Ejército de Salvación, El Hogar de Esperanza

I was lucky enough to spend two days at El Hogar de Esperanza, a homless shelter run by the Salvation Army of Mexico. I swung by el hogar a few days before and they offered me a bed for two days so that I could help out and experience the shelter. Before I go on, my experience would not have been nearly as rich if I was not welcomed to el hogar in the manner that I was... There are four permanent volunteers there who were extremely hospitable.

Marco, Marteen, y mí mejor amigo Wilmur (Israel no esta). Wilmur lived in the states for 13 years and I spent a lot of time with him. He could speak perfect english but in order to help me learn, he spoke only spainsh with me (except when we were moving a couch... then he needed to tell me what to do!)

Las camas del voluntarios

Anyway, my first afternoon there I helped prepare and serve a meal for the officers of Mexico Citys Salvation Army chapter. It was a good intro and I got to meet some very very good people who are doing some incredible stuff here. There was mass and then we ran over to let the men in around eight. There are 40-45 men that are there every night. They all have responsibilities as far as clean-up goes.

La cena... Pollo con huevos, frijoles, zanahorias, y tortillas

Las camas del hombres

A question I caught in passing but that I think speaks volumes of el hogar occured right as all the men sat donw for dinner. One of the men asked, ¿Donde esta Danny? (Where is Danny?) Everybody looked around and eventually Danny cruched his way in ten seconds later. The men truly feel like a family, and I think that is crucial in the construction of a shelter.

The shelter, kitchen, and distribution center is run by a man and his wife. However his kids are always around. The whole operation seems a bit like a family project. Further, nuns are constantly stopping by to help with various projects. My second afternoon I helped make sandwiches as take away meals for the men. It was nice, it reminded me of the Le Moyne College Sandwich Markers...

Isebella, la hija de la familia

Una hermana haciendo sandwiches. ¡Tenemos una mejor sandwich programa a Le Moyne!

The second evening I helped serve again, cleaned up and then headed to bed. The following morning we got up, cleaned up until 830, ate breakfast, and then helped in the distribution center until 3. The distribution center funds the shelter. Wilmur and I spent the afternoon moving couches and stoves from peoples houses to the center. I got to spend a lot of time talking with Wilmur, practicing spanish, and truly enjoying myself. We then ate lunch and caught the end of the spain vs. honduras game. (Wilmur is from Honduras and was a bit unhappy with the 2-0 loss). I then said goodbye and made my way back to La Casa.

After my first night at el hogar I had to book it back to La Casa early to catch a bus with some of the refugees who are staying at La Casa to a fundraising soccer tournament. The tournament was to raise money for a growing refugee program here in Mexico City. It was very neat seeing the refugess from La Casa meet other refugees. One fella John-Luis, a refugee from Cameroon and guest at La Casa, was so excited to meet other French speaking people that I swear he almost cried.

Un lugar para programas de refugess en una parque

Azul vs. Rojo

Mexico lost this morning to Uruguay... People were pretty upset.

Thank you for reading everyone. My mom is headed for Peru tomorrow. Please keep her in your thoughts for these next few days!