Tashirat Kids Newsletter – March 2010
Dearest Friends,
This past month we had to say goodbye to Coach Craig, as he headed back to Scotland. Over the course of the past 15 months, Craig Smith brightened the lives of our kids in the orphanage and our students of the Ixaya School, for almost a full year – 3 months last school year and then another 6 months this year. All the kids wanted to send him home with a thank you card, many of which were penned in the children's own English. Luckily one of our staff caught this one before it got to Craig!
Craig with Ale
It read as follows:
Dear Craig,
Thank you for being our couch. I am sorry that you are living…
It is true that our little Ale was always looking to cuddle on Craigs comfy lap-couch
but the card was supposed to say “ coach” and “living” is just a good phonetic spelling for leaving if you have a strong Mexican accent!
Ever since the kids have started writing us cards in English, these funny spelling mishaps have been some of our day to day highlights. They are so special because, with phonetically accented spelling and all, it sounds just as if our little ones were reading their messages in their own voice. Another cute one we have come to recognize at first glance is “Ai lauf yu so mach!” (I love you so much).
This is our children’s heartfelt farewell message to Craig, in their own words, with so much appreciation for all that he has given our children over the past year of their lives.
Helping hands
We’ve had a large and enthusiastic group of volunteers here for the past several months. Genevieve Lucas, who has been with us for nearly 4 months, threw a family music festival as a fundraiser for the Ixaya school and community. She rallied our great group of volunteers and organized a beautiful event, which included all sorts of good entertainment, including both dance and musical performances by local Tepoztlan artists, games for the kiddies, and swimming for everybody! It was such a beautiful gesture and we will never forget it. The kids threw the volunteers an appreciation party the next day in gratitude for all their work.
Who’s growing up?
Our three babies are really getting big these days…here are a few pictures of them doing their morning “yoga” routine:
Yogi Gaby demonstrating a luxurious leg stretch, which he is particularly famous for…
Jordi enjoying getting caught by the camera while in the cobra…
Gaby knocking knuckles, in one of his good ole boy greetings…
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Hanging around with Arain after some good rolls around the mat…
Jordi, our youngest arrival, just had his first birthday a few weeks ago, and is really coming alive. When he arrived, he was almost motionless, and strangely zoned out, due to severe lack of stimulation since birth. Up until the past couple months, he was still very limp and extremely passive. He showed almost no emotion except for crying. He hardly ever responded to people, rarely cracking a smile no matter how many circus antics we did for him. Today he’s become a smiley little bundle of joy who laughs when tickled and flashes as gleeful smile when he first wakes up and sees someone there beside him. Here are some recent snapshots of the new Jordi, being cute for the camera. After so many months of his serious faces, you can imagine how precious this smile is…
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Who’s New?
Our newest just arrived a few days ago. He name is Edwar, and he is a beautifully boisterous 10 year old boy, just bursting with fun and enthusiasm for life. We thought he was a real soft spoken shy little guy when he first came to visit, as he maybe said all of five words during his entire few hours here. He is amazingly full of live and emotionally switched on. Our other little boys, Julito and Josh are so excited to have a new friend to play with and call their brother. They made him so beautiful cards with pictures of all the things they love, like hearts with wings and motorcycles, and a big house that said “tu casa” – your (new) home.
Thank you for all your love and support!
With lots of love,
Tashirat kids and staff
