First Church
of Winsted

Serving Our Community Since 1778



DAY 3 & 4





Power Washing, Painting and, Piñata



Our objective for Monday was to use the power washer we purchased from the local Home Depot to wash the outside of the dome-shaped computer room. Luckily, Vincente was up to the task. He speaks proficiently in sign language, but none of us know Mexican sign language. We couldn’t ask him to slow down while we read the assembly instructions. And before we knew it, he had an extension cord and garden hose, ready to get to work.




Bob did manage to wrestle the power washer from Vincente. After all, everyone has to use the restroom once in a while…





The rest went to work on painting the lounge area next to the library. Here’s what the walls looked like as we started.





Painting is a very specialized task that requires a lot of supervision. Luckily, we have plenty of supervisors on the team.





The paint had to be thinned before it could be applied with the spray gun that we brought from the United States with us to Oaxaca. Two sets of eyes for any task is always better…





Bob was the designated sprayer, while others brushed the edges and areas that could not be sprayed.





Bob was the designated sprayer, while others brushed the edges and areas that could not be sprayed.









On a serious note, we didn’t realize how much spray mist would collect in an enclosed room. We all had to wear masks, and our faces were outlined in blue around the edges of the masks. But it was worth the work!





After completing our 2 tasks for the day, we spent time with the children. They love to play tag, hide and seek, and anything that involves running… Cat and Rain quickly were adopted by the youngest resident, Sol.





On Tuesday, we went to work on painting the outside of the computer room. Bob again was the designated sprayer, and JT was the designated roller.





The rest of us went to work on the second and third floor of the main building. Our job was to sort through years of donations of clothes, shoes, sneakers and sports equipment, cull out what was damaged or otherwise unusable, and then sort the clothes by gender and size.





But once again, the most important thing we did was spend time with the children. We provided dinner of street chicken, refried beans, corn tortillas and flour tortillas. After dinner, hosted a pinata party in the courtyard.


One of the newly arrived residents (got here on Sunday) really had a great time going after the piñata.





Miriam, the oldest female resident, also enjoyed showing the others how to hit the piñata.





Angel, who we met on the day he was dropped off at Casa Hogar as an infant about 17 years ago, is blind. But he still wanted his turn at hitting the piñata.





But the residents seemed to have the most fun (and laughed the hardest) when we took turns hitting the piñata.







Bob taught the children how to recycle a piñata.





Everyone took turns wearing the head, and little Sol got to wear not only the head, but also the hands and feet.





The children also love to look at all the photos we take every day!





We’re all exhausted, but we’ve accomplished a lot, and we’re having a lot of fun!





First Church of Winsted



95 N. Main St, Winsted, CT 06098