Our Trip Back to Rancho del Nino Nueva Vida - Rosarito Children's Center

When we first went to the childrens center we did not really know what to expect. All I knew before arriving was that they had about 21 kids all living on a $400.00 per month salary. I spent an afternoon trying to find the place and get photos to find out what life was like. As I was soon to find out it was a very humble life with no heat, very few warm clothes and blankets and a lot of good kids doing their best to get by.

Now it had been a couple of weeks since I had first written my article on the center and by God's grace it had been picked up and published by The Gringo Gazette (thanks Nancy:-)) which helped send off a wave of donations and volunteers who wanted to help.

Come on back with us as we revisit the childrens shelter and take a look at great progress!


Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

We met the other volunteers and donors at The Rosarito Beach Hotel. The shelter is a little tough to find so to make it easy we all met there so we could "follow Leo".

Of course I had to get Leo to bring us up there because he is now part of the family so to speak.

Leo packed up the host of clothes, space heaters and food all collected by volunteers.

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

"Okay Leo, one good photo before we go", I said as we had the banana cab loaded and a small caravan of cars behind following.

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

The childrens center is out by the old animal sanctuary. It is a tough place to give directions to, so we met the others and had them follow us out there.

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

The beautiful fields above Rosarito.

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

One of the small village of houses outside of town.

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

The hills and mesa areas of Rosarito are very quiet and majestic.

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

Among the improvements from the first trip were the roads to the shelter. Normally they are half washed out and require a lot of concentration to navigate. This time they had been flattened out and made drivable for any type of car to get down.

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

The volunteers gather as the donations get ready to be unloaded.

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

Some of the many bags of clothes being loaded up by the kids and volunteers.

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

Many of the items we had mentioned on a "wish list" were provided including carpet, bath mats, warm socks, shoes, jackets and more just in time for winter!

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

A look at a couple of the new space heaters, carpeting, food and massive clothing donations.

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

As if that was not enough, one of the volunteers named Sharyn, who is a owner of an Italian restaurant named Marechiaros Italian Restaurant on Olde Hwy 80 El Cajon, brought 8 xtra large pizza's for the kids to eat!

Needless to say the kids were delighted and very happy.

(Thanks Joe (Sharyn's husband) for getting up early to make these for the kids:-))!


Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

Some of the kids smile after receiving sunglasses and hats as gifts.

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

One of the volunteers hands out candy bars to the kids who were not in school.

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

Hugo, one of the volunteers who helps run the place, explains to a volunteer how a gentleman named "Sam" came in last week and donated a new and very thick blanket to each child in the center. Each bed in the photo and in the center now has one very warm and thick blanket thanks to the kind donation of a local person.

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

The Rancho del Nino Nueva Vida sits in a very scenic area of the Rosarito area. Here is the backyard area with laundry drying in the cool breeze.

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

Brand new toilets and paint!
Needless to say we were very very happy to see someone was able to donate 3 brand new toilets and brand new sinks to the bathrooms.

This was one area that badly needed attention and someone the day before we had arrived had donated these to the kids.

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

New tile and a new shower curtain!

Someone also donated some nice tile to help fix up the bathroom and a nice shower curtain. This is the start to making this place very nice and dignified place for the kids to get cleaned up.

This time both bathrooms also had toilet paper which is another staple item the kids can use along with shampoo and soap.

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

Hot Water is Now Working!

Not only did the kids get the bathrooms cleaned up, but they also had someone come out and fix the hot water heater so they can finally take hot showers!

I was so happy at this point I was speechless because so much progress and goodwill had occured so fast.


Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

One of the volunteers explains that many kids come from broken homes, or are orphans.

Each child is welcomed to stay as long as needed and the center itself runs on donations from a local church.

The church like many other local groups does not always get regular funding so sometimes the kids have very little if anything to work with.

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

A look at the super thick new blankets on each bed at the center..just in time for winter!

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

One of the little boys comes over to show me his brand new "Spider Man" slippers.

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

Some of the other children playing marbles.

* I later found out these kids did not even have money for marbles and they were playing with rocks, which once I looked closer at the photos, I could see was true.

I have been assured by "Grandma Diana" in Calafia, that the kids will get some toys asap since many of the donors are from Rosarito and can easily get over there. It says a lot about what these kids have been working with and how desperate their situation was trying to make ends meet. When the kids do not have money for marbles it is easy to see they are living a very humble life.



Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

Pizza Party!
The kids were very happy to get these pizza's donated from one of the visitors on this day (Thanks Sharyn, Joe & family :-))

Since all the kids were not home from school yet they were waiting to open them up and start eating.

