Ruben’s Kids – the volunteers with gigantic hearts

Ricky, Lawrie (Mickey), and Ruben.   

Ruben’s Restaurante on Guerrero Avenue in Centro once again rocked with laughter as dozens of volunteers wrangled a herd of excited kids.

January 6th, Three Kings Day, or El Día de Reyes, is a special time on Isla Mujeres and all of Mexico. It is the culmination of the twelve days of Christmas and commemorates the arrival of the Three Wise Men with gifts for the baby Jesus.

The children of Mexico look forward to this holiday as gifts are traditionally exchanged on this date, not Christmas Day. In Mexico and many other Latin American countries, it is the Three Wise Men, not Santa, who are the bearers of gifts for the children.

Flip-flop Santa, John Pasnau, and a young friend

However, Isla Mujeres has a very special Santa Claus, John Pasnau, who, wearing his red velvet suit and flip-flops, arrives on Three Kings Day to distribute gifts to the local kids. Once again, Santa had tears of joy in his eyes as he handed the presents to the children. Then the army of volunteers took over, and Santa was in charge of handing out big hugs. 

The helpers ensured every boy or girl received a present, a cold drink, hot dogs or tamales, and ice cream cones.

Minnie and kids - Lisa Godfrey photo

Lawrie and I have, for the past three years, put in a short appearance as Mickey and Minnie Mouse, but we only last about forty-five minutes before the heat of the costumes renders us semi-unconscious. 

We traditionally press our family members and friends into service as Mouse-Minders. We can’t see very well through the eye holes, and the kids like to rush towards us, wrapping their arms around our legs. Our Mouse-Minders, Chuck and Marcy Watt, Richard and Linda Grierson, try to keep us upright and on our feet. If the kids saw Mickey or Minnie fall, and our heads rolled down the street, it wouldn’t be a good thing. We love participating in the Three Kings Day, even in just a small way.   

Haleigh, Denise, Ruben, Lisa - Lisa's photos

There are so many people involved in this event that was started by Ruben Chavez Martinez just three years ago. I decided this year to include notes from some of the folks who have been involved from the start. Here are a few of their stories.

Gail Stewart, Sandwich Jefa:  This is the third year I have ended up in charge of sandwich making. I don’t know how that happened. How does a NY woman with three master's degrees end up being responsible for making 750 ham and cheese sandwiches on a little island in Mexico?  I have no idea. It was nice to have both our original crew members and several first-timers, the Sandwichettes!  (The name is feminine but includes men as well as women.)

Happy kid - Lisa Godfrey photo

This year, Trina Noakes of CARM and Isla Animals donated all the funds for the sandwich fixings.  Maria Delgado came as my interpreter for the meat and cheese buying, 18 kilos of each. I was afraid my Spanish wasn’t good enough, and they would throw out the crazy Gringa who thought she could order so much! But, no biggie!  Ordered, went back 2 hours later...got it!

I had eighty loaves of bread in my front room. Mike dreamt they’d turn into fish! The team made all of the sandwiches in 1:15 minutes, with about one cup of mayonnaise to spare. I was amazed, but after three years of this, the organization of it was pretty easy. And everyone was cheerful and fun, and got ‘er done!

Family on vacation helps out. LGodfrey pic

Gail also wrote: A word about the teenagers helping hand out the tamales. One of the local churches made the 500 tamales, and Ruben’s Kids paid for them. But three American kids were distributing them, and all speaking fluent Spanish. 

Who were they? Three kids from Des Moines, Iowa, who majored in Spanish in college. The family was scheduled to vacation in Puerto Rico, but had to change their plans. They ended up on Isla. It was their first time, and they loved it. I asked them if they would come back. In unison, they all said, Yes! They were great workers, two girls and a boy. The boy, dishing out all those tamales, had never had one before, but we convinced him to have one. He liked it!  A day later, I ran into the “Tamale Family” again and asked their names: Clay, Rachel, Sierra, Austin, and Elijah Tarbell.

