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!
July has come and gone and we have had another full month here at Casa Hogar Dulce Refugio. The kids are on vacation and there is never a dull moment. Lots to celebrate and as always lots of hellos and goodbyes. Let's take a look and see what this busy summer has brought us.
In the construction...
We finished tiling and grouting the 1st of 4 rooms on the 3rd floor of the school. The black grout was VERY dirty but thankfully we got all the stains out of the tile with a special acid cleaner.
We started tiling the 2nd of 4 rooms and I had some great helpers. Since the kids are on vacation they have been helping Kyleigh and I a little bit in the construction.
The school has gotten a facelift! The guard rails on the 3rd floor have been painted and now they look much better. Kyleigh has been doing a lot of sanding and painting. She even had a little mishap involving a drill and her long hair...luckily it wasn't too serious.
And thanks a lot to the local volunteers that have been coming regularly to help out with the sanding and painting!
Dulce Refugio celebrated it's 15 year anniversary!! It was a great night and we all had lots of fun. Over a hundred people showed up to celebrate with us. We ate well, danced until 2a.m., and some of the girls gave thank you speeches to the director/founder, Marcela Ortega. We gave all the glory to God and we pray for another blessed 15 years...and many more!!!
Marta had her baby! Welcome the newest member to the Dulce Refugio family. Matías Josué came into this world on July 20, 2017. He's a cute little baby boy with a full head of hair. May God bless Matías and Marta, as a new mom.
We said goodbye to Fani and Mario. Fani has been in the Casa Hogar for over 10 years and we have seen her grow from a sweet little child into a beautiful young woman. We feel that it is time for her to become independent and make it on her own. We wish her the best and she will always be part of the Dulce Refugio family. God bless you Fani. We will be praying for you.
And just as fast as they come sometimes they go. Mario was only with us for about 1 month but we were more than willing to accept God's call to take him in when he needed it and now that he's gone we wish him well.
A lot of our kids graduated. Angeles finished middle school and will be moving on to high school. Fernando finished kindergarten and will be going to elementary school (he looked so cute in his tuxedo). And Elvira and Victor finished elementary school and will be moving on to middle school. We celebrated by taking them out for a nice all you can eat dinner. Congratulations to all the graduates and keep up the good work!
We got invited to NASCAR. One of the drivers is a local of Aguascalientes and he donated 30 tickets to our orphanage. The kids had a great time and we really appreciate the donation.
We also had 3 more birthdays in July and they all fell on the same day. July 30th was Jose's, Victor's and Omar's birthday. We had hamburgers, cake, and ice cream at the casa. We did the traditional Mexican custom of slamming their faces in the cake. It was chocolate cake so none of them seemed to mind the mess.
We celebrated the "quinceañera" (15th birthday) of Elvira, which is a very special occasion for a young lady in Mexico. She insisted that we didn't have a big party for her. All she wanted was a dinner with a few of us so we took her to Chuck E Cheese and she had a blast. Her best friend Fernanda got them "best friends" necklaces.
MORE BUNNIES!! 2 more bunnies were donated and now we have a total of 5. The kids love the bunnies but I think I was the most excited. They're so cute!!!
Daniela, one of our regular volunteers from Mexico City, came to visit and help out for 2 weeks. The kids love it when she comes and we hope to see her again soon. Thanks for everything Daniela. Take care and God bless.
(She is hugging Jorge, one of our older boys, goodbye when we dropped her off at the airport.)
All of the Ibero boys have left (Ibero is the name of their university in Mexico City). They came to do their community service and stayed for 6-8 weeks. They helped a lot with the kids and getting ready for the 15 year anniversary. We really appreciate everything they've done to help us out and we hope to see them again soon. Thanks again Gibran, Anthony, Emilio, and Edgar (their names from left to right).