Dear Family & Friends,

Well, as I said in April it was an unusual month. Well May has only been a little different. The tourist trade here has really taken a hit. All cruise ships cancelled until June 25. We were told that 15 major hotels were closed i.e. The Mayan Palace & The Velas etc. plus 5,000 hotel & restaurant service personnel laid off. Schools closed for three weeks plus the government called for a closure of all public offices, restaurants etc. It was like a ghost town for much of the month. We even had airlines cancelling flights etc. Also friends that were coming and had booked flights cancelled because the Swine Flu scare was so prevalent. But guess what? To my knowledge Puerto Vallarta didn’t end up with a single case of Swine Flu. But boy the folks sure suffered loss of income big time. 

Casa Hogar Orphanage

The construction is continuing but to a lesser degree. At least we are not getting as much dust & noise. The place is really starting to look nice.

Faye, Yael & Adrianna now have a brand new classroom as of May 14th with brand new wood tables & chairs. Faye & I immediately purchased thick table clothes to protect them from scratches etc. It sure makes a difference to have a much quieter location to teach. Faye is teaching the children to read English and Yael & Adrianna are helping them with their homework. Plus Adrianne is also working on the children’s social skills which are a real blessing.

The fountain is in and surrounded by new tile and I have provided pictures in our Photo Gallery. What a difference to see the children get water as it is needed. Plus have visitors comment that the whole complex and feel of the orphanage has taken a definite turn for the better. I am sure it also encourages the staff & also the attitudes of the children as they can take more pride in their surroundings. So thank you once again Pastor E.T. Tapper & Garry & Karen Gregorius and your whole church for caring.

Now I want to once again thank David Zude from Colorado for making two trips down and blessing the children and us. How many people do you know who
would give up their precious vacation time four times this year to help our little ones?  

Also need to surely thank volunteer newcomer to Casa Hogar Esther Fluevog who has helped us teach & have provided us with resources for many years at our other schools. Also our dear friend Janet Tsuchiya from our home church in Castro Valley, California who worked with us everyday of her first week of vacation.  Make sure you look in the picture gallery for all the photos of volunteers and kids.

And of course I have to always include our dear friend from church Freda Thompson and her two friends from Canada. Freda is a real trooper and always there for the kids.

Then Teresa Tanner & her friend Goody blessed the kids by teaching numbers etc. They are from Winnipeg, Canada.

So we had lots of volunteers and boy were they needed because the kids were bored because they didn’t have school for most of May.

And we also want to thank Kathy & her husband for loving on the kids.

Agape Abused Home for Girls

Well because of the economy we have lost our cook. So the Headmistress Iram & the girls fend for themselves which is not all bad. Iram use to be a chef so she is teaching the girls how to cook just like a mother would do. But as usual the diet is too high in starch so Faye & I have been providing chickens, beef & pork to round out their diet. We have also provided cases of tomato sauce, oil & other food staples as needed.