Nuestro primer mes en la Casa de la Esperanza

Pete and Grace Allison

Our impending trip to Mexico was full of days of trying to complete the final items left on our checklist. After a tearful departure from Denver, we arrived in Las Vegas, NM, where we checked in at the Plaza Hotel. Unloading our baggage, we discovered that the trailer hitch carrier mounted at the rear of our car was only a few inches from the tailpipe. Melted plastic coated the contents of the tote. It was a cold and windy night as I pried the plastic from the carrier. Grace casually mentioned that she was thankful the nail polish was on the other side of the tote and that God must have been watching over us. I apologize for not getting a photo but I was cold, tired and stressed. The next day we continued south on our journey and arrived in El Paso just in time to join Gil and Becky Sanchez (the directors of Casa de la Esperanza), and their pastor and his wife for a delicious dinner in a local Mexican restaurant.  Early Monday morning we followed Gil, who was in his Casa van, into Mexico.

The drive through Mexico took on a new perspective as it would be our new home for at least a year, and we enjoyed the beauty of it.

Grace in the classroom

We settled into our new home, unloading an endless supply of boxes and various configurations of furniture and carpets. Several boys were assigned to help us organize, and their eyes found the toy box in short order. However, they were easily guided back to the job at hand (pictures to follow).

Grace was first to receive her job assignment as a coach/tutor at the newly opened Casa Christian Academy. She will also assist with updating the website and helping with thank you letters. There are almost 40 children in the school, and the staff includes a male teacher (who is provided by the state) and two young women that are college graduates. (picture to follow). Jasmine is one of the teachers and has about 1-1/2 years experience at teaching, but she can also speak English! Aidee is new to teaching and this is her first job out of college. Grace is excited to be a part of the new team!

Roberto

My initial job assignment is primarily to complete the first duplex prior to the arrival of Rodrigo Pinzon and his family (the missionary family coming from Columbia) at the end of this month. 

I have two men that I work with; Roberto has experience in construction and Enrique not only has good overall skills, but he is bilingual, too. At this point, the primer is on all of the walls and the ceiling is painted. I will start painting the walls tomorrow, and I will enjoy listening to the MP3 player that Howard gave to us to learn the Spanish language. 

Roberto is spraying KLZ and white paint on the cabinets that Scott had donated to Casa. We still have cabinets, countertops and sink installation in the kitchen and bathroom, final plumbing and electrical, tiling the backsplashes and baseboard and  painting the walls and floor. Then a final clean up, and we will fill the new home with furniture!