The Marshall Zoo: We went to help the orphans... but they gave us so much more.

A year ago, we learned about a foundation (A Child's Hope Foundation) that takes humanitarian trips to an orphanage in Mexico. While there, they help the orphanages with various service projects that benefit the orphans that live there. As we learned more about them, Aaron and I knew it was something we wanted to do with our children. We felt it would be a great way to teach our kids about service and how to help others who were less fortunate. So we signed up to go over Christmas break.I was filled with a little apprehension as we crossed the border between San Diego and Tijuana for the first time but things went smoothly and proceeded to follow our caravan the short 50 minute drive to La Mision where we would be staying at an orphanage campground named Door of Faith. As we pulled the gates My eyes filled with tears as saw many of the kids running around and playing outside. These are kids who are not with family for one reason or another and are living/growing up here. It made me thankful for my three kids.

Although we stayed at Door of Faith orphanage, most of our service projects were done at another orphanage, Casa De Paz, about 30 minutes south of Door of Faith. Door of Faith told us that because they get so many volunteers, they coordinate projects with other orphanages in the area. We also spent time with another orphanage, my kids favorite, due to the awesome interaction we had the kids there. That orphanage was called Buena Vida. Buena Vida houses 26 orphans and are currently in need of relocation. They are losing their lease in 2016 and are looking to buy new land to rebuild. So, because of that, we did not do any service work with Buena Vida. We did, however, get to spend our evenings with these kids and came to love them.

Our service projects at Casa De Paz had us taking down a rusted barbed wire fence and replacing it with new chain link fence, painting bunk beds, laying down tile, building a wall to subdivide a room including mudding, taping, sanding, and painting, and painting a mural on a gathering room wall. The work was long, hard, and at times boring but I was extremely proud of my kids who jumped in and helped without complaint. Adam learned how to mud and tape, Alex learned how to apply grout to tile, Abbi learned how to paint bunkbeds without dripping, and Aaron and I learned how to put up a chain link fence. The favorite thing the kids did though, was paint the mural. They loved it! It was hard work but very rewarding to know we were helping better the lives of these kids at Casa De Paz.

One of the mornings we were there, we drove up to a church located in the dumps of Tijuana that serves breakfast to the children that live there. This is most likely the only meal these kids eat that day and we were extremely humbled to see how these kids lived. The church is located in literally the dumps of Tijuana. It is here where people live and scavenge to support their families. The sight and smell of the dumps was very sobering. Homes are crudely built along the hills of garbage; no running water, no plumbing to most of these homes. To know that the children we were serving that day lived in these conditions was sad, to say the least. However, they were so thankful! We served them pancakes and oatmeal and as some of the kids came up and asked for seconds and thirds, I wanted to stuff their pockets with as much food as I could. We gladly served them food and they graciously ate.

This trip was an amazing experience not only for Aaron and me, but also for our kids. They loved serving these kids and experiencing life outside of Utah. We loved it so much, we are planning on returning in November 2015.