We Live in a Zoo!

Don’t get us wrong. We love our pets. That’s why when we moved to Mexico we brought Huggybear (our English bulldog) and our three cats, Shammy, Belle and Carib, on the 4000 mile journey. If it weren’t for them, we probably would have flown here. Carib passed away from old age about a year ago, but the rest of them are doing fine. But, since we live in a very small casita, we figured enough was enough.

However, when we were given Captain Jack the Parrot as a present, we couldn’t say no. Besides, Captain Jack lived outside in a beautiful cage, so she really didn’t add to the chaos of the house. However, as regular blog readers remember, Captain Jack flew away just before Hurricane Dean. We hope she is doing well and has found some other parrots to live with.

Still, we were left with a dog and two cats, and that seemed like plenty to us. Or at least to Tony. In April, while taking Huggybear for a bath at Paco’s, our favorite vet, Tony saw a kitten that Paco had up for adoption. It seems someone had brought a dying kitten in to Paco to be put to sleep. His eyes were so infected that Paco thought he was blind. He was weak, undernourished and had little chance of survival. However, the world’s best vet refused to give up, and by the time we saw the kitten, he was lively and well. Ugly as sin, badly cross-eyed, and probably with some long-term effects of his brush with death that we won’t even know for awhile, but alive and happy. Tony agreed with Paco that it was a pretty cute cat. He dropped off Huggybear and went to work.

Cheri went to pick Huggybear up a couple of hours later and returned already in love with the kitten. It didn’t take her long to convince Tony that they should adopt him. So the next day, a Saturday, we headed over to the clinic. They normally don’t work on Saturday, but we thought we’d take a chance. Sure enough, Paco was there and was delighted to hand us over the kitten. We took him home and named him Marley Buddha Mojito Francisco Hemingway Gumbo Head. We call him Marley Buddha, or Bood or short. He started right in terrorizing the older cats, demanding attention and playtime. For some strange reason, he bonded totally with our aged dog. The two of them became inseparable.

So we were back to a dog and three cats. That’s it. No more. No mas. Finito.

Then, five days ago, Tony was walking Huggybear early in the morning when he saw some people playing with a tiny puppy. He watched as the people then got into a car and began to drive away, leaving the dog on the street. He stopped them and asked if the puppy was theirs, and they said no. Tony picked the pup up. Someone had tied plastic Mardi Gras beads so tightly around her neck that it was digging into her skin. She wheezed, and mucus ran down the front of her nose. She was in bad shape. He brought her home.

While she drank and ate, we called Andy & Jen. Andy & Jen are some very nice people who opened up the Peanut Pet Shelter in Playa del Carmen not too long ago. When they find an injured, stray or unwanted dog (or cat), they take it home, get it medical care, and try and find a new family to adopt it. They do all this strictly on donations that people give them. And a lot of money and time of their own. They do it because they’re good people. We asked if they had room for one more puppy. Andy sighed, and said that if they had to, they could find room. We said, don’t worry, we’ll take the puppy to the vet and get it fixed up. If needed, we could even keep her for a couple of days until they had more room.

So, off we went to Paco with Gypsy. One of Andy & Jen’s rules is that if you find a dog, you must name it. Since our little one seemed to have been on the road by herself for a long time, we thought Gypsy was an appropriate name. Paco confirmed she was a she and that she would need to stay there 48 hours until antibiotics began to control her infections.

48 hours was Saturday. Paco called to say he wouldn’t be able to meet us at his office but that he would see us the next day and deliver us the dog. We were actually kind of surprised at how disappointed we were that we weren’t going to be able to see the puppy that day. We imagined her all locked up and lonely in a cage. After we started to talk about the “poor puppy,” Tony suddenly said, “We are NOT going to keep this dog. We don’t have room for a second dog.” This of course started us both thinking…maybe we should keep the dog! After all, as much as we have always loved New Orleans, a puppy wrapped in Mardi Gras beads was a sure sign. We decided we would take the dog for a few days “on condition” to see how she fit in with the family. If if didn’t work out, we’d ask Andy & Jen to find her a home.

