IVHQ mexixo program

Every day we woke up at 7am and had breakfast that Miguel or his family had prepared for us. We walked to the bus stop which was a couple of minutes from the volunteer house and we got a coffee from Oxxo for the way. The bus came around 8 and it took us about 40 minutes to get downtown. We then walked for about 10 minutes downtown past the local shops and foodstands selling mangos, dragon fruit and sweet corn (delicious and only 10 pesos), to Pastoral del Amor (our volunteer placement). This facility was home to 20 residents with special needs. We spent 1 hour teaching the nuns who ran the house English and the next two hours with the residents. These residents came to Pastoral del Amor as children and have lived there ever since. They love hugs, dancing to good music, crafts, drawing, and treats. We picked up small things on our way to the placement in the morning like colourful paper, crayons to draw with, plasticine and pipe cleaners to do crafts each day. We also brought cookies to have as a treat the last day we were there.

The experience with the children was amazing. We got to know a lot about each one even though we did not speak Spanish and they did not speak English. We also noticed that they operate together as a family and help each other out. One was in a wheelchair and could not feed himself. I was asked to feed him his snack and water. I was struggling and another child,a girl, came over and held out her hands to help. I watched as she fed him with ease and when she was finished, he gave her a kiss to say thank you. It was really touching to watch.

When our placement ended each day, we had time to explore the city and spend time with the other volunteers. Miguel took us to the holy city of Izamel one afternoon, where we had delicious Yucatacan food, climbed a myan pyramid and got a history lesson/tour from Miguel. Miguel also organized for us a trip to Chichen Itza, where we toured the archeological site, ate delicious buffet food, and swam in a cenote (sinkhole).