In my Christmas greeting blog posting, I mentioned that in lieu of Christmas gifts to family and friends, we were planning to find some worthwhile charity to contribute to, or some needy family that could use some help. This proved to be a daunting task. Not that charity isn't needed in Mexico, because it is. However, the same can be said in my own hometown in Canada, or anywhere for that matter. We first planned to give some toys or gifts to a children's charity in Puerto Penasco. We read up a bit on that, and what we found is that they don't need toys, bikes, or clothes, as they have warehouses full of these items from well-meaning people that are all thinking the same way. What they need most in most cases is food, not toys. Arriving in Mexico only 1 day before Christmas meant that we missed out on the normal Christmas charities anyway, so on to the next idea. I was hoping that something would become obvious to me, and began thinking that if I could find a need by getting to know different people that we would get to know over our stay in Mexico, then I would find a way to help them out in a more personal way. My biggest fear was that we would give a cash gift to a needy family, and then find them all wearing brand new i-pods, and not putting some food on the table. We spent a lot of time on the beach in Bucerias, and we always parked ourselves in the same general area. This area was always occupied by an elderly beach vendor by the name of Marcellino. He was unique in that instead of treading up and down the beach, he took advantage of the constant parade of people taking the long stroll up and down this beautiful stretch. He would set up under an umbrella, sit in his chair, with his wares spread out on a blanket in front of him. I thought it was a great strategy, and we got to know him quite well over the time we spent there. My friend Gary would always help him carry his stuff up to his car at the end of the day, and he appreciated this very much, and considered our whole group as his friends as a result. Gary and I had my family bring down a mega-phone to help him get his sales pitch message out the the customers walking by. I had purchased an inflatable boat that got a lot of negative attention on Sandy's blog, but to the Mexicans, this boat was envied to a large extent. One day Marcellino expressed his interest in the boat, and how useful it would be for him to have a boat like that for him and his son to go out fishing in. Viola! I decided then that I would give him the boat at the conclusion of our time in Bucerias. He was thrilled, and wanted to give me all kinds of merchandise in exchange, but I convinced him that I wanted to give it to him as a gift, and we settled on a few T-shirts and a hat or two in exchange.
In our little campground, the owner had a guy hired to look after the grounds on a casual basis. His name was Francisco. This guy worked construction by day, and part-time at a convenience store, and washed and waxed R.V.'s, and the gardening on the side. A very hard-working guy, and when I asked him when he rests, he replied: "I can't, I have 3 kids and a wife"! He explained that the construction job paid very well by Mexican standards, but the job was just about done. He was hoping to find another job when it ended. Well, it ended while we were there, and because the global recession was starting to affect things in this area too, he was out of work. The worry showed on Francisco's face. I wanted to do something for him, and when he told me his daughter was sick, and he couldn't afford to pay the doctor, I decided to help him out in some way. I was going to hire him to clean the motor home, the car, etc., and pay him in advance so he could pay the doctor, but before I could do that, Jim, the campground owner came to see him and gave him a 6 month advance on his pay to get him through this tough time. I hired Francisco to clean the car, and wash the motor home before we headed out. I payed him over double what he wanted, and bought a kilo of fresh shrimp for him and is family to cook for dinner, and gave him a voucher for a trip out on a day cruise on the "Santa Maria", a catamaran trip around the Bay area, with all food and beverage included, for him and his wife to enjoy. Francisco was very happy, and hopefully they will take advantage of the trip as I'm sure they never had the time or the money to do something like this in the past.Small gestures, but 
I hope that my family and friends will feel good about what we did for these individuals instead of getting some gifts that they would appreciate, but likely not really need.
In our little campground, the owner had a guy hired to look after the grounds on a casual basis. His name was Francisco. This guy worked construction by day, and part-time at a convenience store, and washed and waxed R.V.'s, and the gardening on the side. A very hard-working guy, and when I asked him when he rests, he replied: "I can't, I have 3 kids and a wife"! He explained that the construction job paid very well by Mexican standards, but the job was just about done. He was hoping to find another job when it ended. Well, it ended while we were there, and because the global recession was starting to affect things in this area too, he was out of work. The worry showed on Francisco's face. I wanted to do something for him, and when he told me his daughter was sick, and he couldn't afford to pay the doctor, I decided to help him out in some way. I was going to hire him to clean the motor home, the car, etc., and pay him in advance so he could pay the doctor, but before I could do that, Jim, the campground owner came to see him and gave him a 6 month advance on his pay to get him through this tough time. I hired Francisco to clean the car, and wash the motor home before we headed out. I payed him over double what he wanted, and bought a kilo of fresh shrimp for him and is family to cook for dinner, and gave him a voucher for a trip out on a day cruise on the "Santa Maria", a catamaran trip around the Bay area, with all food and beverage included, for him and his wife to enjoy. Francisco was very happy, and hopefully they will take advantage of the trip as I'm sure they never had the time or the money to do something like this in the past.Small gestures, but I hope that my family and friends will feel good about what we did for these individuals instead of getting some gifts that they would appreciate, but likely not really need.
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