On Sunday Paco called us to pick up Gypsy. She didn’t make it easy on us. She lept into our arms and proceeded to cover us with dog kisses. When we brought her home and introduced her to the rest of the family, her wagging, wriggling and racing through the house was uncontrollable. All the animals gathered together and proceeded to check each other out animal fashion. One big ole butt sniffing parade. After awhile, Shammy and Belle, the two elderly cats, wandered off to resume their normal routine. They had been through the new puppy phase ten years before with Huggybear and were not impressed. Marley Buddha was fascinated with this little thing that moved so fast. They raced around each other, Gypsy barking and Marley Buddha smacking her on the head with his paw. They seemed to be having a good time. Huggybear seemed to take to this little one the same as he did with Marley Buddha and began a tongue cleaning head to toe. It wasn’t long before Gypsy was covered in a layer of dog slobber.

We think it took four hours. Four hours of tail wagging, licking, barking, peeing on the floor (15 times the first night), and general chaos of Marley chasing Gypsy, Gypsy chasing Marley, and Huggybear slobbering behind. Four hours until Tony said, “That’s it, we’re going to keep her.” Cheri of course knew that all along. So, we have a new member of the family. We thought another dog was the last thing we needed in our lives. It turns out that a brand new puppy was exactly what we needed.

Isn’t she cute??

Mahahual Struggles to Survive

We’re back. Sorry there hasn’t been a new update on this blog for awhile, but we’ve been a little busy. We’ll try and cover as much of what’s going on in Mahahual as we can. We’ll also do a couple other blogs about some other things that have been happening. Believe it or not, we’re still trying to have a life.

Since our last blog entry about the Mahahual relief efforts, Playa Pals purchased another 150 construction kits as well as 100 hand saws from Manzanilla, a local hardware store. We had previously purchased other materials from them and, with the help of someone from the Red Cross, negotiated a 13% discount. This time, we went on our own and negotiated a 15% discount! It may have been that they, too, wanted to contribute to helping Mahahual. Or it may have been they were impressed with Cheri’s new Mexican flag bikini top which she wore, much photographed by the stock boys with their cell phones. Either way, we were glad to save the money. Our “Dutch Army” (friends Willem, Jessica, Alex & more) did their own shopping trip for boots (also negotiated at great discount), food and more. We don’t know what Jessica wore for the discount, but we’re happy she got it.

We actually had planned on not making the trip on Saturday to Mahahual. We were expecting a large group who is taking over the hotel for the week, and we needed to be there to settle them in and make sure everything went without problem. Unfortunately, Friday night we discovered there was some confusion as to who was driving what and when. We wanted to make sure the construction kits got there, so we loaded them all into our white Chevy Express van, affectionately known as the Big Bastard, and drove them down ourselves. We didn’t go with the convoy since, because of what was happening at the hotel, we needed to make the 8 hour round trip as early as possible. We rolled out around 6:30 am and zoomed down to Mahahual. If you can call a four hour drive “zooming.”

We hooked up with Kevin Graham, who was working with a team of other locals from Mahahual to make sure the goods are distributed. They have set up their operations center in the Costa Maya Inn, which withstood Dean’s winds, but unfortunately still has no plumbing or water. Kevin’s volunteers helped us unload the construction kits. He promised us they would be delivered to the outlying areas where they were needed most as soon as they could find a truck. Then we got a quick report on the status of things. It was pretty much the same. While the government has been working on restoring power and clearing roads, only private relief drives like our own Playa Pals have brought in food and water. We promised that we would return on Tuesday with as much food and water as we could carry. With that, we were back in the van racing back to Playa to get there for our incoming guests.

On the way back, we passed Jessica, Alex, Willem and another volunteer (sorry, we don’t know his name). They’re all from Holland, so we call them the “Dutch Army.” They have been relentless in their efforts to raise money and distribute goods to Mahahual. Willem, who we refer to as Wacky Willem, is a force of nature unto himself. He looks a little like Anthony Bourdain, the guy from the Food Channel network. When he’s not helping buy, convoy and distribute goods for Mahahual, he’s buttonholing people in Playacar, the wealthy suburb of Playa del Carmen, and demanding contributions. His home in the same area is now covered in signs alerting people to the crisis in Mahahual and pushing them to volunteer, donate or get involved. As far as we can tell, no one has the ability to say no to Willem. Like we say, he’s a force of nature. And Jessica and Alex are two of the most committed people we’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. The Dutch Army in and of itself have raised about $3,000, and every penny has gone directly to the Mahahual people. (BTW, the pictures on this blog entry were taken by Alex). They helped to organized a Mahahual fundraiser last Saturday night and have another event planned (with large raffle & lots of cool prizes, including a 5 night stay at the Luna Blue Hotel & Garden) for this coming Friday night, September 7, at Pinche Gringo’s in Playa del Carmen.

