What's going on at Dulce Refugio
I know that many people have passed through this orphanage and left their mark at Dulce Refugio. I want to keep all of you informed about what is going on with the kids and the construction process. Please remember to keep us in your thoughts and prayers; I hope you continue to help us out here at Casa Hogar Dulce Refugio. Gracias amigos!
November has come and gone and we're almost in 2019! Where does the time go? Well I'm thankful that I was able to accomplish a lot this month before all of the Christmas festivities begin.
I got back to Aguascalientes on November 7th. It was a great trip home to San Diego but after 3 weeks I was ready to get back and see the kids.
Upon my arrival I was sad to see that Fernanda was no longer at the Casa Hogar. She was 16 years old and in the process of being adopted by a family in the USA. We had some behavioral issues and she decided to leave. This was the 3rd time she has escaped and we have decided that we can no longer help her. I'm sad to see her throw away such a wonderful opportunity.
We received 5 new kids this month:
Miriam & Pancho are brother and sister. They are both very shy and haven't opened up much.
Naomi is 16 years old and really mellow. She has fit right in but cries often because she misses her family. I don't know all of the details of her story but as long as she is here we will take good care of her.
Marcos & Israel showed up within the last couple of days of November. They were sad when they arrived but we have already taken them and some of the other kids to the movies and for ice cream. It was good to see them smiling that day.
In the construction...
We built the last piece of wall in the front of the orphanage. I hired Juan, a long-time employee of Dulce Refugio, to help me out because it was a big project. We removed about 100 feet of chain link fence and put up bricks.
Before
After
I got off to a decent start tiling the 2nd story hallway in the school. It's about 50 tiles from one side to the other. I better be sure to get my line straight.
Kyleigh finished painting all of the hallways and that pretty much completes the painting for the school. There will have to be some touch ups before the grand opening but the bulk of the work is done!
All of the material and labor for the "biblioteca" (library) was donated and installed. There are 2 rooms behind the school that I was not even planning on getting to for a loooong time. Now 1 of them is done. It's nice to check projects off the list without having to do anything!
Before
I hope everybody had a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! I was thankful to be able to celebrate here in Mexico...twice! I went to my pastor's house for lunch and then later I had a special dinner with the Dulce Refugio staff. The director, Marce, threw a dinner for all of us to celebrate the American holiday.
After
And I'm proud to say that our oldest girl Erica (or Kika) has just graduated high school. And she finished 3rd in her class! I guess I should no longer say "our oldest girl" because she has already grown up to be a beautiful, intelligent, young woman. Kika plans on attending a local college next fall and I wish her a bright future.