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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Ruben, the man with a huge heart: Noche des Reyes

Mickey Lawrie, Ruben, Minnie Lynda

He’s not a big man, but he has a huge heart. 

After recently surviving a life-changing event, Ruben, 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. 

Linda & Richard Grierson

For the last few months, Ruben has been working to organize a Night of the Kings party on January 6^th for island 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. 

In the ensuing weeks, a steady stream of ex-pats and locals arrived at the restaurant, gifts in hand, adding to the towering stack of toys.  

Very quickly, the brightly coloured stack of dolls, stuffed animals, board games, soccer balls, books, and action figures spilled over onto the floor and had to be tucked away in a storage area to make way for yet more gifts. Eventually, over 700 presents were donated to the festivities.

Some of the helpers - T Vermu photo

And then there was food; complimentary lunches for everyone who attended the fiesta, put together by many helping hands, including Ruben’s staff and more local ex-pats. Enthusiastic volunteers controlled the traffic, kept the lines of excited youngsters moving toward Santa, and photographed the crazy fun.  So many helpers!  Wow!

Ruben's staff - R&L Grierson photo

On the day of the fiesta, Mickey (Lawrie) and Minnie (me) arrived via decorated golf cart with our minders, Linda and Richard Grierson. 

The noise was deafening. There were kids everywhere, covering both sidewalks and spilling across the blocked-off portion of Guerrero Avenue where the restaurant is located. Many couldn’t decide what to do first: get their gift from Santa, or have their photograph taken with Mickey and Minnie. Small hands grabbed at our legs or clutched our hands while having their photo taken. 

He's a bit afraid of the huge mice!

We get a lot of pleasure out of these events; the only downside is our limited vision through the eye-holes means we can’t really see the kids, just feel them as they excitedly launch themselves at us. It’s pretty darn funny at times. I often wonder what would happen if I tripped in my foam, oversized, high-heel-shaped Minnie shoes. Would I disappear in a four-foot-deep pile of small wriggling bodies?

John Pasnau and friend, Grierson photo

On the other hand, Santa (John Pasnau) patiently sat in the tropical sun wearing his very hot vintage Santa suit. He smiled and chatted with each child as they arrived in front of him. John is the quintessential Santa Claus, customized for the tropics with flip-flops on his feet instead of black boots. At the party, the little girls were lined up on his right side, and the boys to his left. That way, his helpers could pick gifts that were hopefully appropriate for the child. We only managed to stay at the party for forty-five minutes before our stiflingly hot costumes forced us to leave. We are in absolute awe of Santa – he was there when we arrived, and still there when we departed. Such perseverance, such stamina! Great job, Santa!

Mickey and Minnie, with our minder Linda G.

Through it all, I caught glimpses of Ruben looking stressed but happy at what he had created.  

He was everywhere, checking on the supply of gifts, having his photo taken with the children, ensuring everyone received a present and a complimentary lunch.

Well done, Ruben, the man with the huge heart.

Happy New Year / Próspero Año Nuevo

Lawrie, Lynda, Sparky, Thomas, and Perla

Lots of kids and lots of noise - R Grierson photo

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Night of the Kings, Isla Mujeres Mexico!

In Spain and some Latin American countries, including Mexico, January 6th is called El Día de los Reyes (The Day of the Kings). That's the day the three kings: Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthazar are said to have arrived in Bethlehem on horse, camel and elephant, bringing gold, frankincense and myrrh to the baby Jesus. (Both frankincense and myrrh were highly sought-after aromatic tree resins thought to have healing properties.) 



Night of the Kings parade on Isla

Most towns in Spain and Latin America arrange colourful parades on January 5th, representing the arrival of the Reyes Magos to town, so children can see before they go to bed. Sweet wine, fruit and milk are left for the kings and their camels, similar to the milk and cookies my sisters and I left for Santa Claus and his eight reindeer to enjoy. 

On the eve of January 6th, Spanish and Latin American children frequently leave their clean shoes ready to receive the kings' presents. We, on the other hand, put our dad's big woollen work socks at the foot of our beds on Christmas Eve.

Party for island kids in sports dome

Imagine our surprise when, on January 9th, a Monday night, we discovered a massive island-wide kids' party just a few blocks from our house, celebrating the Night of the Kings! The covered sports dome near the Donasusa grocery store, and behind the Naval Hospital, was crammed to overflowing with kids. 

