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!
I was in three different countries this November. Though it was a huge blessing to travel and see so many friends and family, it's good to be back after a month away from the kids and the orphanage!
I had a goodbye dinner with many of my friends and staff of "He Cares," the orhaphange that I used to volunteer with in the Philippines. I returned to LAX on November 3rd and spent a week at home in San Diego with my family.
I got back to Aguascalientes on Nov 11th after exactly one month away. The kids and I were really excited to see each other and they gave me a great welcome. My car was covered with "Bienvenido Bobby" (Welcome Bobby) and tons of little notes all over. They are so sweet.
We said goodbye to our oldest boy, Victor, this month. I personally didn't get to say goodbye. He left the morning that I got back...about 1 hour before I arrived. I was sad to hear that he left but we were having lots of problems with him. He had been doing so well for years and then all of a sudden for the past month or two his attitude changed and he became very rebellious. We couldn't deal with it anymore and it was rubbing off on the other boys. I really hope he fixes the problem and changes back to the good kid that he is.
More bad news. There was a leak inside one of the columns of the school. The kids were without water/bathrooms in the school for about 2 weeks. It was a very difficult leak to fix. It was in between 3 separate steel rebar structures and completely encased in cement. I had to remove the window and break two holes in the column to fix it. It was frustrating! I kept thinking how I had just finished the school and it looked so nice but now I have to smash it up. Anyway, praise God it is fixed and the kids now have bathrooms again at school.
But on a positive note, we welcomed back Manuel (Manuelito)! Manuelito came to us when he was a little boy and was in the orphanage for 6 years. About 1 1/2 years ago he left because a judge ruled that his parents had changed and were capable of caring for him again. Well shortly after, he was physically abused by his parents and taken away by the government again. After being transferred around for a bit, they finally asked him where he wanted to go and he said "Dulce Refugio." It's a terrible story but at least for now it has a happy ending. We are gonna take really good care of him!
Our kitchen got a makeover. Thanks to Guicho, a regular volunteer, and many other helpers, we have fresh paint and new LED lights. The kitchen was always so dark but now it shines brightly. We really appreciate the help around the orphanage
Before
After
I had to encase some electrical wires inside of our kitchen pantries. A while ago we had an electrical short inside the wall and the lights wouldn't work. I installed new wires outside of the wall and left them hanging by nails. Since we are in the process of getting solar panels for the orphanage, we had an electrical inspection and with wires hanging all over the place we couldn't pass (I wonder why haha). We had a lot of extra PVC pipe lying around so I used that to encase the wires. It looks pretty ghetto but it got the job done. And since nobody really goes inside the pantries, their appearance isn't too much of a priority.
While I was installing the clips to hold the pipes, I drilled right into a water line. Water was shooting out everywhere. There were a couple of inches of water on the floor. It was a disaster but luckily it was an easy fix. Definitely not my month for plumbing!
I cleaned out A TON of stuff. Now that the school is done, I'm free to do other jobs around the orphanage that I've wanted to do for years. I filled up our passenger van 7 times (2 loads of trash, 2 loads of steel, 1 load of cardboard, 1 load of plastic, and 1 load of old electronics). I was able to recycle everything except the trash and the electronics so I made a decent amount of money for the orpahanage. (The pictures show the before and after of just one area that I cleaned out...there were 4 areas total).
I took the kids to a Christian concert in the downtown plaza. There has been a campaign for the last year all throughtout Mexico. It's called "un millón para Jesús" (one million for Jesus) and the churches were uniting to do evangelistic outreaches. This was the final night of the campaign and there was a big event to close it out. The pastor of the church I go to played and another band from Venezuela played. The kids got to meet and take a picture with them afterwards. It was a fun time and the kids really enjoyed it. Praise God our kids have a heart to worship Him!
One of my best friends came down to visit over Thanksgiving weekend. Jenna, who I call my "lil sister" and who I had the privilege of officiating her wedding in September, wanted to come down and see Aguascalientes. I took her downtown, to the orphanage, and to my pastor's house for an American style Thanksgiving feast. She met my friends, and we ate lots of tacos. It was a blessing to see her and she liked Aguascalientes so much that she plans on coming back again in the future.
