers…Nice for the little ones to have a big brother or sister around them. Also had a meeting with Jake to discuss the sound system and another solar panel…one is just not enough…The one we have now services both the boys and girls bathrooms…If we could have one over each it would work better. They save about $70.00 per month on the gas bill. It will take about another $1000.00 for the solar panel and about $1000.00 for the sound system. Between Glenda and I we pooled our money and had enough for both of these projects. We try not to give them the idea that we are a never ending flow of money. We try to make them understand that there are many people in the US who have donated big time so we can provide them with what they NEED…and it is our responsibility to be good stewards of this money and spend it correctly. We stress this every year. This orphanage is well cared for and luckier then a lot of the orphanages in Mexico…It is hard to see an orphanage like the Villa Amanicer…You’d like to tell them “organize this place...” “Clean this place up…” “Get rid of all the dogs and cats running loose and having more and more puppies and kitties…” But then we have to stop and think…This is a 3rd world country…This is Mexico…We are not here to push our beliefs or our regulations or our ways on them…We are just here for support... We are here to give some hope…we are here to help where THEY THINK they need it…Not necessarily where we think they need it…This is a concept that is some times hard to understand for us…But we try not to be pushy…God give me patience and I want it right NOW.
Lunch was cream of broccoli soup…a combo of bologna, spuds, red peppers and onion in a red sauce…and everything from scratch…even the juice we drank. They eat very healthy here.
Fernando and his wife Angie are expecting their first baby in Feb. The girls and I went together and got her $100.00 worth of baby things…she was thrilled.
Glenda and Ethan went to the bus station and purchased our bus tickets back to PV…Leaving Thursday AM at 6:30 Am…arriving in PV at 4 PM… In the Am we go to pick out the sound system…like I would know anything about that…But they want me to go and of course I will.
Tuesday, November 11th...
Off to find a sound system… found several but came home empty handed… What is the deal there??? Going to Jake and Charity’s property this afternoon. It is beautiful…way out in the country…Glenda and I took everyone out to dinner that afternoon…We had a wonderful Mexican dinner at a quaint little restaurant out in the country…Home by 7 and into a cab and out to Walmart to get a few last minute things…then home…hot chocolate.. And to bed…Big day tomorrow as Fernando wants to fix us a dinner to remember…completely Mexican…out last meal for this year at the orphanage…Bet it’ll be good.
Wednesday, November 12th...
Lots to do today…Only tea this Am…We are going to the mop and broom market this Am… Did buy lots of stuff there…one dozen brooms and mops and pots and pans and big bunches of veggies and fruit…The last day is always so hard here…So far the kids do not know we are going in the Am… I hope they do not find out as it is so sad for everyone…I always think about how often these little guys have been left in their young lives…What a burden on their little hearts.
1:30 PM…Wonderful dinner…All from scratch Mexican food and I have it on good authority there will be flan for dessert…6 PM…went with Sandra to get a small table for her class room plus some ink cartridges…for the computer they use…Gave Jake the $$ for the new solar system…Went out to the church for Hamburgers and were told before we left that we must be home by 8 PM… as they have a surprise for us…They sang their Christmas program for us…we are to get a CD of it soon…it was wonderful…Then the kids did some wonderful Mexican dancing for us…all in costumes and everything. I love these kids…I’ve had more hugs and kisses in the past week then I have had in a year!! After the program we were told by the staff how much they appreciated our constant support and then we got a sad hug from each of the kids…and I was very proud that by that time I could say each kids name to them…not an easy job when there are 30 kids and they look a lot alike….We leave at 5 in the Am…and I am already dreaming about coming back next year…God willing.
Love Hazel Sibillia
Previous page: Latest News
Next page: November 2007