Kids on bouncy castles. Kids on slides. Kids inside what looked to be a wrestling ring. And more kids falling off, into, or over every type of kid apparatus you could imagine. The laughter volume was turned all the way up! 

How many can we fit on this slide?

At one point while I was haphazardly shooting photos of the bedlam, I noticed a couple of little kids that we knew, about to be squished under the feet of several slightly older girls. Happily, the older girls quickly reached down and pulled the younger ones out of the mess, handing them safely over the top of the inflatable slide to their grandparents.  And the laughter carried on!

Then, as we continued walking up the street heading in the general direction of our house, we encountered the Night of the Kings parade. There were three kings in the lead vehicle along with a political representative from the state, followed by another twenty or thirty decorated vehicles, golf carts, and motos. Everyone had handfuls of candy to pitch towards the spectators.

Tossing candy!



It was amazing how quickly Lawrie could scramble after the tasty goat's milk toffee candies.  

As we meandered our way home, several neighbours hailed us with greetings, requests that we come over and view their colourful Christmas decorations, or elaborate Nativity scenes.  It was a pretty great way to end our evening walk.

Hasta pronto, Lynda and Lawrie

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'Tis the season: Holiday Season in the Mexico!

'Tis the holiday season - to celebrate the winter solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah, Posadas Navideñas, all leading up to the grand finalé of New Year's Eve. 

We enjoy experiencing the differences between our Canadian celebrations and the Mexican celebrations.  The Posadas Navideñas take place on the nine days preceding Christmas.  

From the 16th to the 24th of December, local processions reenact Mary and Joseph's search for shelter in Bethlehem.  The processions lead to a different house every night for the culmination of the posada, a small fiesta at the house.   Although some Mexican families have Christmas trees, nacimientos (nativity scenes) are a more common Christmas decoration. Many families have elaborate nativity scenes in their homes or yards. There are also large public displays set up in common areas, such as City Hall or in Centro. The nativity is usually set up on December 16th, the baby Jesus is added on the evening of December 24th and the three kings are added on the Night of the Kings, January 5th.

Christmas Eve is called Nochebuena in Spanish. This is the night of the last posada.  Many people attend midnight mass and then have dinner together with their families. Christmas Day is generally a quiet day. Gifts are not traditionally exchanged at Christmas; instead, gifts are given to children on the Night of the Kings. This custom is changing, as the European concept of Santa Claus becomes increasingly more prominent in Mexican Christmas celebrations.

Around 5:45 on Christmas morning, I was awakened by an unusually large number of vehicles, motos, trucks, and golf carts passing the house.  Curious I slipped out to the upper balcony to see what was happening. It was the revellers returning from all-night fiestas at private homes, or in some cases, nightclubs. There were golf carts crammed with eight, ten, or twelve family members. Motos with two, three or four people.  Trucks with the pickup boxes overflowing with people still dressed up for the Christmas Eve festivities. 

It reminded me a little of when I was a child.  My mother was adopted by an Icelandic couple in Selkirk, Manitoba, when she was around 7 years old. Their traditions included a late-night church service on Christmas Eve, followed by the gifts being opened after midnight. My mom thought that was a more civilized way to celebrate because then her four daughters wouldn't want to get up at five in the morning to open their gifts.  However, we never officially adopted her Christmas Eve tradition - although occasionally she would convince me, the youngest, to insist that we open the presents.

It is a bit odd to be commemorating what we know as a winter event, under a warm sunny sky with the fragrance of flowers in the air, and palm trees swishing in a light breeze.  It's times like that I think about Lawrie's dad, who every year tried to convince his family of adult kids and their spouses that we should all be celebrating in Hawaii, or someplace warm. 

We scoffed at the silliness of such an idea.  Christmas without snow! Christmas without ice!  Christmas without grey skies! 

What was he thinking? 

Now we know.  He was right. 

Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday, Season's Greetings

Lynda and Lawrie                                      

Tuesday, December 27th, Lawrie was the auctioneer for the 2nd Annual Treasure Island fundraiser for the Las Glorias English School.  Maggie and Tom Washa, with their small army of volunteers, put on a great event.  All of the funds raised go to scholarships for students who are unable to pay the tuition. 

Pirates from many areas of the USA and Canada congregated on Isla Mujeres. 

We love it because it's another excuse to play dress-up!

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The Adventures of Thomas and Sparky