Sandwich Jefa Gail on left, L Godfrey photo

And the hot dog station: Marrien Neilson and Steve Ferree were chiefs of that crew; they shopped for dogs, precooked them, brought the grill, etc. Jeff Somann and Rick Stern helped on the grill. The assembly line was Mike Davanzo, roll opener and aluminum foil puller, Ginger Somann placed dogs in buns, Katie Knapp Hill wrapped them and handed them out.

Putting the condiments on was hard for the kids with a toy and milk in hand, so Ken Wanovich became condiment king, squeezing ketchup or mustard, and telling kids, “Sorry, no mayonasa!”  The gringo purchasers didn’t think about mayonnaise on a hot dog! That was funny!  Two great rock ‘n roll singers, Ken Wanovich and Mike Davanzo, spent the day dishing out hot dogs!

The boys loved the sports equipment

Ruth Lacey, another original volunteer for the event: I just want to recognize a young volunteer, Jordan, who helped sort and bag hundreds of gifts on Friday and also manned the Niños window on Saturday. He’s on vacation and I think returning to British Columbia any day now, yet he took time out to give back. He was much closer in age to the gift recipients than the gaggle of jubiladas that he was working with. He possesses a level of maturity much greater than his age and was a delight to work with. I think he deserves lots of kudos.

Day Grey, food hampers: My daughter sent a photo of a Reverse Advent Calendar to me. (The concept is to place non-perishable food items into a hamper instead of removing a piece of chocolate from the calendar.) I approached Ruben last year with the idea, and he said yes, as he wanted to help the families in need as well as hand out the toys. I volunteered a good friend of mine, Kathy Nicholson, to help. The idea exploded in a good way. Each hamper had thirty to thirty-five items and weighed twenty-five pounds! 

Food hampers! Deanne Grey photo

Julie Andrews Goth, Toy Jefa: My job was organizing the toy drive and the toy soldiers, the great group of volunteers who helped sort, pack, and hand out the toys. Last year, we ran out of gifts and food. This year, our goal was to have more than enough, and that is what we did.

All the toys were separated into age groups with similar interests: Infant to two years, three to five years, six to nine years, ten to twelve, and school supplies. Then the toys were counted and recorded to ensure we had enough for Three Kings Day, both on Isla and at Casa Hogar, the orphanage that Ruben’s Kids helps support. At the last minute, the residents of the colonia Guadalapaña said they didn’t have enough toys for their annual party, and Ruben was pleased to share.  

Over two thousand toys were donated by the generous visitors who love this island and its beautiful people. My committee of women was so unbelievable, and Rob was very understanding as we sorted, assembled, and packed up all the toys in our home.

The most touching moment for me was when Santa hugged and presented a big turquoise ball to Pedro, a young man with Down’s Syndrome. Pedro cried, Santa cried, and everyone around them cried too! There are many more stories but this is my favorite.

Terri and Sam, great volunteers! J. Conlon photo

And from Lawrie and me, thank you to Ruben Chavez Martinez for starting this amazing event. And special thanks to Ricky Za’Ga, Diego Gelmy Gonzalez Garrido and his family, all of the unnamed volunteers, John Pasnau, and the board of advisors for Ruben’s Kids for pulling off another fabulous El Día de Reyes. 

You are all amazing!

Cheers, Lynda & Lawrie

Making little kids laugh - Jackie's photo

~

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Ruben’s Kids, the man with the huge heart!

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. 

Mickey, Ruben, Minnie, January event

He sponsors the Three Kings Day event held annually at his restaurant. January 6^th is an 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 25^th from Santa Claus. 

Same idea. Different culture.

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.

Nico, Terri, Ruben, Ricky, and John

He now has a small but dedicated group of volunteers working under the name of Ruben’s Kids, who help by fundraising 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.

Kids eager to help

Once a month, the volunteers do a shopping run to Costco to purchase a truckload of the essentials like toilet paper, beans, rice, and cooking oil. 

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

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/

Jeanette, Lynda, Sister, Mikell, John

Cheers from paradise,

Lynda & Lawrie

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Día de Los Reyes, Day of the Kings! Islanders create a special day

Day of the Kings' Isla Mujeres

Kings' Day, January 6^th in all of Mexico, is a very special day for children. 

