Lunch at the Dump

After another wonderful breakfast at La Vina yesterday, we washed down the Mobile Kitchen and headed to Sam's- Mexico's version of Costco- to pick up some groceries. We left Sam's with 270 hamburgers, buns and all the dressings, as well as 12 bags of Cheetos.

The whole team drove down to the dump where we set up the Mobile Kitchen and started the hamburgers on the grill. While some of us prepared the food, others played soccer with the children, or participated in the puppet show. Before lunch was ready we even had a chance to do the chicken dance for the kids along with a couple other silly dances.

The second the crowd was told lunch was ready, there was a huge line in front of the Mobile Kitchen. We handed out the plates of food and glasses of water. Everyone was very thankful to be eating lunch that day.

Once everyone at the bottom of the dump had full bellies, we drove to the top to hand out the rest of the food. It was shocking to see how many people were up there gathering cardboard, cans and anything else they could get money for. As soon as we parked, people started coming to us from all over the dump. You could see people coming to the Mobile Kitchen from every direction. We even started cutting the hamburgers in half to make sure everyone had at least a little something to eat. When all was said and done, we had fed close to 300 hungry people.

We have seen many unbelievable conditions the week we have spent in Mazatlan so far, but seeing families call the dump a home was devistating. We may not have been able to change the conditions in which they live, but we were able to fill their bellies and bring smiles to their faces.

Aimee Gray