It is truly a dynamic experience when sponsors meet their sponsored student and families. This is the fourth time Joan and Mike Whalen have visited Veronica (above) and the first time for Julio (left). It’s a beautiful opportunity for sponsors to discover the everyday reality of the student, to have a heartfelt conversation with them, indulge in some local food, hand out gifts and leave knowing how the students’ lives are being transformed.

He’s got the fast car. I’ve got the travelling bug and we’re going cruisin’!

Move over Popeye…this boy’s a serious contender!

Teen Parents

  Studies show that teen parents and their children are at increased risk for medical, psychological, developmental, and social problems.

On Saturday, a number of teen moms visited our “resident” paediatrician, Dr. Jose Luis Ortega, who comes once a month to Vista Hermosa. Paediatricians are in the unique position of being on the front line for early intervention and medical care, which is crucial to reduce the risks specific to this population and to address their unique challenges.

Gris, a resident of Vista Hermosa, and an instructor hired by CONAFE (National Council for Education Development), carries out an outreach program for new parents, caregivers and pregnant women. She meets twice a week with mostly young moms of newborns to four years to help improve parenting skills and strengthen families through support and education. The impact she’s making is encouraging.

Last, but not least, Dr. Ortega, his wife Julia, and some of her colleagues, bought gifts and candies to celebrate Children’s Day in Mexico…April 30. On behalf of the kids who were delighted to be a recipient of this goodwill, thank you. Photos here.

Warming Up

Every month we throw an event for the little kids from 4 – 10 years. They are crazy about Pie Face, where they have the opportunity of getting smacked in the face with whipping cream…and they keep coming back for more! And what kid doesn’t want to have his or her face painted?

At the end, we handed out popcorn and glasses of Mexico’s favourite refreshing, non-alcoholic drink, Jamaica (ha-my-ka), made from dried hibiscus leaves. We also had a free raffle for the gifts that were donated to the charity by a yoga group from the U.S., who last month, visited with the children, and engaged in activities with them. Like stretching, which was a big hit. Thank you, Juli Schultz and crew of ECO SUP. More photos.

For six weeks before Ash Wednesday, residents and travellers to La Paz can experience days and nights full of colour, music, dance, delicious Mexican food, mechanical rides, fireworks, and also the incredible parade floats that always bring a carnival to life. This is all part of an amazing “fiesta” in Baja called Carnaval La Paz. The main street, El Malecon, is closed to traffic while numerous stands taunt buyers with food, toys, clothing, jewellery, and masks. 

For this month’s Let’s Play event, for our kids in Vista Hermosa and in keeping with the theme of Carnaval (Spanish spelling), we offered face painting and mask making. The masks were pre-cut, thanks to volunteer Eileen Herrara, and the table was littered with feathers, jewels, ribbon, crepe paper, pipe cleaners, string, and other recycled material. At the end, we handed out popcorn, Jamaica (delicious Mexican drink) and prizes. The whole event was beyond successful, with some very creative masks. The dolls are from Colombia, thanks to Andrea and Rene Bailly. More photos here.

Cuter Than Cute

Scholarship Student

Alan is one of our scholarship students who does his four hours a month of community service in our After School program. Whether the kids play games, draw, or do homework, they enjoy getting together and just having fun….which kids are so good at!

Twins!

Creativity Plus

Marco is an elderly gentleman living in Vista Hermosa who keeps busy making colourful purses and weaving an intricate pattern for fishing nets. The amount of details, not to mention hours, he puts into these projects is astounding, with the end result being a beautiful product.

Children’s Health

Yesterday, numerous babies and infants visited Dr. Ortega, Vista Hermosa’s “resident” paediatrician, who offers his services (free) once a month to children in that community.

Dr. Ortega feels it’s especially important to care for newborns and infants in order to encourage moms to breastfeed, to ensure the infants are getting the proper nutrition, which can be a problem in the poorer communities, and overall to focus on health and development of the child so that problems can be nipped in the bud before they have a chance to blossom.

Dr. Ortega’s love for children makes him awesome at what he does! A big thank you to the co-workers of Julia, Dr. Ortega’s lovely wife, for donating running shoes and clothing. More photos.

After the Rain

4th Annual Christmas Food Drive

Four trucks loaded to the brim with 231 food hampers made their way to Vista Hermosa to meet the families patiently waiting.

Each hamper contained 25 basic food and personal hygiene items. Because we bought from a warehouse that sells in bulk, we were able to negotiate a significant savings per hamper, at least 1/3 less than if you bought the same products in a grocery store.

What I love about the culture is the Mexicans are rarely in a hurry. This gave us the opportunity to schmooze with single moms, single dads, large families, small families, the elderly and the handicapped.

One of our volunteers handed out candy canes and we all exchanged hugs with wishes to each and every person for a very Merry Christmas. Happiness and sugar highs all around!

It was an amazing time for all of us knowing that each family we met will have food on their table for Christmas. Thank you to all who donated to this project and to the 21 volunteers who joined us this special day in celebrating an early Christmas with the children and families. Lots more photos

We, at Care for Kids La Paz, would like to wish you, our readers, a very blessed Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. See you in 2018!

Partying With the Mexicans

Over eighty children attended our annual children’s Christmas fiesta where they vigourously and enthusiastically participated in games, relays, and drawing.

Surprisingly, some of those young kids were out to defeat their opponent at all costs but thankfully, we didn’t lose any, a miracle in itself.

