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!
June was jam packed with a variety of different things. We said many goodbyes, worked a lot, witnessed our kids graduating, and probably the most important, restored health to one of our staff members. Never a dull day here!
We said goodbye to 5 kids this month:
Ariana was one of our older girls and very popular. She has a great personality and was a joy to be around. She is getting older and feels that she wants to be independent. Since she did not come through the government system we couldn't stop her and had to honor her request.
Oshi (with the sombrero) was a very energetic child. She was fun and it was always interesting to see what she would say or do next. I was sad to see her leave but she has some issues that we were not equipped to deal with and we had to ask the government to relocate her.
Benjamin, Caleb & Pandora were our youngest children. They are brothers and sister and are all sweethearts. They were very playful and a joy to be around. The government found family for them to stay with so they are now out of our care. I wish all of these kids the best. They will be missed!
In the construction...
I just about finished tiling the 3rd floor hallway. Nick, a regular volunteer from Florida, helped me with the edges. There are a few details missing but I'm saving those for the team I have coming in July.
Before
After
The school got a huge makeover! 2 guys from the church I attend, Abel & his son Jose, painted the entire outside of the building. It looks a lot better and gives it a nice finish. I am so thankful for their help. This was a big project and they finished in 6 days.
I got some regular volunteers this month:
Jose helped paint the school and I taught him tiling. He is fixing some fallen tiles around the orphanage and helping out with other jobs.
Judah is a huge 13 year old kid from Florida. He is the nephew of the pastor's wife so she is sending him to Dulce Refugio so he can help out. He has done a ton of physical labor by bringing wheel barrows of dirt to level the ground in front of the school where we are going to install the fake grass. He is also grouting the tiles that Jose is fixing. Praise God for the extra hands.
More wheel barrows! We had a team from Indiana stop by for a half a day. They helped me in the construction for a couple of hours and then played soccer with the kids. There were 20 people so we were able to fill in almost all of the dirt needed to level the 2 areas in front of the school. This was a massive project (probably over 200 wheel barrows full of dirt in total) and this team was a huge help!
Victor, our oldest boy, is an incredible soccer player. His team went to the finals in their league and got to play for the championship at the professional soccer stadium. Unfortunately, they lost and got 2nd place...but 2nd place out of 20 teams isn't too bad. It was a great experience for him and I really enjoyed seeing him play all season.
Cesar & Christopher, 2 of our "chiquitos" (very small boys), graduated kindergarten. They looked so cute in their bow ties and were smiling the whole time. Next school year they will be moving up to elementary. So proud of them!
One of my best friends from San Diego and his fiancé were in Guadalajara. It's not too often that you can travel/visit with friends in foreign countries so I made the 2 1/2 hour drive to go see them. We walked around downtown Guadalajara and took a tour to the little town of Tequila. Good times!
And I saved the best update for last! Mary, the woman in charge of the girl's dorm, finally had a surgery that she desperately needed. She hasn't been feeling well for over a year now and was incorrectly diagnosed as "pre-diabetic." Finally, after switching doctors they did some tests and found a large tumor on her uterus (it was about the size of a grapefruit or a softball!!). They were able to remove it and she is now back at the orphanage recovering well. AND tests were done on the tumor and there were NO signs of cancer. PRAISE GOD for that awesome news!!!