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| Ruben and Sister Fabuola |
He’s not a large man, the top of his head barely
reaches to my shoulders, but he has a huge heart.
Standing beside him in Casa
Hogar, the orphanage on the mainland portion of Isla
Mujeres, I watched as the tears streamed down
his face.
“They don’t have family.” He quietly said.
After surviving a life-changing event Ruben
Chavez Martinez, the proprietor of Ruben’s Restaurante on Isla Mujeres, has a
new goal in life.
His mission is to give back to the community, and to make
little kids shriek with laughter.
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| /Mickey, Ruben, Minnie January event |
He sponsors a Three Kings Day event held annually at
his restaurant. January 6th is a
very important date for Catholics in Mexico, celebrating when the three wise
men purportedly arrived in Bethlehem with gifts for baby Jesus.
It’s
the day when children hope to receive gifts from the three kings, instead of on
December 25th from Santa Claus.
Same idea. Different culture.
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| Sign for the orphanage |
Ruben, until very recently, was also the main
supporter of Casa Hogar. Every Friday afternoon he left his restaurant to cook a
hot meal for the dozen or so children living at the orphanage. The number of
kids he was feeding soon became twenty five youngsters, and then forty.
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| Nico, Terri, Ruben, Ricky and John arriving |
He now has a small but dedicated group of volunteers working under the name of Ruben’s Kids who help by fund-raising and carrying out a myriad of other tasks all related to Ruben’s desire to make kids happy.
Every month the group purchases stacks of pizzas and grilled
chickens to feed the Casa Hogar residents, plus all the kids waiting anxiously
at the gate.
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| Kids eager to help |
Once a month the volunteers go on a shopping trip
to Costco to purchase a truckload of the essentials like toilet paper, beans,
rice, cooking oil, and cereals.
Quite recently islander John Pasnau discovered
that the freezer at Casa Hogar is functional and he stocked it with meat,
hopefully enough to last until the next buying trip.
There is a limited amount of living space and
currently only twelve girls and four nuns live full-time at Casa Hogar. The
girls, ranging in age from babies to teenagers, sleep six to a room in clean
well-maintained bunk beds that are covered with brightly coloured bedspreads.
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| Inside one of the bedrooms |
There
are about another two dozen kids who due to various problems at home are not living
in a safe environment.
They are daytime boarders, seeking a bit of love and
comfort from the nuns.
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| Waiting at the gates hoping for a meal |
Two weeks ago I met up with islanders, Jeanette
Laurence and Mikell Thompson, on the Ultramar passenger boat. We were all on
our way to Casa Hogar. Once we landed in Puerto Juarez we negotiated with
different taxi drivers finally finding one that knew (approximately) where we
wanted to go, and gave us a fair price to get there.
As it turned out he needed
to ask for directions, twice, from the municipal police but we eventually arrived
at our destination. He got a nice tip because it was a much longer distance
than we had anticipated.
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| The four sisters do everything |
Casa Hogar is located deep inside Rancho Viejo. It is
an area of continental Isla Mujeres that I knew existed, but had never seen.
The community appears to be depressed, with not much in the way of industry,
commercial establishments, and seemingly no attractions for tourists. The area
is poor. Very poor.
As soon as the supply truck arrived at Casa Hogar dozens
of youngsters eagerly tried to be helpful, carrying boxes of cereal, or tins of
food inside the building.
Everyone pitched in - Jeanette Laurence, Mikell
Thompson, Terri Tywan, Nico Tywan, John Pasnau, Ruben Chavez, and Ricky Za’Ga -
trying their best to ensure every child had something to eat.
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| Terri and I dishing up food |
The dozen or so accompanying parents were hopeful,
but in the end, hungry. There just wasn’t enough food to include them.
By
counting the pizza slices, ten boxes with eight slices in each box, we
calculated we had fed seventy-some-odd kids and the four nuns who care for them.
As you can imagine this project is a never-ending
labour of love for Ruben and his partner Ricky Za’ga.
If you can help in any small way please friend
Ruben’s Kids on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/RubensKids/
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| Jeanette, Lynda, Sister, Mikell, John |
Below is a recent posting from John Pasnau
on Ruben’s Kids Facebook page for other ways you can be involved.
Three Kings Day, January 6th
"If you want to
help make Sandwiches and lunches on "Sandwich Night" Jan. 5th
contact Gail Marie Stewart.
If you want to work at the lunch table on Three
Kings Day and are (somewhat) bilingual, contact Gail Marie Stewart.
If you want to
help collect, sort and track toys from now to Three Kings Day or if you want to
be a "Toy Soldier" on Three Kings Day handing out the toys contact Julie Andrews Goth.
If you are (somewhat)
bilingual and just want to be in the middle of everything on Three Kings Day contact
Rob Goth.
If you are not
bilingual and would like to help on the ground during Three Kings Day we can
still use you. Message me, John Pasnau,
we are putting together a team of "Runners" who will zip down to aMar
cocina peruana where all overflow toys and lunches will be staged.
And thank you to
Bryan Benson for offering your restaurant's support, and welcome to Ruben's
Kids!”
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| Mickey chatting with kids waiting for their gift |
It’s a fun event. Lawrie and I will be there
as always, dressed as Mickey and Minnie Mouse.
The kids love it.
Cheers from paradise
Lynda & Lawrie
Now available in paperback on Amazon!
 |
| Trouble Isla and Treasure Isla Photo credit Lisa Godfrey |
By CA reviews on September 26, 2017
Yasmin and Jessica are back and the gold they found in Treasure Isla is still haunting them, especially when Carlos, their boss at the Loco Lobo, and Yasmin’s new lover, is kidnapped. No spoilers here, but his captivity and the girls’ efforts to free him, with the help of Carlos’s pals—including local Isla Mujeres fishermen and a Mexico City cop—are the crux of this fast-paced story. Lock has created not only a compelling and authentic setting, but a well-developed ensemble cast. The next Isla mystery can’t come fast enough.
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