Quick day trip to Door of Faith Orphanage, La Mision

Drove to La Mision in Baja California Mexico to donate toys and a crib to the Door of Faith orphanage. A friend could not deliver it due to work-related COVID restrictions, so we loaded the antique crib and other items into my truck for the drive south. (One of the perks of retirement: no employer telling me where I can/can't go.)


Easy southbound trip from San Diego. I declared the toys and crib and paid a small import fee- less than $10- just to be safe.



They actually waved me thru the crossing- a first for me in my truck- but I stopped anyway so they could look inside out of habit. Had to wave them over to inspect me...

The drive was easy. No tolls at Playas. $39 pesos at Rosarito. Another $35 when I returned home via Blvd. 2000.

The orphanage is at the end of of 2 miles of dirt road east of the bridge in La Mision. It was a beautiful drive down the coast and into the valley, just north of Valle Guadalupe.



The orphanage is full- over 100 children from 7 months old to college age. Sadly, indoor classes are on hold due to COVID, so most of the kids were outside playing when I arrived.







No visitors allowed on site to tour the campus due to COVID- but donations happily accepted at the office. English speakers in the Gringo office, Spanish speakers in an office across the playground.



The staff are volunteers from the US and Mexico. The young woman I spoke to is from Oklahoma, and is able to stay with help from sponsors who donate money to pay for her to live on site. (She originally agreed to a one year position and is now staying indefinitely)







If you’d like to donate items or money go to www.dofo.org
Or go to tinyurl.com/dofowishlist

If you are in San Diego and have items at home to donate let me know.
If enough people have items to send, I may make another trip with a full vehicle next time.

PS re:the return trip: I used Blvd. 2000 and the road is in rough shape in many places. The broken pavement and potholes remind me why I use the truck vs. sedan: bigger tires, and better visibility with all those commercial trucks. (I also like to think other cars are less likely to cut me off since I appear bigger/more intimidating- esp with that bright white Callen shell on the bed.)



Haven't been in Baja for a while, so I took one wrong turn trying to find the Otay SENTRI lanes. However, I still did well on the navigation: a truck that had passed me on Blvd. 2000 was in line at SENTRI when I arrived.

For a change: I chose the "right" lane that was moving well, and entered the US ahead of him after a 5 min. wait in line.

This was despite a "newbie" agent working the entry gate, who seemed unsure how to react to the Callen shell. I explained I had only been down for a few hours to donate items to an orphanage- but he still thought I should go to secondary inspection. (I've had SENTRI for various vehicles for 20 years- cars and trucks with shells- and have never been sent to secondary)

I offered to open the back, and he seemed genuinely surprised that it was an empty shell. He had a flashlight out ready to peek into cabinets and drawers! I guess I looked like a mini-RV...



All told: I left around 11, was home by 4 pm, and drove about 130 miles round trip- so a good day's outing.

Next time: lunch and wine!
Or at least: lunch, and a bottle to take home.

Quote: Originally posted by thebajarunner

Most of the kids in "orphanages" are not truly orphans. In fact, man of the kids are actually dropped off by a parent. I had many years of relationship with Door of Faith I was on their board of directors and published their newsletter. When the founders retired a local took over and he and I had a lot of bad "stuff" so I got involved in other places. The current management is excellent, highly honorable and effective!! And, just as an added note, many years ago I took four of the boys home from Door of Faith and raised them with my family. They are all grown now, and they all call me Dad. Some major success stories in this group. p.s. my boys all say that "orphanages" are not a good way to deal with the problem.... too much like warehousing. I'm quoting well educated and well adjusted men who went through the process. One of my boys is working on ways to get kids out of orphanages and into better situations. Not an easy task....

Quote: Originally posted by BajaTed

La Magana's restaurant has good food too. The Market across the street with the big boulder in the middle of the store is our regular butcher. Really good smoked pork chops.