Dec. 8-14, 2012
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Anthony and I, the Maya Rally team known as #teamAstrid, wanted to save a few dollars (free rally entry) and do something positive on our Maya Rally adventure, which led us to volunteer with the Muskoka Foundation for the week before the official Rally start. Muskoka is a great organization that links overlanders with volunteer projects around the globe in order to “do good as you go.” We knew very little besides we would be working at an orphanage and doing some painting and cleanup efforts to spruce the place up while interacting with the kids. Little did we know what we were in for!
We knew right away that we had an amazing group of volunteers that were there for all the right reasons. The first night we all meet at Katie Clancy’s house, the Latin America Organizer for Muskoka, and had a great home cooked local meal with the whole crew. It was great getting to know the whole gang (Chris & Liz, Bryan & Jen, Tad & Gaila, Jeff & Monica, Andy), and celebrate Andy’s birthday with some fun piñata action. As Katie explained the plans for the next week the energy in the room grew and everyone was ready to help out as much as possible. We learned that most of us would be working most of the time at a boy’s orphanage in Irapuato, about an hours drive away.
We all loaded up early for the carpool to Irapuato for a day of interaction with the kids and putting a plan together to make the most impact in our short time frame. Tad, Gaila and Andy all rode their motorcycles and were an instant hit with the kids, as the bikes were the best jungle gyms you could imagine. Tad letting the kids rev the engine and beep the horn put the energy level over the top! We spent the rest of the morning letting the little kids ride on our shoulders, watching the kids take amazing photos with our cameras and playing soccer and basketball. After a group lunch the boys were off to school, as they all attend the second session from 2-7 each day. The volunteer crew got to work drawing up a game plan for what was thought possible to accomplish, who would do what and what supplies we would need to accomplish it. We then made a run for the Home Depot for supplies, an interesting undertaking in Mexico. By this time it was dark, the crew was exhausted and hanger* had set in. We found a torta restaurant called “The Oasis,” fittingly, on the way out of Irapuato before the long night drive back to the campground in Guanajuato.
The next day we did some hard work at the orphanage, a TON of cutting/grinding on the playground, sanding and a bit of painting on the playground, started sewing up special bedding sets and did a TON of painting in the little boys rooms. After the intense work we all rallied back to Guanajuato to spend the afternoon at the Buen Pastor, a girls orphanage that Katie has been working with for over 3 yrs. It was a stark contrast to the Irapuato Boys home. The Buen Pastor is run by the church, very organized, very clean and requires its residents to spend the weekends outside the orphanage, preferably with their families. We got the grand tour of the facilities and spent some time playing with the girls on the playground and showing them photos from our adventures around the globe. The girls also used our cameras to take some truly amazing photos, as photography once again broke down any language barriers that there might be. The crew retired back to camp in the evening and enjoyed some much earned relaxation and late night adult beverages.
We had a leisurely morning around camp and enjoyed a big group breakfast put together from whatever people had in their fridges. We made it to the orphanage in the early afternoon just in time to see the boys off to school, which allowed us to buckle down and finish up all the grinding, much of the painting and finish up the kids bedding sets late into the evening. We enjoyed a campfire, the Transformers movie in Spanish and set up our tents for a campout at the orphanage. The boys loved all the attention and special treats.
After breakfast with the boys we got to work finishing up all the big projects on the playground and painting the big kids room. With a sore and tired crew we headed back to Guanajuato and had burgers with everyone in Centro. We then enjoyed some drinks at a going away party for Camilla, the person who raises funds for projects like ours at the Irapuato orphanage. The party then continued late into the night back at camp.
Everyone had a bit of a sleep in on Sunday and then headed up to La Calderon, a crazy moonscape like area in the mountains overlooking Guanajuato. We all caravaned up some easy off-road and then hiked into a great picnic area in the shade of a lone tree. While hiking I took advantage of the amazing terrain with a little 5.7 barefoot slab climb and a “trail” run in my slide sandals up the tallest peak. The views from both little excursions where well worth the effort. When we got back to camp the other Maya Rally teams had started to roll into town and a big group of us headed out on the town to find food. It was tough herding such a large group and finding something that everyone would be into, but in the end a solid group of us ate at an amazing little chicken place, which also happened to have amazing Queso Chorizo Fundido and homemade chicken nuggets! A smaller group of us also stayed out even longer and enjoyed some posh drinks and live tunes at the Tunel bar.
Monday was our last day with the boys in Irapuato. We finished up all the little things on the playground, finished the trim paint in the big boys room and had some fun artistically spray painting some accents around the boys sleeping quarters. We also managed to get a shot of each boy printed and framed for them to have on the walls at the orphanage. After a sad goodbye with the boys we made it back to camp for lots of drinking and chatting with the other rally teams. This was the first night of Mescal for many of us and one many won’t forget, or maybe already have. Thanks for sharing the Scorpion Ponce!
The experience with the boys in Irapuato will not be soon forgotten. Hopefully it will lay the groundwork for similar projects across Latin America and start the ball rolling for even bigger projects at the Irapuato orphanage. I can say for sure that a close second to helping the kids are the amazing connections made with the other volunteers. We had a rock star team that really couldn’t have been more solid or well-rounded. We also couldn’t have made it happen without the amazing leadership and guidance from Katie. We, and all the kids, love you Katie!
-Thanks to LED Lenser, Warn Industries & Triple Aught Design for being amazing product sponsors for #teamAstrid on the Maya Rally-
*Hanger- term for anger brought on by extreme hunger. Thanks to Bryan of TheDangerz for bringing this amazing term into my vocabulary.
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Be sure to check out the great posts and pics about this experience on the other volunteer’s blogs as well:
Overland Nomads
The Dangerz
Overland Now
Overland The World
