Reflection on Serving - Jacob Harvey

The Colima Trip 

My memoir happened last week. Last week was spring break. Usually on spring break we go somewhere and have fun as a family. But last week me and my mom went to Colima, Mexico and helped at an orphanage. The kids there taught me alot. They had unconditional love. Accepting anybody that went there. My week there went like this.

We got off the plane in Guadalajara. We had to walk down the runway and onto a high tech bus and went through customs. After that we had drivers from the orphanage drive us down to the hotel, we took two 16 passenger vans. The next day was Sunday, we went to a Spanish Speaking church that had tortillas for communion. Then we went to the market where everybody was so nice I felt like I was at a family reunion. The market was like a large warehouse that they stripped and put fruit and meat stands in. After that we had a party at the orphanage. Our team made balloon swords and I took one and went off. I thought “well, here goes nothing.” Two kids were sword fighting together. One girl Diana, I would later get to know, was fighting against a boy with two swords and they decided to attack me too. The boy with two swords ran off to attack someone else. I thought that I should go easy on her. I didn’t have to, she was good. Her sword was unseen and at the end of the night I was hot and sweaty from sword fighting. Cool showers are great in Mexico!

Monday: We had a camp kinda like a summer camp. There were centers, one was sports, one was music and games, and one was crafts. I was in the sports group. Monday we had kids hold a water bottle on their heads and we would line up and run to a water bucket and fill up a six ounce cup and run back and pour it in the bottle. It was a relay. Then we repainted a house for the rest of the afternoon and it was a big house! We thankfully did not have to paint this all today but we had to get started (you can’t have a finish without a start.) The walls at the house were at least 20 feet high and there were a lot of nooks and crannies that had to be painted. It also had two colors, one lighter yellow one and one darker yellow. The house had two balconies. One was small and was very cramped and the other was a great big one that wrapped around the two story house. We had to paint the balconys and their overhanging roofs too. The house had lots of windows and the windows had screens that had to be removed to paint around them but before we could paint them we had to dust around the edges. The bars on the windows had to be repainted black. At the end of the day I had new yellow freckles, sprinkles in my hair (made of paint) and was so tired.

Tuesday: In sports we did water balloon catch. Each group had a towel and us leaders would launch water balloons in the air. Whoever caught the most won (without popping the balloon.) The kids were so funny, they would find out where the balloon would go and then do anything to get it. After a while they would start caching the water balloons every time. It was awesome! We would try to catch the balloons but they would pop and explode sending water everywhere. The kids were soaked head to toe and we had a big water balloon fight at the last 5 minutes of each rotation. It felt good in the Mexico heat! Later we went back to painting and me and my friend Cooper got extendables and painted the high walls. This is when we went up on the smaller balcony and painted from up there. Cooper got more done there than I did because I don’t like staying in a cramped high place for long. We painted the roof up there and had to let paint get in our eyes (it stung like crazy!). After lunch I had the biggest headache ever and I went to the quiet sewing room because my mom was there. I probably got too hot and dehydrated.

Wednesday: My group did nine square with a huge super bouncy ball. I kept getting out because someone would hit it to me and I would hit it and the ball would bounce around my square and I would get out. There was this one girl that during instructions she would try to hit the ball out of my hands and she was laughing so hard. After activity centers we went back to paint for a couple hours and then we went to the little kids home. Casa Cuna, where we had lunch, then held an easter egg hunt for the kids. I drank a Mexican coke and I started to paint the yellow house again. I got to swim in our hotel’s swimming pool to cool off and play. Then we went to Casa Matriz (the main home) for Taco dinner. The kids that live there range from 6 to12 years old. At 8pm we held another egg hunt for these kids. This one went for about an hour and in the dark. I helped some kids in the last 20 minutes to find the last eggs.

Thursday: Instead of activity centers me and Cooper went to help repair a large rock wall that prevents water from running into the houses in rainy season. We had to lift buckets of cement and we could not carry a full bucket so we had them half full. After that we went on a hike with the Teen girls and ran up a mountain to look at a volcano. Then walked through an avocado farm and back down to the vans at sunset. We drove to our tour guides coffee shop to have yummy burritos. I got car sick on the winding roads. We also played bamboozled with jelly beans after dinner. I think I went to bed at 11pm that night.

Friday: We did activity centers with the kids after breakfast. My group did sponge launing and we would catch the wet sponges with our hands. Me and this one girl Itsel would catch one and dump it on each other's head. After that I painted and took a COVID test to be able to fly back into the US. Then we went back to the hotel and me and Cooper played baseball with a beach ball with inflatable kickboards in the kiddie pool. We went back to the orphanage for dinner and song presentations by the kids. We said goodbye to all the kids and Itsel hugged me and didn’t want to let go. The kids never want us to leave. We are like family to them, some people were crying.

This week by far has been the most memorable week of my life. The kids there taught me alot. Writing these words on paper made the most exciting week of my life sound dull, to see it like I experienced it, you have to go experience it too! For 9 years, each year a group goes to Colima, Mexico to spend time with these kids.