Mud, death, memorials, tears and joy -- the final day

It rains and it rains all day
and this red dirt I'm workin' turns to clay
And clay ain't nothin' but a fancy name for mud,
red mud.
--from "Red Mud," 1950's-60's song by Sonny James

After a night of heavy rain, Friday started out as a "stick-to-your-shoes" day. The mud was slick and clingy.

Thursday night was miserably cold in my bed, due to heavy rain that continued into the morning. While we waited in hope for drier weather, some of us waited for our final volunteer work day by decorating One World Futbols with names, in the hopes of donating them.

Karen Maxell, a futbol donor (ball # 87) assigned several names of her choice. The ball with red lettering was named "Shrek," at my suggestion, which likely is a name familiar to most Mexican children.

Steve Ellis applied the name of a soccer star.

 After our late start to wait out the rain, the day lightened up, and after a bout of light rain the sun made a brief appearance.And that was helpful, because Friday was a chain-gang day, with cement being hauled in a bucket brigade. The drier weather meant less slipping and sliding on slick, sticky clay, over which the new home was being constructed.

The cement was poured inside the blocks, making a solid wall, and into the trenches for the footings.

As the work wound down toward day's end, another priority emerged -- the memorializing of a young man well loved by the long-time volunteers from St. John Vianney Parish in Kirkland. He was Chris Dubé, a Seattle resident who volunteered several times in Tijuana and twice in Ghana.

Chris seems to have been a bit of a contradiction--shy, and at the same time impossible to discourage. He was eulogized for finding swift solutions to the thorniest problems. His indomitable spirit led him to take risks, and he died in a rafting accident.

The Esperanza volunteers gathered at the construction site to pay homage to the young man lost.

Volunteer coordinator Jan Kline holds a photo of Chris Dubé. To her right is Emma Lidia Lara Reynoso, for whom the new home is being constructed.

Construction of the new home is dedicated to the memory of the young man.

Encased in a plastic sleeve, the photo of Chris Dubé is sealed in the cornerstone of Emma's new home.

The memorial was accompanied by a companion ceremony -- the gifting of a One World Futbol to the family for whom this group of volunteers had built a home last year. (See http://tjposada.blogspot.mx/2014/05/tijuana-skyline.html.) The ama de casa is Nico Bracomonto, pictured at the right, with her children. The daughter holds Wilson, while her son is holding Shrek, a ball named for my favorite Airedale.

Shrek was named for a movie character this family immediately recognized. The name was selected in the belief that all North American children probably know Shrek regardless of what side of the border they live on.

Roberto, the son, is on a team with a dozen players, and he demonstrated his dribbling ability by taking the ball to the street, where he was joined by some friends.

Shrek was a success, as attested by the inset closeups of the children's faces.

Three other balls, two of them bearing the Esperanza (hope) name, were provided to Emma. Two days before she had directed us to a local school and to a soccer mom who had a connection with 45 soccer youngsters divided into three age groups. Wilson and I would have liked to distribute more, but we were out of time. On Saturday there's a border to cross and a return flight to Seattle.

More to come, once Wilson and I are home.

Love,

Robert,
and Wilson

Mis Zapatos! (My shoes!)