On Wednesday I was able to visit the kids’ club put on by the team from Arlington, Texas, USA. Here’s a quick look at the club. We’re thankful to the Lord for each child that heard about Him this week! Hopefully some will be back at the kids’ club that will be held next week…
Just a little video blog about July. Just a note – when you see the sports club, you’re just seeing a few of the girls play (guys and girls were switching off). Today they had a lot more people – I think there were … I forget already … 10 or 20 guys there that participated and heard the Gospel. Praise the Lord!
Here’s a video of our el DÃa de Canadá party. It went well (I enjoyed it, anyway). The weather was fantastic – it was cool and it didn’t rain. It rained in the morning, which was a little unusual, but it held off for the afternoon. It would have been tricky cramming that many people in our house, so it was nice to have the yard. So thanks for your prayers!
We had pancakes and Canadian maple syrup, sausages, moose and maple shaped JELLO Jigglers, maple leaf cookies, and lots more. We did a guys vs girls Canada quiz (I think I’ll post it later so you can try), the kids coloured and played with red play dough, and we watched Mexico smash Ecuador in the American Cup soccer match (hey, we’re still in Mexico after all!).
The minimum wage in Mexico is 50 pesos. As I write that’s about CA$5.21, or US$4.63. And, by the way, that’s not per hour, that’s per day.
You may wonder how people live on that – many Mexicans I’ve talked to wonder the same thing! Part of the answer is that a lot of people work 3 jobs, and live together with other people who are working 3 jobs. Then they cut back on expensive things like meat, and stick to tortillas and beans. And maybe rice. That’s if they’re actually able to work, and if so to find a job. Imagine the grandmother caring for young children trying to work (or find work!) on top of everything else!
Even the middle class has real troubles, trying to give children a better life and help struggling family members. Living close to the line many fear sliding back into the poverty trap themselves, and at they same time they wonder how they can help the many Mexicans who live in such a hopeless situation.
I thought you might like to hear about the issue from the mouth of a Latino. Very popular in Mexico and around the world is the Columbian musician and activist Juanes. His song La Historia de Juan (the story of Juan) is a simple description of the life of a boy in poverty.
Here’s a basic paraphrase/summary, since the song is in Spanish:
This is the story of Juan, the boy nobody loved. He grew up on the streets; his mother left him, his father mistreated him, his house was the alley, his room a cardboard box, his friend God. He wanted love, honour, and forgiveness and the world gave him pain and dishonour. The pain was so bad it extinguished his heart. He wanted to play, dream and love, but the world forgot him.
You meet a lot of interesting people, going to school at here in Cuernavaca. One of Shari’s classmates went to the popular town of Tepoztlán, where he climbed up the mountain Tepozteco with his mandolin. Somebody videotaped his performance on the mountain, and I thought it was pretty funny – so here’s your chance to meet another student at our school…
Can’t get enough? Here’s an encore.