Mexican Pool Party
Location: Mexico
Camera info: Canon Rebel 350D • lens 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
ISO 800 • f 5.0 • 1/3200 sec
(Note: I don’t recommend ISO 800 for outdoors – I had just come from indoors and didn’t switch ISO’s before taking this picture)
More stories from the Mexico orphanage! While the work teams were building, some people took turns visiting the kids and running a Vacation Bible School (VBS) program back at the home. My turn came in the middle of the week, and I went with three other teens to help the organizers plan the day. We included the usual songs, games, and fun skits, as well as toys and playtime. While we were having lunch/snack time, the parent family managed to set up a small swimming pool and fill it with water. This was fairly unusual for the area, because clean water was expensive. But they wanted the group to enjoy the time here.
The kids weren’t really sure what to do with it at first. Finally, one of the older children had an idea that she whispered to her friends. Before the rest of us knew what was happening, they surrounded two of our teenage volunteers, Gabi and Sam. With a combined effort, they picked up both girls and threw them into the pool, clothes and all! Both came up laughing, so the kids decided it was fun. They jumped in as well – all 30 or so of them! Of course, with that many kids in the pool, they lost half the water. Nobody seemed to care, as they all splashed and screamed and laughed. Sometimes it’s the little things that make the most fun.
What’s the most fun you’ve had with simple things?
Kids and Their Favorite Toys
Location: India
Camera info: Canon Rebel 350D • lens 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
ISO 800 • f 14 • 1/100 sec
Until I went to India, I never imagined how fascinating a ballpoint pen could be. Yet these schoolkids would literally fight each other over one if they had the chance. No worries – I brought a bag full. I enjoy bringing little gifts for kids when I travel, and these kids were no exception. For them, having something more “high-tech” than a pencil was exciting.
Cameras were exciting too. They knew that with digital photography, they could see the pictures instantly on a camera’s screen. So I was inundated with requests by kids to take their pictures, then turn the camera around to show them. This always elicited excited shrieks when they recognized themselves. Every once in a while, I would get a group of kids so big that they started grabbing at the camera. I was worried about it getting lost or damaged, so I started taking their pictures with a point-and-shoot. While they were busy admiring themselves on that one, I would pull out my DSLR and get a good pic for myself as well. 🙂
Knowing how much these little things meant to the kids, I was amazed by a street girl named Minyana. Someone had given her a sheet of stickers, and she chose to be generous herself. She went to each of us in the group, and affixed a sticker to each of our shirts. Even in poverty, she knew what generosity was all about.
Have you ever seen a small gift mean a lot to someone? What about something that someone gave you?
Awkward!
Location: Mexico
Camera info: Canon Rebel 350D • lens 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
ISO 200 • f 4.5 • 1/500 sec
Ever had a moment that just left you thinking, “AWKWARD!”? We all have. One of mine came during a building trip to Mexico. There were a few young boys that hung around the area we were working, and they had fun playing with our tools or showing us things they discovered. Lorenzo in particular was very good at this. One day after wandering the dry grassy area around our site, he announced that he found something cool. I went over to look, and he shoved a dead horny-toad in my face! Ummm…. thanks. At least I had the camera ready for this shot! 😉
Lorenzo was also a fan of the bracelets our team made. He wore his proudly, though they were only simple beaded strings we gave out to the kids and families we met. We did not make enough for everyone, however, so our team didn’t keep any for ourselves. After showing off his toad, Lorenzo noticed that I wasn’t wearing one, so he took the bracelet off his arm and handed it to me. Awwwww! How sweet! I pulled a translator over to tell him I was very thankful, but he should share it with his family. He just looked at her and boldly declared in Spanish, “Don’t worry, I have four!” He then emptied his pockets to prove it. Haha, oh well. It’s the thought that counts.
Kids say the craziest things! What’s your favorite kid story?
A Story of Orphans, Part 2
Location: Mexico
Camera info: Canon Rebel 350 D • lens 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
ISO 200 • f 5.6 • 1/125o sec
What would you do to keep a child out of jail? As described in my last post, my group in Mexico was faced with the situation of an orphanage running out of money and space. What would it take to keep them in business? Enter Casas por Cristo! The Texas-based housing ministry specializes in building homes in Mexico families that can’t afford them. Each home is built in one week by a team of volunteers from various places around the USA. Up until this time, they had never built an orphanage, but they were up for the challenge. So were three teams of workers from Mount Pleasant Christian Church. It’s Extreme Home Makeover, Mexico style!
During one blisteringly hot week in early July, the teams started construction on three houses that would form the orphanage – two bunk houses with a kitchen, and one large empty building for recreation and meetings. The buildings were simple – unfinished drywall inside and stucco outside, but they provided shelter and room for all the kids to live and play. Other people who heard of the project donated materials to build eight furnished bunk-beds, as well as curtains, toys, stuffed animals, kitchen appliances, and a large tank of clean drinking water. The kids were amazed, as many had not been able to sleep in a bed by themselves since they arrived at the orphanage. In fact, at the dedication party, one little girl (I would guess her about 6-7 years old) told us that she had been praying for God to help them, and our work teams were the answer. 🙂
The three buildings and all the workers
The orphanage moved into those buildings in 2008. By now, they have outgrown them, so a new team is forming to go to Mexico this summer and add on some extra houses. They will allow the host family to have their own place (they had been sharing with the kids until now) and provide more room for additional kids. Yay!
There now, wasn’t that a nice ending to this story? 😉
A Story of Orphans
Location: Mexico
Camera info: Canon Rebel 350D • lens 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
ISO 400 • f 4.0 • 1/3200 sec
“If these kids don’t have somewhere to go, they will send them to jail.” What?? I looked at our local contact in surprise. She explained the situation of the handful of kids that played in the orphanage’s front yard. Most of them were not truly orphans, but they had parents in jail for various reasons. It was one and the same in Mexico. If the children did not have other family members to take care of them, the authorities would send them to be with their parents. To keep these innocent kids out of the jail house, a local family had started an orphanage to care for them until their families were free.
Now, the orphanage was struggling because the landlords kept increasing their rent. They also were outgrowing the small houses they lived in. Our team visited them one day, and I was surprised how many kids could fit in one location. It was just a small house with an enclosed patio/garage area they used as a shelter. They had fenced in the front yard so the kids could go out and play safely. There were probably 20 kids blowing bubbles, kicking soccer balls, and trading off on the single swing set. Not all of them stayed at the orphanage, so I wasn’t sure how many actually slept there, but it was crowded nonetheless. I knew that if the orphanage didn’t find a better location they could afford, all these kids would be back on the street or in jail with their families. But what could we do?
What would you do? Let’s dream up some ideas how you would help these kids.
To be continued next week…
Pictures Around the World 