Hi everyone! Emily here!
Today's evening activity is probably my favorite of the week as we traveled to the orphanage. Upon entering the facility, we talked a bit with one of the sisters who take care of the girls at the facility. She stated that twenty-five girls between the ages of 5 and 12 are currently residing at this center, which seemed a bit low to me compared to last year's higher number. We then traveled inside to meet the girls and spend time with them.
Since we spent most of our time at the orphanage playing outside last year, I was expecting a similar experience this year as well. However, we actually stayed in a large gathering space and worked with the girls to create necklaces, bracelets, and rings with colorful beads. It was nice to sit and make conversation with some of the younger ones as we created jewelry together. I don't know much Spanish, but each girl asked me simple questions I could answer, and we enjoyed one another's company.
After this crafting time, the real fun began! We also brought some balloons with us and blew some up for the girls to toss around. However, soon we were seeing girls pop the balloons, rub them on each other's hair to create some static electricity, and even throw them at plants to see if they'd pop! This time was a bit crazy, but it was definitely entertaining to see the girls get their wiggles out and just have fun and laugh with us!
Our stay ended with a performance of some songs sang by the girls. As we left the facility, we were bombarded with hugs, good-byes, and thank-you's. I truly loved the energy I saw in these girls today, and hope that every one of them receive the love and care they need to be the best they can be as they grow up.
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Wednesday from Hannah!
Hey everyone!
My names Hannah and this is my 4th time coming down to Esperanza (I was supposed to do this blog a lot earlier in the week, but we've gotten back home really lat every night) oops. Anyway, I'm a senior at the College of Wooster this year and I couldn't be happier to be in Tijuana again.
Today was a pretty relaxing day in comparison to yesterday. It was a lot cooler in temperature, much like your below zero temperatures back home... with a little addition of 80 degrees, but pretty close to those sub zeros. We have had a rough go of it on our worksite having few hands and much work to do. Today was a little better though, as we had many hands from the community come in to help pour cement and build more walls up. It's great to see the sense of community so strong, more and more help comes every day to our worksite and we have gained many new friends because of it.
In addition to this great physical work we had today, we also got to go to the orphanage to hang out with some of the girls. This is always one of my favorite parts of the trip. Its hard to get into the vans and go somewhere else after we are already dead tired from our many days of work, but getting to see all of the girls smiling faces is definitely worth it.
As for those of you who don't know, I'll be coming back as a long term volunteer for Esperanza in July. I am so excited for this experience and this trip has reminded me why I applied for this position in the first place. I can't wait for the experience and to immerse myself in this culture even more.
Talk to you all soon!
-Hannah
My names Hannah and this is my 4th time coming down to Esperanza (I was supposed to do this blog a lot earlier in the week, but we've gotten back home really lat every night) oops. Anyway, I'm a senior at the College of Wooster this year and I couldn't be happier to be in Tijuana again.
Today was a pretty relaxing day in comparison to yesterday. It was a lot cooler in temperature, much like your below zero temperatures back home... with a little addition of 80 degrees, but pretty close to those sub zeros. We have had a rough go of it on our worksite having few hands and much work to do. Today was a little better though, as we had many hands from the community come in to help pour cement and build more walls up. It's great to see the sense of community so strong, more and more help comes every day to our worksite and we have gained many new friends because of it.
In addition to this great physical work we had today, we also got to go to the orphanage to hang out with some of the girls. This is always one of my favorite parts of the trip. Its hard to get into the vans and go somewhere else after we are already dead tired from our many days of work, but getting to see all of the girls smiling faces is definitely worth it.
As for those of you who don't know, I'll be coming back as a long term volunteer for Esperanza in July. I am so excited for this experience and this trip has reminded me why I applied for this position in the first place. I can't wait for the experience and to immerse myself in this culture even more.
Talk to you all soon!
-Hannah
Welcome the stranger
At the foot of our worksite is a haitian refugee center. Luz told me that there are about 100 Haitians living in this abandoned little church, and about 5000 in the community. They have three large tents and porta-pots set up outdoors. Luz continued, "These Haitian are refugees. They left Haiti due to the earthquakes, flooding, and extreme poverty. They traveled from Haiti to Brazil and then made their way to Tijuana in hopes of eventually settling in the USA but now their hopes are dashed."
