Christmas for underpriviledged families

A couple weeks ago I met a friend; while waiting outside the INM office to start my FM2 paperwork.

She is a wonderful, funny, and caring person. Earlier this year she began collecting school supplies for the many children and families who can not afford them. The basic items that we purchase for school, ie crayons, markers, backpack, paper, etc, can easily run from $25 (usually much more)USD. Though that seems common in the US, many families in mexico make less than $15 USD a day.

And as Christmas quickly approaches, my friend has been collecting donations to help out families or a very poor community. They are located maybe 30 minutes from puerto Vallarta, and yet receive no government support. Most children there do not go to school. It is a mile walk to go to school, and during the rainy season of aug-oct the rain makes it even harder for these children. And as for the holidays, there are no Christmas trees or presents.

Below are pictures of some of these families.

A Family standing outside of their home

If you can find it in your hearts to donate even $5, my friend and I are able to put it towards helping these families. Not just for the holidays, but longer term. They live without running water, some of their homes have no roofs, and those that do have to be held down with rocks to keep from blowing away, and they have sheets, plastic tarps and boards to serve as their walls.

***A Donation Box is Located to the Right ***

Thank you for your time and support

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Because there is no running water,
they pour a bucket of water down the toilet to flush it.

The "walls" of one of the home structures

More "walls"

Mexico is NEVER consistant

I am refering to local buses. Though there is a lot of inconsistancy that you can find all over the place.

Usually On good days, the bus you need will pass by almost every 10 minutes. I did not have this luck yesterday. I happened to need a bus that was going to Ixtapa to visit a friend I recently made, and I waited over 30 minutes. Here that's not the norm. Luckily Maya stayed pre-occupied with the bananas I brought her and juice. I guess I didn't have as much experience on these buses as I thought. Im always forgetful of just how full those things can get. I was reminded yesterday. I was soo thankful I had a seat because everyone tha was crammed together in the asiles looked very uncomfortable.

On the plus side I spent a wonderfully long day at my friend's house. Our daughters played together, and we chit-chatted for many hours. Many. Many hours. I loved it! Though I should have left a lot sooner than we did. The next thing I knew I looked at my phone and it was after 10pm, and Maya and I were a long ways from home. But hey the buses were probably running faster now right? Right?!

Nope.. 5 buses came and went in the 40 minutes I was waiting, but none of them was the bus I needed. And because of my inexperience with buses here I was unaware that they come only once an hour after 11pm. I thought I had untill 12am..

CAUTION! DO NOT DO THE BELOW:

Okay so I was bad. Really bad. It was around 11:30pm, Maya was passed out in my arms and I was sitting on a rock besides a tree, waiting for the bus I needed. A car pulled over and an older woman came out. She asked me where I was headed and I told her. And she told me they could give me a ride. She seemed really nice and reminded me of my mother-in-law. So i got in. There were two other guys in the car, both in their late forties (im guessing). They were extremely nice, and we talked the whole way. In spanish! I know I made a BIG no-no, but I was very proud of myself regarding my conversation skills. I really didn't mean to stay out so late, and needless to say I will never do it agian (without my hubby). Maya and I got home safetly, and I said my good-byes to the nice people and they told me (again) to be more careful. So where ever you people are; Thank you again for giving us a ride, and not being some sort of killer maniacs.