Soon I will get back to my usual blog, but for now, Hurricane Jimena and the relief effort has taken on a life of its own and it has taken me with it. We are working hard to help and it's a wonderful feeling. Below is a letter I wrote to friends and family asking for donations. It explains how I feel about El Cobijo.

Dear Friends and Family:

As you may or may not know, our area was hit on September 2nd and 3rd by a very serious hurricane (Hurricane Jimena) that did tremendous damage to our town, San Carlos, and the City of Guaymas, and especially the small Mexican towns in between. Bruce and I and Teddy and Niko are fine. We did lose our items in storage but that is nothing compared to the loss of homes and belongings that our neighbors suffered. The water came up to the roofs of most of the houses in the towns of Santa Clara, San Jose and Fatima and thousands of families lost their homes, cars and belongings. Everyone lost power and water and some towns still do not have safe water. We don't either but we can afford to have our cisterns filled by the water trucks. Many people are just living outside with nothing.

Unfortunately, American TV did not cover this event so we didn't get the publicity that disasters so often get. Many people have stepped in to help. Our town, San Carlos, has a large population of people from Canada and the United States so of course we are all ok and in a position to help. Everyone is working day and night to help the people in the small towns. Rotary Club has brought in Shelter Boxes which contain tents, blankets water containers etc. Food is being prepared and distributed to all the families. I've heard that trucks have just started arriving from the United States with more supplies.

My particular focus is on El Cobijo, a residential home in San Jose, that houses 14 elderly men and one woman. They were caught in the hurricane and spent all night on the roof of the home having climbed/been carried up a rickety ladder to get there. These hardy souls spent the night on the roof in the raging winds with water lapping at the roof until they could be rescued in the morning by helicopter. We had no communication so no one knew what had happened to them. Bruce and I drove there in our four wheel drive jeep on the following Sunday with a carload of supplies and as we drove through San Jose our hearts sank and we both cried. We drove as close as we could to the home but the roads were out so we walked in. My heart was pounding. The homes were gone and beds, sinks, cars, every conceivable belonging from their houses were scattered everywhere. In a matter of hours their lives were shattered. We could do nothing but come home in shock.

Finally that night I found out that the men had been taken to the ladies retirement home which is run by the Catholic Sisters in Guaymas. They have no extra money and the men are going to be housed by donations from us. So far, two of us are pretty much doing the shopping and using our own funds to purchase items. We have received a couple of extremely generous donations that are keeping us going but we are talking long term. Kristine Ladau and I have made a long term commitment to help, probably at least a year or until the El Cobijo home is back to where it was before the hurricane. It has become our fulltime job. El Cobijo has always operated to their last peso but now they have less than nothing. These are very old men; some are blind and crippled and some get around fine. Many of them read. We became interested in El Cobijo when we first moved here in May. Having lost both of my own parents, I have always been committed to making sure older people are not just alone and forgotten. My sister and I promised my mother that we would stay with her when she was ill and we did. I feel strongly, that at the end of your life, you should not be alone. As you can see I feel very passionate about this.

There is a wonderful woman who has worked with these men for years. Her name is Luz Acosta and we have become good friends. Luz has been with the men day and night since the hurricane; everytime I see her she is running, hauling boxes, changing adult diapers and sweating. Her emotions are raw right now and she cries a lot because her heart is sad, but she also sees the light at the end of the tunnel. I am obviously writing to ask for your help. I have set up a Paypal account to help these people. All of the money will go to their care. Kristina and I will gladly continue to pay for our own gas and labor and time. If you can give any amount at all even $5.00 it would be a tremendous help. All you need to do is go to http://www.paypal.com/ and send money using my email address: janambrose@gmail.com. It's that simple; the account is linked to my US account in Seattle and I can send receipts as well. I have never done this before and I probably won't again. It's just so extremely important. The visible people who were hurt by the hurricane are getting help but the old people get forgotten because they can no longer speak for themselves. If you just can't give, then say a prayer for all the people who are suffering from this disaster. Thank you all so much.

With love and thanks,

Jan Ambrose and Kristina Ladau