I was thinking...So they are stuck here in a foreign country where the culture in so different and they don't speak the language. (Kind of like Mexicans living in Ohio.)
Luz told me that they are kind of lazy. They speak French and Creole and don't want to learn Spanish. They look for jobs but was better pay so often refuse to work hoping for government aid.
I thought this sounded familiar. (It is kind of what I hear people in the US say about Mexicans.)
Most amazing to me...in a time when Canada is accepting tens of thousands of refugees, Australia is accepting tens of thousands refugees, the European Union is accepting hundreds of thousands of refugees, and Mexico is now accepting these Haitian refugees and offering assistance to them as they resettle, our own country is shutting our eyes and pushing away men, women and children in need. We are failing to respond with compassion. God's command to welcome the stranger is falling of deaf ears. --Joyce Schroer
I was thinking...So they are stuck here in a foreign country where the culture in so different and they don't speak the language. (Kind of like Mexicans living in Ohio.)
Luz told me that they are kind of lazy. They speak French and Creole and don't want to learn Spanish. They look for jobs but was better pay so often refuse to work hoping for government aid.
I thought this sounded familiar. (It is kind of what I hear people in the US say about Mexicans.)
Most amazing to me...in a time when Canada is accepting tens of thousands of refugees, Australia is accepting tens of thousands refugees, the European Union is accepting hundreds of thousands of refugees, and Mexico is now accepting these Haitian refugees and offering assistance to them as they resettle, our own country is shutting our eyes and pushing away men, women and children in need. We are failing to respond with compassion. God's command to welcome the stranger is falling of deaf ears. --Joyce Schroer
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Tuesday evening quick post
Today was a busy Tuesday so this will be just a quick post to let everyone know that we are doing great.
We started off the day going to see Father Jaime a retired Catholic priest who runs a special needs clinic. We saw two locations one was more of a rehab center and the other one was a school. These were just up from the Posada.
At the worksite today we got 7 layers of bricks laid and poured 9 bags of cement. This stretched us somewhat as the 13 of our group worked with the family and some neighbors.
After showers we went to the taco stand for dinner.
We went to the Tijuana Xolos soccer game. Unfortunately Tijuana lost 2-0. Seems like they always loose when we watch one of their games.
Phil Starr
We started off the day going to see Father Jaime a retired Catholic priest who runs a special needs clinic. We saw two locations one was more of a rehab center and the other one was a school. These were just up from the Posada.
At the worksite today we got 7 layers of bricks laid and poured 9 bags of cement. This stretched us somewhat as the 13 of our group worked with the family and some neighbors.
After showers we went to the taco stand for dinner.
We went to the Tijuana Xolos soccer game. Unfortunately Tijuana lost 2-0. Seems like they always loose when we watch one of their games.
Phil Starr
Monday, March 13, 2017
Monday Night with Andy Muskopf
I wish I'd been able to come on one of these trips sooner. I'd spent years hearing stories and seeing pictures of previous trips, but they don't compare to the real thing. Its been incredibly positive and rewarding.
While spending time here one thought that keeps running through my mind is "People are just people." Its only the menu and soundtrack that changes.
Thank you, Esperanza and Trinity for this opportunity.
Met the Family
My name is Steve and this is my 19th year coming to Esperanza. Eduardo, the volunteer coordinator and I started the same year. On Monday we first introduce ourselves to the other groups. We are here with University of Southern California and UMass at Boston.
When I come here and see with my own eyes and talk with the people face to face I realize that so much of what we hear in the news and read on social media is not true.
The husband, Arturo is a hard worker. He works in quality control for a company that makes automobile batteries. He worked Sunday night and got home at 6 am today. Since that time he was getting ready for our arrival. Then he worked side by side with us all day. He hopes to get a couple hours of rest before returning to work tonight. Yes Arturo is Mexican but he is NOT a bad hombre.
He is so happy because he has a job and a beautiful family. With our help he will soon have a nice home. I love the way that people interact with one another. There were many people from the community that came to work with us too.
Today for lunch, Luz made my favorite, flautes with mashed potatoes.
In the afternoon we briefly met their daughters, April and Melanie who were both born in the United States near Portland, Oregon. They miss the beautiful scenery and snow of Oregon.
Steve Schroer
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