In February of 2008, the Capstone Board of Directors had been discerning whether or not we were being called to stretch a little by extending ongoing help to another orphanage in Tijuana. Then, a conversation with Fr. Jairo at St. Edward's Parish in Twin Falls began a series of events that led to a quick administrative trip to Tijuana. After touring the area we located Hacienda de la Inmaculada, an orphanage in great need.

Hacienda has been in existence since 1997. The director is Madre Virginia, a nun in in her early 60s. Over 90 children are in residence, from infants to teens. There is a Primary Catholic school on the property with local teachers. Children from the Hacienda attend free. The hope is that the other tuition will cover costs, but enrollment is currently 148, capacity is 240, and they are not meeting expenses. Keeping the school open is a priority.

The physical plant needs are endless; plumbing, (broken toilets, sinks and showers not working), fans, windows repaired, awning and steps for side of the building, electrical issues, and clutter sorted and cleared, etc. They don't even use showers, because they can't afford the water or heating it, so everyone takes bucket showers. Hacienda was the most needy place we saw by a landslide.

In October 2008, Capstone had their first mission trip to Hacienda. We were able to accomplish more than we had anticipated, partly because we had the assistance of two men (Ramon and Juan) for the entire week. They were incredible, as was everyone else on the trip. The really good news from there is that there are two new nuns who started working there a week or so before our arrival. They were already doing great things; we need to pray that they will stay. Sr. Lily seems to be in charge of the boys' end and kept us busy trying to get their dorm and clothing room in better shape. Sr. Bernice is in charge of the girls' end.



We built a cover for the patio, along with benches for seating, and a hand washing sink. We also built an emergency door (with alarm), including steps to the outside in the large girls' dorm that only had one entry, and no other way to get out in case of fire.

In the boys' area we sorted tons of clothing, built shelves for storage, and changed all their bunks and cleaned up their dorm a little. Several people also spent hours hanging laundry up to dry, and occasionally playing with the preschool kids who roam about unsupervised.

There's much more to do there, but we feel we gave them hope and assurance that many others care about them. Until January 2009 . . . .