La Quinta is set in one of the poorest areas, and surrounded by barrios and a large dump. Currently there are eleven kids that live in the children’s home there. It was originally created to take in orphans at the toddler level. However, at around seven and eleven, the two children that belong to the house parents are the youngest. The other nine are mostly in their teens and aren’t necessarily orphans at all. In fact, most of them have full families, but they aren’t able to support them or provide and education. As a result, the kids live at the home long-term with the ability to visit their families whenever they like.
Incidentally, the compound is also home to quite a few mango trees as well as a few banana, coconut, and avocado trees. We wind up taking periodic mango breaks throughout the day. Now and then I forget my age and try to climb the trees myself in an eager quest to retrieve mangoes. I have yet to reach one, though. I get too high and think I’m going to fall (I have developed a minor fear of heights over the years) or that I’ll first break the branch I’m standing on and then fall. However, I have successfully gotten mangoes down to my partner, Megan, on the ground by shaking the branches vigorously. I’ll try to get some video of that—based on how foolish I feel while doing it, it must be rather ridiculous to watch. Anyway, most of the time the kids bring them to us throughout the day. They speak different levels of English but we’ve been encouraging them to practice with us. I have really enjoyed hanging out with the kids and just being a part of their lives for this period. It is amazing what you can learn from adolescence when you take the time to talk with them.
