Kent asked if I would join the ACHF Board Trip to Mexico. I'm not sure when or if a Service Trip is in my future, and I'd really like to see first-hand what I'm preaching about! The thought of bringing Jonny along with Mary and Diana sounded like a real good time. I haven't ever flown out of Provo Airport, so that was great, too!
We all arrived in San Diego and met up with our group. While I've corresponded many times with members of the board and met some at the holiday party, it was great to meet everyone in person and have time to chat. We rented three 15-passenger vans and headed over the border into Tijuana. Jon and I quickly bonded with our van group and had a great time chatting and getting to know the others while we traveled. Such good people! It was a quick drive to the first orphanage in Tijuana. It was great to meet Erendira, the orphanage support from ACHF. She would be our tour guide and interpreter the rest of the trip along with her cute little toddler son. We met the orphanage director and they gave us a tour of the dorms, kitchen and playgrounds. Most of the kids were at the public school nearby. Everything was so clean and bright, gardens planted and such kind directors. Most of these orphan directors have just dedicated their lives to do this work. I imagine it is stressful to find funds and care for these kids, but they do it because they feel called to help. Our roll at ACHF is to set up roadmaps and certifications to lift them where it's needed and give them the support to help the kids thrive.
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| The school room |
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| Some of our group! |
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| One of the girls that lives here painted the artwork. |
Girls dorms.
Everything was so tidy and organized. (girls shared closet)
(The boys shared closet. The boys dorm smelled like Axe Body spray, as to be expected.)
Boys bunk room.
Someone asked the guy giving us a tour of the schoolhouse, "Why do you do this?" He replied, "If I don't do it, who will? And then what becomes of the future of these kids?"
We had lunch at an outdoor Food Truck mall. My taco's were de-lish!
From there we toured the D.I.F. Shelter. It is Mexico's Child Protective Services, the first stop for kids that are misplaced. They were extremely strict about no photos. I learned this place was rough and crumbling apart just a year ago. Since then, from donations, we saw a freshly painted, bright and cheery building with large bright rooms, brand new bunk rooms with new mattresses and supplies. I've heard about the transport of these mattresses since my first day and it was so neat to see it all set up and being used by these kids. They were all so smiley and friendly. I have never wished so bad that I could speak Spanish! It was hard to just smile and wave and say, "Olah!" I was jealous of almost everyone in our group that could sit and have conversations with the kids.
Right across the street from the shelter is the Tijuana Temple! This is one of the most gorgeous temples I have ever seen. And we only saw the grounds!
The wood doors! The tile! The windows!
From there we headed to the orphanage we would be staying at. It was built by a couple from northern California. They have served a couple of missions for the Church and then decided they would like to serve full time forever and run an orphanage in Mexico. They have built the most beautiful place in the hills of Rosarita and were the most kind-loving people. We had our own separate bunk house with a connecting kitchen. Me, Jon, Kent, Mary, Diana and James all took a bunk room that had its own bathroom with showers. The room probably slept 16-18 so we had plenty of room. There were 4 or 5 other bunk rooms that everyone else spread out in. It was decorated so cute! We all had fluffy clean bedding and towels to welcome us. We found this place- eventually- in the dark. I can't believe those vans made it up and down those dirt roads! They had a delicious hot dinner of chicken and rice and salad all ready for us in the kitchen. It was such a great first day!
We headed out the next day to tour more orphanages and meet with more directors.
The weather was absolutely glorious! I loved seeing bright blue skies and deep green hillsides and the warm sun on my face in January!
This orphanage had all babies and toddlers!
Look at all of those high chairs!
This is the newborn nursery.
Fresh little baby sound asleep.
The girls quarters were so cute. There is a furniture store in CA that donates a new couch and chairs every year. This year the girls picked pink velvet!
They have one gorgeous view!
We're just happy to be here!
I loved seeing all of these bikes.
I also loved seeing birthday calendars posted in all the different homes.
Once again, a delicious dinner was ready for us when we arrived that evening. Fish tacos! They were so yummy. We spent the evening meeting together, reporting and talking through goals and making decisions for the new year. We broke off into groups to help troubleshoot some areas. I was so impressed with how passionate everyone is that is on the board of directors. Everyone is volunteering so much of their personal time and funds for these kids. It was really neat to be a tiny part of it. That night in the bunk room, us friends all got chatting and giggling together until the wee hours. All six of us met being in the same ward about 15 years ago. Mary and Diana are part of my CRU. We have group dated, formed a semi short-lived discussion group, our kids have grown up together etc. Fun group to be with!
The next morning after breakfast we got to meet all of the kids that live at the orphanage we were staying at. There is about 20 from age 5 to 16 or so. They introduced themselves and then sang us a song, one gal sang us a song on her guitar. There was such a neat feeling in the room, I think we were all teary-eyed. It was so neat to see well groomed, well cared for kids who were so excited to see the couple that runs it. They were all hanging on them and hugging them just like kids do with their parents. There was so much love in that room!
Our glorious breakfast views! I sat out in the sun for meals every chance I could get. Jon went with a group on a hike up over those green hills. The neighbor that lives over there has a pet lion! We could hear it roar early in the morning. (It sounded like this neighbor had some ties to the cartel...)
We drove back into San Diego on Sunday. The lines to get over the border were long, but we were entertained with all the street vendors selling us churros and anything else we wanted. We munched and chatted. By now we were all besties!
We checked into our hotel and stretched out for a bit before meeting up with everyone for dinner.
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| We found a fun food court in San Diego with plenty of options for everyone. |
Diana got some great pics:
The next morning we all had breakfast together at the hotel, then headed to the airport. The flight home was quick and we all gathered and sang Happy Birthday to Mary before parting ways. Adren picked us up at the airport.
I could not be happier to be a part of ACHF! It was a great, quick trip and really helped me understand better who's who and who does what.
It was nice to get home to learn that all the kids fared just fine, like we knew they would.
