The Acuna Team left SeaTac Airport on the 23rd of June at 7 a.m. in the early morning. By 11 p.m. (CST), they were finally at their destination in Acuna, tired but excited for the beginning of a big week in Mexico.

First day on the job was controlled chaos, Diane Ellis, team leader, reported. Thirty plus students from the school in Acuna joined our ranks and together everyone began attacking the tasks at hand. Our team was very prepared with projects, jobs, supplies and energy. So, in spite of the spike of 104 degrees on the thermometer, the pasty white NorthWesterners worked very hard and felt great at the end of the day.

There were walls painted, some walls repaired and sheet rocked, others treated and repaired from smoke damage, shelving built, some electrical work done, among other things.

We brought four teenagers with us on this trip and they are doing terrific, Diane states. They are working hard and along with the Mexican kids becoming friends with each other, trying out Spanish words, English words, in fact our team is learning the many construction words like hammer, paint, etc., not to mention “hola” and “muy bueno”–and feel’n pretty good about it.

Will report more as we get the information. Stay tuned.

We want to especially thank EVERYONE who contributed to our 2008 Auction. It was a terrific success. Now more kids than ever can now be helped.

By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI, Associated Press Writer
Sun Apr 20, 6:46 PM ET

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — “On the day he decided to run away, 9-year-old Coli awoke on a filthy mat. Like a pup, he lay curled against the cold, pressed between dozens of other children sleeping head-to-toe on the concrete floor….” Read the rest of the article here.

Where is Tagbalaran, Philippines?
Tagbalaran is on the Island of Bohol in the Philippines, south of Manila…a short 20 hr plane ride from Seattle…approximately!

Where will we be working?
The bulk of our time will be spent at the Orphanage (Children’s Center) in Tagbalaran on the Island of Bohol; and some at Cebu City, Cebu.

What will we be doing?
There we will have a work project to complete for the first 5 days. We’ll mix with the kids thru out the day and evening when they are not in school getting to know them on a personal level and submerging ourselves in their culture. One of the evenings we’ll take over the roll of house parent, and the following day take the entire staff, kids and house parents to a nearby beach where we’ll find plenty of interaction and fun. More on Tagbalaran, Philippines (Date TBD)

Leigh Buchan, took a reconnaissance trip to the Phlippines November 13-24, 2007, along with Kyle Billings, to determine if the Arms of Love Children’s Center on Bohol Island was suitable for a return Global Support Team Trip in 2008.

What I discovered there was a children’s center that would offer a very favorable team trip, where we could contribute towards a work project, as well as provide relief for the house parents, and an all day outing for the entire group. All this while intermixing with the children, developing relationships with them providing positive cultural awareness and an intercultural experience that enhances one’s sense of our global connectedness. More on Report of Philippines Trip November 2007