The volunteer in this photo to the right is Mr. John Gastelum.

Since visiting the shelter on this day and seeing what little food the kids have, John has taken it upon himself to contact local businesses to help out. To date he has gotten Henry's Marketplace to donate 100 lbs or rice and beans to the kids every month in addition to getting friends and others to donate meat and staple goods to the kids.

John was just down there and gave me a wish list of food items that the kids need. If you live in the states and are in South Bay or the general San Diego area, John will come by and pick up your food donations for the kids.
Call him at 619-929-8643 and he will come on by and get your donations:-))
THANKS JOHN!

Food Items Needed

Rice
Beans
Potatoes
Tomatoe Sauce
Tuna
canned vegi's
Olive oil
Pasta
Powdered Milk
Cereal

perishable items needed

Papaya
Watermelon
Oranges
Apples
Tomatoes
Onions
Chiles (jalapeno)
Limes
Bananas

If you have food items you can donate to the kids call John at 1-619-929-8643.



Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

This time they brought me into the pantry area to show me the food they had and this was it. This shelf area had a few condiments and that was it.

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

This shelf had the remaining food the kids have. There were a few boxes of cereal and a lot of rice-a-roni boxes.

Because the kids get donations from a local church and not from a regular Govt. agency there is not a steady flow of money coming in.

We have done a great job getting this place fixed up and getting some clothes and other useful items donated, but the kids still need some food items donated as well.

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

Some of the kids and volunteers go through the clothing donations. We were able to donate 2 nice space heaters which we bought from the Home Depot for $35.00. These were radiator type units which don't take much electricity to run. The kids could use 2 more of these if anyone can help out for remaining dorm areas that have kids.

The center is also an ALL BOYS center. One thing about being a gringo with no espanol skills is that I sometimes get stories mixed up in the "translation". The center is 22 boys. The girls there are "helpers" who take care of the smaller children. On this trip we did get a lot of clothes for girls which I was assured of "would go into good hands".

In Mexico, "the land of the humble soul", that is not hard to do.

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

Happy kids and some of the happy volunteers pose for a photo



Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

Here is the wall at the childrens center with the official name and permit number. This shelter recieves funds from a struggling little Baptist Church in the area. They do not recieve regular funds and live by faith alone.



Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

As we rolled out and began home we started seeing kids coming back from school.

Soon they would be enjoying pizza and having fun checking out some of their new clothes.

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

I left the shelter on a great high since the kids had gotten new toilets, the hot water was fixed, new tile in the bathroom, new sinks, big thick blankets, new clothes, a new computer, (donated in the Bible study room with the marker boards we had also asked for in the first article) and some more food donations including the pizza's which like chocolate goes a long way.

Wow, that was quick and awesome!

Now it is time to get some food donations rounded up and perhaps some Christmas gifts since Dec. 25th is just around the corner.

The kids can still use warm clothes, jackets and shoes.

I told Rick, one of locals who came out to see if he could find other places like this one which were in need of some help. "Heck we are on a roll", I though as I chuckled to my girlfriend who also came with.

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

"Leo, one quick shot of the banana cab", I said as we got a good shot before we went back into town.

"Your famous Leo", I told him, "I have you on the website listed as the official tourist source of information and transportation".

"Okay", he said in a way which was part thank you and part disbelief that it had any merit.



Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

This time on the way back I was super happy as I took another photo outside of town.

A super big thank you to everyone who was able to help out. We will keep doing updates on the kids and trying to gather food, warm clothes, and perhaps some gifts for the holidays.

Orphange Christmas Pary December 19th 2004
Where: Rancho del Nino Nueva Vida
(Rosarito Childrens Center)
12:30PM
* Anyone who needs help going out to the location should meet at The Rosarito Beach Hotel at noon. We will begin to drive out and leave the hotel by 12:25.
For more information please email us here

The kids can use any food items, toys, warm clothes, shoes, etc....or anything else you may have that you feel would be useful etc..toothbrushes, paper towels, a tv, ....

A Super BIG
THANK YOU
to all the wonderful people who have called and helped out. It is a great thing to see!!!


We Have a Dream
Article #3 of Our Series on The Rosarito Childrens Center

Our Third Trip and Article on The Rosarito Childrens Center


Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com



Click Here to Read Our First Article on The Childrens Shelter

The cliff areas of Calafia, a perfect place for lunch.

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

Photo by Rosarito Beach Online.com

The Nativity Scene at The Rosarito Beach Hotel



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