We had a wonderful visit with Fred and Debbie Schmitt from Chicago.  They visited the transfer station with us and saw first hand the housing situation for the family's that work in the garbage all day.  We went to see Gaby and her small dwelling, Gaby is pregnant and has two children.  Gaby lives in a space about the size of an american bathroom, but her major complaint was that when it rains her family gets wet.  When women are pregnant they aren't allowed to work in the transfer station.  Gaby has been learning how to make handcrafts in order to make some money for her family.  Gaby showed us a piece of land that is available for her to build a new shelter on, I have to tell you that before we left I told her to start cleaning the land and we will find a way to build a new shelter for her and her family.  My brother-in-law will go to the property tomorrow and give me an estimate of what the materials will cost and I'll ask some friends from the local church to help me build a new shelter for her and her children.

 

In one day our mission team organized and hauled all this garbage to the transfer station.  The next day the new civil association had its meeting in a clean area.  We served hot dogs and the clowns performed a number of stunts for the kids.  With balloons and games the children had a great time.

The Mission Team from Mexico City has arrived, two young men who are dedicated to turning the world into a better place.  Cesar Jonathan Salinos Romero who is 17 years old from Durango, Mexico and Edgar Ivan Godinez  Lona 34 years old from Mexico City who is an Architect.  They have already gone to work distributing a flyer for the church event Saturday and Sunday in San Jose Del Valle.  This afternoon they are working at the dump cleaning up the area around the new Civil Association office which will have a party with them tommorrow.

NEW COMMUNITY CENTER - We have met with the landlord for the new Civil Association office and came to an agreement on using his land for a new Community Center, this includes two rooms and a bathroom that are already in place.  We have a mission team coming from Mexico City who will clean up the site and paint the rooms.  The first room will be used to receive clothing donations, clean them and then distribute them to members of the dump community, this project will be run by members of the new Civil Association that represents 160 families in the dump community.  The second room will be to house a dental and medical clinic for the benefit of dump community families.  Children of the Dump made it's first grant to the new Civil Association
helping them with this months rent on their new office.


  
WEBSITE UPDATED - Children of the Dump has updated our website and is in the process of working on a new ten (10) year report on all our programs.  Further updates are planned linking the website to all the reporting agencies that Children of the Dump files disclosure and tax statements with. http://www.childrenofthedump.org

We went to the dump today to watch while members of the dump community learned how to do handcrafts to help supplement their income.  We figured out that an hour working on handcrafts could equal a whole days pay at the dump.  The dump work rules don't allow pregnant women to work there.  This woman needed to learn handcrafts to survive with her child and another one on the way.  I admit being choked up, in that the first project is a picture frame for my desk of a picture of my mother with me in Puerto Vallarta.  My mother was a defender of single women with children, her first husband had left her with three children to look out for.  She always supported "Children of the Dump" and would have loved these classes.  So far I have seen men, women and children wanting to learn.  They are not looking for a hand out, but want to learn what to do that can help them earn a living.

We went to the boxing match with Coach Michael Angelo Carbajal Gonzalez and had the opportunity to meet with several of his fighters, including Fabian El Huracan pictured above who has 20 knockouts, 10 decisions and no loses.  I've watched the Coach train these young men and encourage them to excel.  I'm hoping to have some of them visit the United States in the near future.  Have a blessed day.

 

Yesterday we met with members of the new civil association for the dump community at their new office.  Ricardo Trejo demonstrated handcrafts he is teaching in his class and the members of the civil association discussed the location of their new store which will sell the handcrafts of those in the dump community.  The new civil association has adopted work rules which we are being translated into english and we will share them with you in the next few days. 

               We visited Casa Hogar an orphanage in Puerto Vallarta.  The Orphanage was started in 1993 and is licensed for 58 children and today had 43 children in residence.  We met with Luz Aurora Arredondo the Directora of the orphanage, she took us on a tour while most of the children were in school.  The majority of the children are young and attend my sister-in-laws school, in fact today Maria was at the school helping out, while I was at the orphanage.  I found the facilities clean, neat and orderly.  The children appeared happy and well cared for.  When we talked about their needs it was always projects for the children.  A new kitchen for the younger children, a new roof for the buildings before the rainy season sets in and more computers for the children to learn on.  I was very impressed with their program and their spirit of caring for the children.  We will follow this visit up with additional information on their organization.  In addition, we added a language translator to our website today, with the push of a button you can translate our website into a number of different languages.

The workers at the new transfer station on the site of the old dump have formed a new civil association.  They have opened a small one room office and have signed up 160 workers in their organization.  The group has elected a six member governing body and they have requested our help in putting together a website and in helping them to keep their children in school.  The new city administration has taken office and they have already assured the workers they can continue to work at the new transfer station.  The new association will be our point of distribution for donated items going forward and they have agreed to work with us as part of a new advisory group to make recommendations on proposed projects and grants going forward.

Today I met with a group of the workers from the transfer station.  They are in the process of forming an association of those working at the transfer station that will represent their interests.  One of the young people present who help interpret was a girl who had attended the School of Champions years ago.  She now works in an office and represents the changed lives we have all been working for.  We are in the process of doing a census of the workers and their families in the dump community.  We plan to us this data in the report we are putting together that will come out in June for all our supporters.  We plan to focus our work on the dump community going forward and will have a program outline in the June report.  Thank you for your continued support for this work.