Home Update February 1st

Jorge, Dianne and Zata

It’s a new month! Can you believe it’s already the second one of this new year?! Where has time gone? There are so many people in town for the Serie del Caribe; please take precautions for your health and safety, as hospital occupancy and COVID infections continue on the rise.

This past week we finished up the basic structure of the Home for Juan Manuel! It looks great! The inside walls are now plastered, the cement floor is finished, and a hole for the septic tank has been dug. A woman has kindly donated a ceiling fan with a wall switch, so we will use this one for this project and keep the hotel’s ceiling fan for a future project (this one is much nicer). We are coordinating with the authorities to have electrical and water connected to the house. Click on any photo to enlarge it or view a slideshow.

This coming week Zata will seal the floor, put waterproofing on the roof and outdoor walls, finish the hot water connection and build a platform for the tinaco. If time remains, he will work on bringing electricity from the pole to the house and begin to install a drainage system in the back of the house for used water. A friend of Yolanda’s will come to build the septic tank, making it out of block in the front so it’s more accessible for the truck that will pump it out.

The biggest challenge we’ve had for several weeks has been an inability to secure the house, which stops us from finishing up anything inside. A woman has kindly and generously volunteered to install windows, but she has been out of town for a few weeks. The wooden door we got from the hotel needs to be resized, but we can’t find a carpenter to do that for us affordably. Without an ability to secure the house, we can’t install finishes such as sinks, switches and toilets, as they will get robbed. Thus, the five of us met today: Greg, Jorge, Yolanda, Zata and me, and decided to bite the bullet and buy security bars for the two missing windows and a security door for the front. Once secured, Zata should be able to quickly proceed with installing interior fixtures.

Bless you all! This is a love-filled, charitable project for a very good cause, and your generosity and cooperation are making it possible. Thank you. Should you or anyone you know care to help out, the ways to donate are:

  • Click the “Donate” link in the right-hand column on this VidaMaz.com website, and pay via PayPal.
  • Go to any OXXO and donate to BanCoppel account 4169-1603-7041-0699 (photo below) in the name of Yolanda Medina.

  • Canadians who prefer to email money can send it to Jeanette Leraand: jleraand@gmail.com
  • Contact Yolanda via WhatsApp at 669 431 4529 to arrange a time to meet and give her your donation.
  • Contact me at dianne@vidamaz.com and I’ll pick up your donation.

A Home for Juan Manuel Update Jan 26th

The great news last week included that so many of you were once again so very generous with your donations. Thank you!! You want this house built and finished as much as I do and almost as much as Juan Manuel and Don Rodolfo! Funds received to date are 108,797 pesos. Total paid out thus far is 68,687, with a balance remaining of 40,110. This is terrific news, as last week we had gotten very tight. 

Yolanda and I were able to go to the Aguamarina Hotel on Wednesday and pick out a nice selection of the things they are selling (they are closing their doors as the hotel will be demolished and a huge development á la Camino al Mar will go in its place)—generously donated to us free of charge. We were able to get a couple of wooden doors (that need to be resized for our purposes), a ceiling fan, a bunch of electrical outlets and switches, light fixtures, a plastic table, and a couple of tambos or plastic garbage cans to use to store water. We also got quite a bit of bedding and kitchen items which we can put to good use in this and other projects.

This week’s plan is to plaster the interior walls of the house and begin installing electrical and plumbing finishes, including the kitchen and bathroom sinks and toilet. The lady who has donated these items has also promised us her old tinaco, which we won’t get for a couple more weeks. Thank you!!!

This morning I received a note from a lady who has most kindly and generously offered to conduct a fundraiser amongst her family and friends to raise the money needed to build the wheelchair ramps that I had hoped to build for both Juan Manuel and his neighbor, Don José. As of last week, I’d given up on that dream. Bless her. I need to get her estimates on cost, so she knows how much to aim for in her campaign.

Thank you all! The house is a solid structure, with a roof and drainage. We have what we need for the interior; now we just need to finish that up and then install windows and doors. We are getting closer! If you or a friend or neighbor would like to help out with this project, the ways to donate are listed at the end of the original post.

Lunchtime at the Work Site

I have procrastinated too long on this one. As you all know, construction of Camino al Mar, the huge new commercial and housing development where Dairy Queen used to be in the Golden Zone, is finally and after much delay almost complete. Every time we drive through the GZ at lunch time, I marvel at the hundreds of workers there hurrying to grab lunch from the dozens of food trucks and carts. The hustle and bustle has been calling my camera for lunch. But getting away at lunchtime, somehow, has been really difficult.

Well, today I finally broke away from work to take some photos. Sadly, there are far fewer workers these days, and also far fewer food trucks, so much less hustle and bustle. I did, however, thoroughly enjoy my 45 minutes with these hard-working women and men! The hardest part, as always in Mazatlán, is to prevent my subjects from vamping for the camera. It is really a challenge here to get casual, natural photographs of people as they are all so friendly and obliging. I of course had about a dozen of them ask me where their photo would be, so here are the picks of the litter, so to speak. Click on any photo to enlarge it or view a slideshow.

