Goodbye in the Morning

After a late night, it was up early so we could have everything out to bus by 7:00 a.m. Saying goodbye is always so emotional, but it's easier now to stay in touch throughout the year with our amigas and amigos with Skype and Facebook.

We were blessed with good health, safe travels and the ability to make a contribution to our friends at Casa Hogar. Thanks to our families, friends and members of All Saints for all the support!

It's a Party!

After we left the church, we arrived back at the orphanage at about 7:30 p.m. and had a party complete with grilled hamburgers.

 Joel's group, the "Flying J's," completed the last dish clean-up and celebrated!

 Friends spent times getting their hand prints on the banner.

Pastor Antonio with his friends Antonio and Jose.

We spent time taking lots of pictures and exchanging hugs and goodbyes.



We had a pinata, too!

Distribution of Food, Quilts, Beans and Rice and Solar Lights

 After the service, we handed out the food we had prepared as well as the other items that we brought. We were also able to distribute 23 beautiful quilts that the quilting ladies at All Saints had made!

The Tiling is Done

 As we've experienced before, the boys' bathroom renovation was bigger than we anticipated. We could have used one more day!

But when our work team left at dark on Thursday, there were 3 operational showers with curbs and tile. The rotten wood doors were removed and new shower curtains are up. The grouting will have to be finished by Juan and the boys, but the grout and tools are all there for them.

In addition, there are functional toilets and a new faucet on the sink. The bathroom looks a lot better!

The Church Service at the Volu

 At about 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, we loaded up the bus with all the items we had been preparing for distribution and then traveled about 3 miles to the Volu. Mama Lupita and some of the older boys had been distributing tickets in the Colonias all week.

People arrived for a church service first where Pastor Antonio gave the message in Spanish.

 Our musicians joined the Mexican musicians and we sang songs in Spanish and English.

Meanwhile, we were setting up for the distribution of a meal, care kits, rice and beans and the solar lights.

A couple of doors down, the bathroom crew was working fast and furiously to try and finish the tiling before dark!

An Absolute Flurry of Activities on Thursday!

We had so many things we did on Thursday! The laundry crew finished up - they did a 125 loads of laundry at the laundry mat all together.

In addition to cooking 3 meals for the orphanage, we worked on preparing an outreach meal for 300. Brenda had a whole crew of helpers working on the outreach meal.

Meanwhile, a group worked on packing the care kits that we would be distributing Thursday night.

We called the gas man and filled the propane tank at the orphanage.

The finished care kits had a coloring book and crayons that featured the Bible verses we had used all week for VBS.












We worked on packing bags of rice, beans and tortillas for distribution.

Doughnut Surprise!

 Because the older boys miss out on some of the activities we've been doing at the main orphanage, Cindy and Kris decided to surprise them early Thursday morning with doughnuts and juice.

A group got up early and left by 6 a.m. to go to buy doughnuts and take them over to the Volu before the boys left for school.

Other Projects at the Volu

 After we did our assessment at the Volu, Mama Lupita asked us to help move a bunch of bunk beds over to the Volu.

Her plan is to ultimately move almost all the boys from the main orphanage over to the Volu (right now, only the older boys are over there). So a group of our guys disassembled bunk beds and moved them over. There was a huge crew that worked on cleaning the space so the bunk beds could be reassembled.

 In addition to cleaning the bedroom, a group cleaned and organized the kitchen, pantry and living area.

They also gathered up a large number of clothes that needed to be washed and gave them to the laundry crew.

 Steve was our toilet and sink master - he helped repair 9 toilets between the Volu and the main orphanage. Many of them had no wax seals, so water leaked out from below. Others had no float valves so wouldn't fill. At the boys' bathroom at the Volu, they only had 2 marginally operating toilets for more than 15 guys and the water in the kitchen wasn't hooked up correctly.

All of that got fixed - Mama Lupita was thrilled with our "Ministry of Toilets!"

The Bathroom Renovation at the Volu

All week, the work crew working on the renovation of the boys' bathroom at the Volu continued furiously. When the crew first did the assessment, they realized that the shower heads were frozen and there were no curbs on the shower. Basically, the shower water sprayed out onto a floor with no drain, so there was standing water that covered the bathroom floor.

The crew added curbs to the showers, put in new shower heads that could be adjusted and worked on tiling three showers.

 Brenda has done lots of tiling so one day she left others in charge of the food back at the main orphanage and came over to work on tiling.

 Daniel, who is fluent in Spanish, was absolutely invaluable in translating. He could not only talk to Juan and learn about all the issues with the bathroom, but he could engage some of the older boys in helping with the project.