It’s an important event for Catholics in Mexico, celebrated when the three wise men purportedly arrived in Bethlehem with gifts for baby Jesus.

And it’s the day when local children traditionally receive their holiday celebration gifts.

Restaurant owner, Ruben Chavez, again hosted a party for the island kids at his tiny restaurant on Guerrero Avenue, located across from the post office. 

Diego Gonzalez keeping things organized

For months, Mexicans and foreigners have been gathering gifts, organizing food, and assembling donations. John Pasnau, as always, was knee deep in the event.  

His first mate, Diego Gonzalez, and Diego’s family members pitched in to help out both with the pre-organization and during the event on Friday, January 6th.

A gift-elf, keeping the stacks sorted.

In 2016, there were over 800 toys collected, and about 1200 children attended the event.  This year, 2017, the group gathered 1473 toys, but again, there were more children than toys.

 

John Pasnau says the event will be registered as a non-profit organization later this year. He is hoping that will help with his fundraising for January 2018. John’s family members also pitched in, carting over three hundred toys to Mexico from American friends. 

Valerie Pasnau had at various times suitcases filled with footballs (we call them soccer balls), Hot Wheels, crayons, and more.

Volunteers inside the restaurante

Gail Marie Stewart and the food crew constructed thousands of sandwiches starting at eight in the evening the night before, working for three hours preparing and wrapping, and storing them in the refrigerators. 

The gift elves spent hours sorting toys into girl-type toys or boy-type toys, then sorted the piles again by age category.

The hamper crew, organized by Déanne Gray, assembled boxes of food and household supplies, with Ruben identifying the people who were most in need of assistance. 

Deanne, hampers of food and supplies

Déanne got the idea of an Advent Hamper from her grandchildren, and asked interested folks to place one item each day into a basket or similar container for twenty-four days. 

The night before the event, all of the food hampers were taken to the IxChel Condo Hotel to be stored until the next morning. 

Ruben and the hamper receiver

Ruben’s Restaurante was overflowing with gifts sorted and ready for the big day. There wasn’t a single space for a customer to enjoy his great food on Thursday and most of Friday. 

Even with three cracked ribs, Ruben was in the thick of the event – in pain and stressed about the reality of not having enough presents – he was in motion all the time. 

This is not the only kind deed that Ruben is responsible for. He also donates 10% of his restaurant sales to the Casa Hogar orphanage located in the Rancho Viejo colonia, on the mainland portion of the Municipality of Isla Mujeres.

Waiting in line for hours!

And then the big day arrived. The lineups started hours before the scheduled start time. 

Volunteers controlled the crowds, the traffic, and the flow of children by age to the two double-windows where elves handed out the gifts: girls’ line on one side and the boys’ line on the other side.

The sandwiches and drinks were passed out through the side window in the garden.

Santa in sandals

Last year, Santa sat in the hot tropical sun for hours, personally handing each child a gift. 

With the increase in numbers, that is not feasible anymore. Santa would have expired from heat exhaustion. 

I know from personal experience that Mickey and Minnie, who were on-site for only ninety minutes, were suffering from the heat inside their elaborate costumes.

At the end of the day, there were more children than gifts, but not willing to let any child be disappointed, part-time islander, Jackie Conlon, generously asked John Pasnau to negotiate with the ice-cream vendor for his entire stock.

“The ice-cream cone story was fun.” John Pasnau explained, “Jackie has zero Spanish. I have 20% on a good day. The ice-cream man had about 2% English. With work, we found out it was more about how many cones he had, which was doscientos, two hundred. Then I asked how much for all of them.”

Ice Cream man at Day of the Kings

Shocked, the vendor replied. “What?”

John patiently repeated, “All of them.”

The vendor replied, “15 pesos.”

John said, “Ok, 15 pesos times 200 is 3000 pesos, si?”

“Si,” the vendor happily agreed.

“Discount for buying all 200?” Asked John.

“Si. 15 pesos each.” The vendor nodded his head in agreement.

John: “So there we were. The proud buyers of 200 cones at retail. Santa has never done so poorly on a bulk buy.”  