I do love how housewives create pop-up businesses here to service laborers. The food looked absolutely delectable! The workers raved about the quality of the food, and it is all very affordable. I was offered several samples, but was too busy taking photos during the short lunch hour to waste time eating, lol.

I trust you’ll enjoy these glimpses into daily working life here during COVID. I was very pleased to see all the masks in use; not universal, by any means, though every worker had one. While I love my birds, it was really nice to take photos of humans for a change! It’s been way too many months! Don’t worry; I kept my distance and my mask on. These photos are taken with my zoom lens. Stay home as much as you can and stay safe! Hospitals are full and cases are on the uptick.

Finishing the House


A Home for Juan Manuel is approaching the finish line, thanks to so many of you! Your generosity and interest in this project have been heartwarming. Juan Manuel and Don Rodolfo are over the moon. It is a great blessing that work continued throughout the holidays; that our builder, Zata, has shown up to work every day; that we haven’t experienced theft of materials or major overruns; and that so many of you have been so generous with your assistance and support. Having said that, our budget is very, very tight coming into the home stretch.

We have collected 86,905 pesos. Thus far we have paid out 59,587 (23,500 in labor, 36,087 in materials), for a remainder of 27,318. We still owe Zata, per his proposal, 23,100 pesos. We had been paying him 5000 per week, but this past week we only paid him 3500 as work had not been completed as quickly as planned and it worries me that work will not be completed before our budget runs out. I would like to have some money left to reward him with a bonus at the end for all his hard work. However, current accounting shows us with only 4218 for the remaining supplies. Click on any photo to enlarge it or see a slideshow.

The architect’s budget did not include doors, windows, electrical, plumbing, any of the fixtures, waterproofing the roof, paint, etc. Live and learn; he only listed supplies for the basic structure itself. Obviously, my dream of putting in a wheelchair ramp for Juan Manuel’s house and for Don José’s next door will not be happening. We have received a very kind donation of a nice used door which, unfortunately, doesn’t fit either of the openings that have been built. We have just found a man who can adapt it to the rear door frame, however, and we are very grateful for that. Another kind lady has promised the final two windows built to size, and we are very grateful for that. Fingers crossed.

This week’s plan includes to finish smoothing the exterior walls, plaster the interior walls, install the junction box, outlets and switches. Next week should be installation of doors and windows. 

Can You Help?
Door measurements are 96 cm x 295 cm for the front door. Should you have an extra door that meets these size requirements please let us know. A used small ceiling fan would also come in handy, as would one of those small under-counter refrigerators. If you or your friends have money you could spare, it would be wonderful to be able to finish this up by waterproofing the concrete roof. One lady has kindly sewn bed coverings and bought sheets for two mattresses, plus is working to furnish Juan Manuel’s kitchen with used pots, pans, plates and utensils. Please help us get the word out; here is the link to the original post with payment options.

Many thanks and may God and karma shower each of you all with warm, love-filled blessings! As Yolanda reminds me, “have faith; God will provide.” I’m grateful to God, and grateful for each of you as well.

Casa for Juan Manuel Update

The roof is up!!!! You have done it!!! We are nearly there! A Home for Juan Manuel has floor, walls and roof! 

Zata, our builder, estimates three more weeks to completion. Next week he will focus on finishing the outside: patching all holes with cement and making sure everything is waterproofed. The following week they will focus on the inside: plastering the walls, installing the floor and electrical outlets, toilet and sinks, etc. The week after that he will install the windows and doors. Bless you all!!!!

Here is an accounting updated as of today:

 

Description

Amount

Income

 

85,895

Expenses

 

 

 

Labor

20,000

 

Construction material from Soria

20,000 (prepaid; remaining balance 4718)

 

Concrete floor pad and roof

13,115

 

Other misc.

4,683

          Total paid to date:

 

57,798

 

 

 

Remaining balance:

 

28,097

We have received donations of a toilet, bathroom sink, windows and doors, cement and gravel, and a brand-new microwave oven. One woman is currently making Juan Manuel and his father a couple of blankets for their beds. Below are photos of the roof project; click on any picture to enlarge it or view a slideshow.

If you have items or funds to share with this project, please do so; donation details can be found here. We could especially use a tinaco.

It is my fervent hope we can complete the house as planned and also build a wheelchair ramp for Juan Manuel’s house and Don Jose’s house two doors down. At this point Juan Manuel can still walk with crutches, however being blind, smooth surfaces make life easier. And despite his stroke Don Rodrigo is mobile as well, but the ramp would be a terrific addition. Don José lives two doors down and is not able to leave his home as he has no legs and is wheelchair bound yet has no egress from his home.

If this project sounds good to you, please pass the details on to your friends and family. Thank you all!