After breakfast, Katie and I sat down to make a list of things we would like to get done.
We had a conversation about whether or not we still want to sell the golf cart. The problem with it is when we are away we have to worry about finding some way to keep the batteries (6) charged. It is not good for them to drain completely, and simply means you have to buy new ones more often (over $700).
We decided we would try and sell it, and if we didn't I would try a different method this year.
I put an ad on Craig's List right after, and within 15 minutes we had a phone call. The lady said she would come right down. We met them outside the gate in the cart, they looked it over, took it for a ride, and said they wanted it. Turns out they come from Nova Scotia and bought a place in a park in Weslaco. They will pick it up when they can get a trailer to put it in today or tomorrow. Well that's decided!
We met Sister Maureen at her church in Progreso (US side). Four nuns reside there, Sr. Maureen being one of them. The parish is building them a new house, the old one was pretty old. The parish managed to get a grant from the Kennedy foundation for $35,000 which helped with construction costs. The new one is going to be very nice for them. In the meantime they are housed in McAllen, so a long drive for Sr. Maureen when she goes to Mexico three times a week.
Should be finished middle of April
Sr. Maureen needed to pick up some donations to take to Mexico, so we climbed in her truck and off we went. We had to drive a long way and take several different roads until we came to a property that a different order of nuns run. The property is in San Benito, and is for the purpose of looking after refugees that come from South America. They are all going through the legal process of attempting to stay in the United States and have lawyers helping them. One was a refugee himself and the other is doing pro bono work.
There are both men and women houses in seperate quarters and they stay while they go through the legal process. They are not illegal as they are properly registered and going through the process. There are mothers with babies and many come from Cuba. We met Sister Teres who had previously spent 5 years in Mexico, but I detected an Irish accent and she confirmed that she is from Ireland. She showed us around the property and explained part of the history.
The three Musketeers, Katie, Sister Teres in the middle and Sister Maureen
After we had tea with Sister Teres, we loaded up the back of Sr. Maureen's truck...a dining room table, bags of clothing, toys, food, all for the families in Nuevo Progreso. We then started the fairly long drive back to the bridge to Nuevo Progreso. There was already a long line of cars on the bridge waiting to get back to the US side, but it was already after 4 and we thought it would be far less when we did what we wanted to do and it was time for us to go back. Wrong! as I will explain later.
We first went to see Vicky the girl we sponsored first. Sister Maureen dropped us off there for awhile while she went to unload the truck. Vicky is 9 now and was 5 when we first started sponsoring her.
In this case we had to use the translator on my phone as the parents and kids speak very little English. We gave Vicky some gifts we brought for her, and each of us always get big hugs.
Then we made another stop at the casa of Ruby who is sponsored by Durga who works with Katie. Ruby is 13 and last year she asked for a picture of her Madrina (sponsor) in her traditional dress. So we made it happen.
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| This is Ruby and her nephew |
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| This is Ruby's sister who at an early age has three children |
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| Raising chickens and roosters |
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| A house built for them by some Americans next to the shack they have been living in |
In my opinion I think it's sad that many of the young girls who are raised in this environment end up having children at a very early age, which basically means their future is now predetermined. It would be so great if they could continue their education, so they could do or be whatever they wanted. Now it would be most difficult. We put together a few gifts for Ruby and gave her the picture of Durga. She was very happy with that.
Then we went to see "our family" Livario, Erica, Karelly, Livy, Eric, and the new dog. I was very happy when we drove up to see that Sherlyn and her mom were there! They are so nice, I really like them. We got big hugs from "everyone". They were worried that we weren't coming because it was getting late and they had been waiting. Sherlyn and her mom came especially because they knew Katie and I were coming.
We neglected to get a picture of them the last time so we made sure this time
We gave the money to try and get a United States Visa to Livario and Erika. They were grateful. Sr Maureen sat with little Eric while he was playing on one of the tablets we had given the girls. The girls wanted to have fun and take some pictures...
Sr. Maureen told us that Eric does not have a sponsor for next year so Katie and I have decided that we are going to sponsor him as well. That way we have the whole family. They have so little and we have so much.
For those of you who don't know, our family was living in a shack when we first met them
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This doesn't show the whole place but gives you an idea
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One day the owner came along said he wanted it for his family and gave them a couple of days to get out. They had nowhere to go. We were still in Canada and worried for them. We found out that they were able to get permission to move into the place they are in now, which is really quite nice, but only for two months. Guess what, no one seems to care, and they are still there. The owner of what was supposed to be a upscale neighborhood, gave up on it and moved to the US because his daughters got killed.
The house had bullet holes in the windows from the cartel, and we learned that our family had been in it once before but one day a black truck with two guys came along and told them to get out. That's when they went to the blue house where they were paying rent.
Our family deserves to be living somewhere decent, the dad works and doesn't drink, mom is excellent and promotes education, the kids go to school everyday, and Karelly is first in the whole school n her studies.
We had more fun with the family and the kids, and then it was time to leave. It was just after 7PM by this time and when we got to the main street we saw there was a huge lineup of cars to get onto the bridge, all the way down the main street. Sr Maureen took a one block detour and we got into a different line on a side street which also leads onto the bridge. From the time we started until we got through customs it was an hour and a half.
I feel bad for Sherlyn and her mom, as they came today because they knew we were coming and Sherlyn would help to translate. They were still there when we left, but that line was not going to go down in a hurry.
After Sr. Maureen dropped us off a our car, we got home...time for some supper, some TV, and relaxation after a long day.
and so ends another great day in the Valley...
more later...
