Layout of the Retreat Centre

This is a very not-to-scale diagram of the Retreat Centre property (click on the map to enlarge). At least it gives you an idea of what an urban camp is like. A young man who lives a couple doors down from us went out to the camp with Marcel to help us move our trailer out there now that the children's camps are completed for the summer. Marcel intended for this to be a time to hang out and to get to know this fellow but did we ever end up NEEDING his help! On the hillside just 3 minutes from our house, there is a patch of pavement which is very bumpy. Though Marcel was driving very slowly, the trailer began to bounce and detached! We came all the way from Texas with no problems and then when the trailer is empty, this happened. Marcel and this fellow had a time of reattaching the trailer but were on their way quite quickly. When they arrived at the camp, this young man's jaw dropped. "This is really nice! Is this all yours? I mean, your church's? What do you do here?" What an opening to share with this Catholic young man!! He felt a bit uncomfortable yet he went on to ask a lot of good questions.

To me (Ingrid), two city lots (even if they are larger than average) is not what I envision for a camp after growing up on a farm and going to camp in the foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Yet for the children and youth of Mexico City, two acres with a grass soccer field, a fountain that currently doesn't work, and some fruit trees really wows them. These children must stay in their small yards to play when they are at home, often with a concrete area instead of any lawn. They can't afford to travel to the beautiful rural areas of Mexico to attend a camp and they cherish being able to "get away" at this place on the edge of Mexico City.