Over the next few days, the Facebook chatter and the private messages back and forth between the participants were amazing. Everyone was pleased, happy, and inspired to do it all again. The payoff is the big smiles.

Great work, everyone, and a big thank-you to you, Ruben Chavez. The man with the huge heart.

Lawrie Lock, Lynda Lock, Ruben Chavez, John Pasnau

Super Organizer - Gail Stewart and Rita Lawson

Ruben’s helpers are listed below: I apologize if I missed anyone.  

John Pasnau, Valerie Pasnau, Annelise Pasnau, Gail-Marie Stewart, Jackie Conlon, Diego Gonzalez Torres, Gelmy Garrido Escalante, Fernanda Gonzalez Noh, Emily Gonzalez Garrido, Marrion Nielson, Steve Ferree, Terri Ferrero Tywan, Julie Goth, Rob Goth, Déanne Gray, Brent Curley, Carol Gatlin, Kathy Nicholson, Karly Bandala, Patricia Cauich, Therese McComas Durhman, Christina Rich, Maria Delagdo, Aaron Greene, Ruth Lacey, Wanda Wagner, Jennifer Kelly, Rita Lawson, Annie Tatum Musil, and Alexa Aviles De a O.

Plus the hardworking restaurant staff: Jessica, Sami, and Ricky.  

Julie Goth and Deanne 

¡Felices fiestas! Lawrie, Lynda, Sparky, and Tommy

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Sergio’s Isla Art

Sergio, Tiffany Wareing's photo

He has an irrepressible smile that lights up his weathered face; whether he is teaching batik, painting a mural, or riding his bicycle, he is always smiling. 

Sergio was born sixty-two years ago in Champotoń in the state of Campeche into a family of three sisters and three brothers. His family moved to Isla Mujeres when he was a young boy, and he has lived on the island, on and off, for over fifty years.  When he was a younger man, Sergio worked on several construction projects in the Tulum area. 

Sergio, the Isla Mujeres Art Fair photo

And then there was a seven-year period when he lived twenty-five meters above ground, in a very primitive tree-house.  

When asked by a friend why he lived so high up, he replied with a face-splitting grin. 

“You have to get above the snakes!”  

That’s about eighty-two feet above the ground, a long way down if you roll over in the night, forgetting you are high up in the trees. 

Sergio, photo Ceceila Hart-Hodges

Keenly interested in anything to do with art since he was a small child, Sergio has mastered the Indonesian technique of Rōkézūzūmi batik.   

His gorgeous wall hangings are complex and brightly coloured, depicting Maya themes.  

They can be purchased at the Isla Mujeres Art Fair, which takes place on the first Thursday of every month between November and April. The Art Fair is located at the Casa de Cultura in Centro, on the eastern side of the island near the municipal esplanade.

Sergio, teaching kids at the Casa de Cultura

Sergio has also done several wall murals, the most recent being the Maya goddess IxChel on the house next door to our casa.  

And on Tuesdays and Thursdays, he teaches classes in batik or tie-dying at the Casa de Cultura.  

The information is available on his Facebook page, thanks to John and Valerie Pasnau, who are the energy behind promoting Sergio’s artworks.

Recent students, Danielle, Barbara, and Carol

Here’s the information for art lessons from Sergio:

There are two classes a week, every week, on Tuesday and Thursday.

Start time is 10 am, Gringo time. 
Finish time is when we finish, Mexican time, about three hours.

Fee is 350 pesos plus 50 pesos to cover materials. You will make a batik or tie-dye wall hanging.

Sergio's work - photo Isla Art Fair

Classes are held in the Cultural Center in Centro. The classroom door is in the center courtyard.  

If the front door is closed, walk around to the Caribbean side. The courtyard is open on that side.

We hope you will let us know in advance if you plan to come, but drop-ins are welcome. 

So, either way, get some beautiful art; purchase one of Sergio’s creations, or make your own fabulous wall hanging.  

What a great souvenir of a vacation in paradise.

Hasta Luego

Lynda, Lawrie, and Sparky

Sergio - fascinating mural at John & Valerie's house

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