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Athletes for Education volunteers visited the San Juan Bosco orphanage in Tecate, Baja California, Mexico.
The San Juan Bosco orphanage is located in the mountainous region to the southeast of San Diego. The orphanage is comprised of 30 full-time youths ages 7 to 15. Some of the children have been in the orphanage 3 years and one newcomer had only been there for 2 days. All children are enrolled in school full-time and receive additional in-orphanage schooling and tutoring. One of the main goals is to provide a positive and safe environment for orphan children to learn and grow, giving them a positive future and a ray of hope.
The orphanage survives purely from donations from past orphans, neighborhood businesses and those willing to support the less-fortunate children. A nearby resort provides the orphanage with left overs on a daily basis. The food that they do not prepare or use, provides a daily nourishment to young boys who would otherwise not eat.
All staff members at the orphanage are volunteers who are dedicated in making a difference. Most have been affected personally by similar situations, two of them are former orphans, who now have families of their own. The positive and clean environment of the orphanage helped guide them through life, keep them off of drugs, and made them the individuals they are today. Without the orphanage they would have grown up on the streets without food, shelter, or a hope for the future.
We found the San Juan Bosco orphanage through our website volunteer, Roberto E. Ruiz, whose good friend, Jose Luis, grew up in the orphanage and was one of the first generation orphans to live there 20 years ago. He and his three brothers grew up in the orphanage because their single mother could not support them, so she gave them up to the orphanage.
We made the trip to the orphanage on Saturday, July 26, 2008. Jose Luis' tearful return to the place that made him the man he is today, was received by dozens of children awaiting him and the designer clothing supplied by Bad Boy and Athletes for Education. It is truly a testament for all to give back to the community where you are from. While many of the orphans do not have much to smile about and most have had a tough time growing up without parents, they are all happy to receive what they can and to know that there are people out there, who care about them.
Athletes for Education was able to provide the orphans with new shirts, shorts and pants through a donation from Bad Boy Brands, Inc. Bad Boy donated a great deal of new articles of clothing to Athletes for Education and part of that donation went to this and other orphanages and associations in San Diego, Tijuana and Tecate counties.
Photos by 9-year-old Gloria Estefania, photographer in trainining. |
