Mexico ~ Days 4 and 5

Before I move on to Day 4, I forgot about the soccer game I played on Day 3. When we returned from our brick making tour, we went over to the house and noticed that some of the boys were out playing soccer. Ed thought it would be fun to join them, so he and I went over and invited ourselves to play. The field was just dirt with not a blade of grass growing. There were 4 kids from the neighborhood and 2 kids from the Ranch playing (plus Ed and I). 

It was hot and dusty, but I sure had fun.

Let me tell you a bit about the two boys from the Ranch that were playing.

The boy in the red shirt, Juan, came to the orphanage at age 14 wearing a diaper and sitting on a scooter, unable to walk. He was severely neglected. After just a couple months of care and love at the orphanage, he was potty trained. They got him some leg braces and he not only walks, he runs and kicks a soccer ball like any other teenage boy.

The other boy is Jorge (he's in the white t-shirt and navy shorts). Jorge was hit by a truck shortly after coming to the orphanage. It's a miracle that he's alive and can walk. Jorge is the only boy who currently lives at the orphanage that does not have any mental disability. He walks with a very slight limp and has scars from skin graphs on his legs, but that's the only visual remnant from a very serious accident.

moving on....

Day 4 was Sunday, June 3rd.

After we had eaten breakfast and were waiting to go to church, I took my violin over to the house to play for the staff and whichever boys might be around. There weren't too many boys in the room when I began to play, but soon the room was filled. 

The most touching part was how Ricky responded. This is Ricky.

Ricky is blind and severely mentally handicapped. He loves to swing, and he loves to listen to music. On most days you will either find him here on the swing or in the kitchen listening to the radio while Monica prepares meals. 

When I went over to the house on Sunday morning,  Ricky was outside....but within 30 seconds of him hearing the music, he scooted his way inside and sat right at my feet. It was all I could do to not start crying. 

Ricky loves to have his temples massaged. If he hears that you are near him, he will grab your hands and position your thumbs to where he wants you to massage. If you don't have the exact spot, or aren't using your thumbs, he will correct you.

Everyone enjoyed the music I was playing and they even requested Jesus Loves Me.

We went to the village church where I played my violin. I played Be Thou My Vision, How Great Thou Art and Amazing Grace. When I got to the chorus of How Great Thou Art, you could hear a few people singing along. It was the same for Amazing Grace. I was so blessed by being able to share my music with them.

After church we took some of the kids to the beach.

In order to get to where we were going we took several modes of transportation. First, we piled into the van and drove to Mazatlan. Then we got on these boat ferries which took us over to the island.

Cesar and Theresa

Then we piled into these taxis which took us across the island to the beach.

Theresa and Juan

Jose (I think), Ed and Cesar

Miguel, myself, Kimberly, Monica (the cook at the ranch) and Jorge

We were each assigned a kid and were responsible for keeping our eye (or hand) on that child the whole time we were out. I was assigned to Kimberly - the granddaughter of the evening caretakers at the Ranch. Kimberly is 10 years old and is a perfectly normal girl. She lives with her grandparents, and since they live at the ranch, so does she. I loved watching her interact with all the boys, just like she was part of the family.

I was so thankful to be paired with her because it forced me to speak a lot in Spanish. Several of the boys don't speak at all, or very little, so I wouldn't have had the opportunity to really practice conversing in Spanish had I not been paired with Kimberly. 

We had fun. She wanted to learn some English and she also wanted me to teach her how to swim. And she loved watching me swim. I felt like a 10 year old again the way I was diving into waves, jumping over waves and attempting to body surf.

I couldn't resist getting some shots of the beautiful flowers and palm trees. It was so.....Mexico!

This is the gang that went to the beach - waiting for Ed to pick us up in the van.

Monday (Day 5 - June 4th) we did a little bit of work in the morning. Theresa and I cleaned out the food pantry. We thought this would be a quick project, but it turned out to be more involved than we anticipated.

As Theresa was pulling boxes off the shelf she discovered this little guy.

Yep....a scorpion. We saw another really small one in the closet, but it scurried away before we could capture and kill it.

This was the only time either of us saw scorpions during the week.

So that about sums it up. I might think of more stories here and there to share, but this is the end of my Mexico posts for now.

The rest of the team came home today. In fact, the girls and I picked them up from the airport this evening. It was fun to hear more stories from their last couple days. It's been hard for me to be here in Oregon, knowing they were still there.

Overall I had a great experience, and I would definitely go back. I was very, very encouraged by the work God is doing through this orphanage and all who are involved. If you are interested in going down with me sometime, let me know.