Walt and Nancy’s June Newsletter for Hope House

Here is our monthly (más o menos) newsletter to keep our friends and family updated on what is happening with Hope House Children’s Relief (HHCR) and Hope House in Mexico. For those who don’t know, HHCR is our not-for-profit 501(c)3 and all donations received are directed solely to Hope House (Casa Hogar Mi Esperanza en el Corazon) in Ixtlahuacan de Los Membrillos, Jalisco, Mexico. The newsletter will provide updates on the boys – especially the new ones – a little insight into the staff, teams, vocational training, projects, and items of special interest.  If you know of someone that would be interested in HHCR/Hope House, Mexico updates, they can subscribe here.

A copy of last month’s newsletter can be found here.  If you go to this website there is a link to all previous newsletters.

We are still waiting for the US Banks to make a decision on when and how USD dollars can be transferred again to Hope House’s Mexico bank account. Currently we are still able to make wire transfers because our bank sends pesos, not dollars. Apparently September 4  is some magical mystery date, where if nothing changes, even this will not be possible. Keep praying! God is able. Both Hope House’s bank and our personal bank here in Mexico are affected. Our donations are about $1,000 a month below our need, so if you are able to help, every dollar counts!

The Boys
 

There are 21 boys now in Hope House. Four new ones came in July and none have left. So their need continues to grow. Seven of the boys are new, another challenge to determine and meet the needs of the new boys.
 

 

The photo below is of the four new boys that came in July. We don’t have details on names or ages but will get them. 

Happy Birthday
 

Emmanuel celebrated his 13th birthday in June. Happy Birthday Emmanuel! The following photo is of the celebration, including sharing with everyone in the house and even Emmanuel getting a sneak bite in.

Annel say, “It’s an honor for me to be able to see the growth of each child when they arrive at Hope House. During their stay, there are such positive changes, from their improved physical health to their emotional and educational control. Today, Kevin and Diego finish elementary school. They were in the escort with honors, and now Emanuel is joining the escort!
Imagine my joy at seeing them!”

Creekside Bible Church (CBC) continues to faithfully visit Hope House every year for  a week. They must enjoy it here, as they keep coming back! There is a lot of bonding that goes ond carries on through to the next year as the boys remember the team members that come  The remainder of this newletter will be a series of photos showing the bonding and activities that take place.The first photo below is the team leaving the San Jose airport.  Each time the team comes to visit the first stop is the local Walmart to fill up on snacks for their dorms.The next photo is when they first arrived at Hope House.  They met with Annel who is in the photo.  This year, everyone on the team was a returning member.

The next photo is unpacking and sorting out all the elements of the various activities that will be used. This, of course, was done in CA prior to coming but after the flight and getting through cusoms, things have to be sorted out again.

The following collage is a group photo once all the boys and team members have been introduced. and some of the activies have started.

After that is a photo of everyone wearing their team shirts for the week with some activities that started the first day.

Arts and Crafts Projects
 

With little boys, arts and crafts are more  what they are capable of doing than the sports camps of past visits. However, there are many games geared for every boy in Hope House. It takes a lot of preplannning and explanation. 

The two photos below are taking different colored shapes and producing “paintings”. The bottom collage is chalk art on concrete. 

Outdoor Activities Crafts
 

One outdoor craft consisted of making little race cars and racing them. The first collage below shows the making and racing of cars and the upper left is the winners!

The other outdoor craft was water propelled rockets. (We have a video clip of an actual launch but unfortunately embedding videos is not possible in Mailchimp.) The bottom collage shows the setup for the rocket launches. There is a rocket ready for launch on the end of the pipe structure in the two photos at the bottom of this collage. The launch is activated by stomping on a bellows at the other end of the pipe structure. Perfect for boys under the age of ten.
 

At the end of the week the team, Nancy and I, and some Hope House staff are treated to a special dinner. The choice is Adelitia’s as they have close to the worlds best BBQ ribs. A half rack is usually more than enough, but a few people can eat a whole rack.  There are plenty of other good items on the menu. The first photo below is of us eating and then, below that, a photo of the ribs.

Just to give our readers a little more taste of life here, our rainy season in Mexico is mid-June to mid-October. Typically it only rains at night, However, the team did get caught in one rainstorm during the day; they are brief but can be heavy. It begins with beautiful sunsets like those shown in the next two photos. The rainstorms are often accompanied by a lot of lightening and thunder. A couple of lightening strikes were actually caught in the bottom photo. The benefit is that in the rainy season, everything is a lush green as can be seen in the photos.
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Remember, HHCR has been approved by PayPal as a legitimate 501(c)3 charity. This makes HHCR part of the PayPal Giving Fund. The impact is that all donations made through the PayPal Giving Fund are free of any fees. And since HHCR operates without any management fees, every dollar donated through use of the PayPal Giving Fund button goes 100% to Hope House. Some of our donors have already made use of this opportunity to donate to HHCR.  Donations, including recurring donations can also be made via Ministry Brands (formerly Clover Give) through our website, PayPal, bank transfer, or via check to our Laredo address.  At this time the PayPal Giving Fund only works for one-time donations. Recurring donations can be made through the regular PayPal link, which will add on a fee that is deducted from the donation.

HHCR is now also registered for Electronic Fund Transfers (EFT) with Fidelity Charitable.