However, kids being kids, they were most anxious for a gift – dolls, trucks, Yoyo’s, Slinkys, flying machines, rubber balls, Frisbees, girls’ notebooks, bead-making kits, silly putty – lovingly donated by clients of Tailhunter International Sportfishing, and Dr. Jose Luis Ortega, his lovely wife, Julia, and her coworkers.

More Partying With The Mexicans

The Mexicans sure know how to throw a Christmas Posada. Lots of food, piñatas for the kids and gifts.

I attended this fiesta, hosted by Gris, who teaches young moms with newborns to 4 years the necessary skills to help their children develop cognitively, socially, physically and emotionally.

There were a ton of kids and when it came time for the piñatas, I was pretty surprised at how some of those young ones could really pummel those things, tackle each other to the ground diving for candies, and arise unscathed. Arising without a mark or even arising at all, is a mystery.

Sick Kids

Once a month, Dr. Jose Luis Ortega, a paediatrician, attends to sick kids in Vista Hermosa. The word has quickly gotten out that a paediatrician will treat children at no cost. What’s more is that the mothers don’t have to make an appointment and they will be given the medication their children need, if Dr. Ortega has brought it.

It was both a busy and hectic afternoon with over thirty-eight kids waiting to be seen. Dr. Ortega and his lovely wife, Julia, brought a ton of Christmas gifts for the kids, many of them donated by Julia’s co-workers. That helped keep the children occupied.

Taking It To The Streets

Basic Health Care

Sleep and Smile

 

Riding in her bright yellow wheelchair, Norma is difficult to miss. With the help of her brother and the community, she is able to live independently. She asked our charity if we could help her with a new pair of shoes because the ones she had were held together with gum. We found her a pair of slip-on rubber soled tennis shoes, which fit her like a glove and brought a beautiful smile to her face.

 

We spend about a third of every day in bed. What you siesta on can impact your sleep. Many of us have the luxury of spending it blissfully slumbering on a comfortable bed. What if your mattress was old and saggy or even wet? Or three of your kids were sleeping with you because there was only one mattress? Or you slept on a dirt floor? Unimaginable, isn’t it? In many of the poorer communities, this is not uncommon. Our charity recently delivered a number of mattresses to happy children who could finally get a good night’s sleep. Sleep and smile…such simple things! More photos here.

Love Comes In Different Sizes

Moms and Babes

Fourth Annual Christmas Food Drive

Academic Achievement

Congratulations to Brayan, Estefanía, and Jennifer, three of our scholarship students, for receiving diplomas in their school year for academic achievement. We are very proud of them!   

Mattress Run

There’s nothing like a good night’s sleep!

We delivered a mattress to a young boy who was sleeping on the floor and to a family of eight where Tropical Storm Lidia became a running river through their home. 

Guess Who Got New School Shoes?

Ready To Learn

Let’s Play

Our monthly event gives kids the opportunity to engage in races, games, and drawing and to leave with prizes, popcorn and a good time. A big thank you to clients of Tailhunter International Sportfishing for donating the prizes.

More photos here.

Solar Reading Lamps

Trevor Brown, the founder of Baja Connections, a responsible tourism business, has pledged to purchase one rechargeable solar lamp for every whale shark tour they do. We will distribute these lamps to school age children who don’t have electricity in their homes. Baja Connections offers snorkelling, diving, whale watching and whale shark tours in La Paz.  

The Face of An Angel

Our hearts are saddened by the passing of precious, little 10-year old Vania, who recently died of an inoperable brain tumour. Vania was such a blessing to everyone who met her and she will be deeply missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family, who have lost such a beautiful princess.

Love to Play

Kids love being creative and using their imagination. And they just love to play. Our charity started an After School program for kids from kindergarten to the end of elementary school in order to brighten and uplift the lives of children who live in poverty and deprivation. 

What better way for our scholarship students to give back to the community than to commit their four hours of volunteer service a month to engage in play with these children. There are no specific qualifications except to be enthusiastic, show up on time and strive to be good role models.

Alanis entered our scholarship program last August with exceptionally high grades. He thinks community service is a good thing and he enjoys helping the kids with math, reading, memory games, jigsaw puzzles, painting…anything that will be a benefit for them. Some proudly receive gold stars on their forehead when they
master some skill!

A number of children who attend the After School program

are from difficult backgrounds. They have not had the best start in life. Our scholarship students, like Alanis, have the opportunity to improve things, little by little, with their love, commitment, care and energy. Community service can not only make a difference in someone else’s life but our students’ lives as well.

The Face of Angels: Profile of Alanis – 13 years

Student Scholarships

Scholarships for students in developing countries help fund costs of attending school and enable them to accomplish their career goals. Our scholarship program was designed to reward students who are working hard and who take their education seriously. One of our requirements, aside from maintaining high grades, is to put in four hours of community service per month during the school year.

Many of our students choose to do activities with the little kids – reading, drawing, playing games – but one of our students is doing something unique. He’s helping his grandfather sell vegetables.

Julio lives across the road from his grandfather, Julian, who buys and sells tomatoes by the kilo, walking door to door every day in the surrounding communities. It’s hard work trekking through dirt roads, up and down stone-filled hills under the scorching Baja sun, carrying pails filled with tomatoes. When the pails are empty, the grandfather hurries back to his home where he weighs more tomatoes and bags them.  

Once a week, Julio helps his grandfather, accompanying him on his trek. The money the grandfather makes supports his wife and himself and also feeds Julio and his two brothers lunch while Julio’s mother works.

A Conversation with Julio