Hi Family & Friends,

Here I am sitting at the computer and it finally appears like it wants to rain. It is really needed as all the vegetation is very dry and we have had a few forest fires.  All the vegetation in and around the dump is gray from the bumpy dirt roads. No wonder Asthma is the second highest disease here in Mexico.  Number #1 disease is Diabetes #2 because of the high starch & sugar diet.  Well, onto the events of April.

Because of the Spring Break & Easter, April is one of our busiest months for tourism. Some days we will have 5 cruise ships in port each putting ashore 2,500 tourists & 1.500 crew (20,000+).  Then you have the airline passengers on top of that and all the Mexicans from the interior heading for the beaches. It is a regular zoo of people. Faye and I tend to just stay home if we are not teaching. To try to walk the “Malecon” is crazy. It is literally elbow to elbow and all the restaurants are packed and the prices are increased for the high season.

Faye & I want to thank the following helpers & providers of new school supplies etc. Early April, Erica Nellessen & her family arrived form Illinois to help us teach, Erica discovered us on our webpage and really had a heart for the kids, then Ron & Bobbi Jo Williams arrived from Buffalo, Wyoming escaping the harsh weather to also help teach, then our dear long time friends Mike & Carolyn Spence from Glenwood Springs, Colorado also escaping the harsh spring weather.  The Spence’s brought down some very expensive and beautiful hard bound bilingual books for the children and then helped the children learn to read. Then our friends Wayne & Dolores Mitchell from Reno, Nevada who also spent many weeks throughout the years teaching, then mid-month our friend Esther, her husband Steve and two of their children arrived from Vancouver, B.C. You remember Esther, Esther has come down twice before in years past and stayed in our home to help us teach and also prepare for the large annual Thanksgiving dinner Faye & I hold on the roof each year. Of course, we were saddened to see our dear friends Patt & Ray Hodgson-Cox from Seattle, Washington leave us after spending 3 months every day helping us teach. And what talented teachers they are. But they will return as the kids captured their hearts so they bought a home here and I expect they will come back to teach 6 months out of the year.  We really would have been in a bind for teachers if our dear friend Vera hadn’t referred Joel & Leslie Kellner to us from also Seattle, Washington. They took over Patt & Ray’s class and haven’t missed a step.  The kids are always asking when Patt & Ray will return but then ask if Joel & Leslie will be in school everyday. I can only say these and all the rest of the volunteers are answers to Faye & my prayers for help. And last but surely not least our dear friends Bill & Elaine Arkell from Seattle, Washington whom always brings school supplies for the children twice a year. Thanks everyone.