When our friends returned to Playa del Carmen, they gave us their report, and it was pretty discouraging. Kevin directed them to a couple of areas where relief just had not reached yet, which is pretty sad. It has been two weeks since the hurricane, and there are still people who do not have power, drinking water, food or help of any kind. These of course are the poorest neighborhoods which were tucked away among the mangrove swamps. Those mangrove swamps have now been tripled in size from the storm’s battering and rain. They are filled with crocodiles, harmful parasites and dank bacteria-ridden water and have become a breeding ground for millions of mosquitoes. It is an ecological and health disaster in the making.

The folks from Holland, who didn’t get home until late that evening, told us that once again they encountered nothing but smiles and polite thank yous. Nobody rushed for goods; nobody took more than they needed. People did make requests, and the number one request was to help them get away from the overwhelming swarms of insects. Insect spray, mosquito netting and sunscreen were on the top of their wish lists. This is the same story that we heard from friends and people in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. In our last visit to New Orleans, one woman told us that even after the flood waters receded she had to sleep under wool blankets in 90 degree heat to avoid the mosquitoes. This seems as bad, if not worse.

Of course, at this point Playa Pals are simply trying to meet the emergency needs of the people: food, water, clothing and simple tools to build some shelter. This does not address the long-term economic loss of the region. People in the central or beach area had begun to develop an economy based on tourism. The cruise ships, day trippers up north and people looking for a little slice of paradise had discovered Mahahual. Now that is destroyed. The cruise ship dock is gone, the beachfront shattered, and most of the little stores are in pieces. And of course, there are no tourists. However, the damage goes deeper and is much larger than that. Many outlying Mayan communities had eked out a living by carving farms out of the jungle. Growing various crops and fruits for their own support and to sell at market had been a way of life for many generations. Those crops are now gone, as we said before, the mangrove swamps seem to be everywhere. For a report on this, go to Hurricane Dean Damages Mayan Crops.

We have no explanation or understanding of why there has been no organized help. We understand that Mexico has had a series of blows recently with Hurricanes Dean and Henriette. However, we’re stunned that international aid has not arrived here. Where is the Red Cross, the UN, Habitat for Humanity….anyone? Perhaps it’s too small. Perhaps the media just hasn’t made it a large enough focus. Maybe, as someone else said, people are “Deaned out.” We just don’t know. We continue to hope, along with the people of Mahahual, that some organization with much more resources than local private fundraisers could ever have will step in to help.

Of course, now there is the threat of Hurricane Felix. As we type this, Felix is projected to make landfall considerably south of this area. That’s the good news. The potential bad news is that Felix, depending on where it makes landfall, could still send massive amounts of rain, storm surge and wind to poor little Mahahual. In anticipation of this, the government has evacuated the area. We had planned on taking down another truckload of food and water today but have been instructed by Kevin to wait until Saturday when people have returned to see what is left of their homes after this second storm.

Now, the good news. People have continued to contribute. As of this morning, the paypal account contributions (and personal donations delivered to the hotel) stand at just over $21,000. So far we have spent a little over $14,000, leaving us in the neighborhood of $6,700 still to spend. As always, and if you’re a regular reader of this blog you know this already, every single penny/peso contributed to the Playa Pals for Mahahual fund (e.g., our paypal account) is being used exclusively to purchase relief supplies which are then immediately driven to Mahahual and the surrounding areas. No volunteer has received a penny of these contributions, not even for gas or to reimburse for personal expenses. None of this money has been directed to any third party or person. We want this money to be used for immediate relief, and we promise you that is the case. So please, continue to contribute. Our donations at this point have slowed to a trickle. Please help us to help Mahahual until somebody with more power and money than we have comes forward. To find out how to contribute, go to How to Donate to Playa Pals for Mahahual.

If you’ve already contributed, thank you very much. If you can’t contribute any more or at all, you can help by getting the word out. Link to the Hurricane Dean section of this blog (Playa Pals for Mahahual) on your personal websites or in emails to everyone you know.

Here are the items currently most needed in Mahahual:

WATER!!!!
Canned goods
Diapers – all sizes
Nan 1st 2nd and 3rd Stage baby milk
Baby clothes
Underwear mens and women
Lamina
Wood strips to attach the lamina and nails
Sunblock
Mosquito Repellent

And for whoever stands in the way of oncoming Hurricane Felix, say a prayer and keep a thought.

Fundraising: It’s Not a Competition

There’s an old sarcastic saying that “no good deed goes unpunished.” We’ve recently learned how true that is. When we started working with the other volunteers in Playa del Carmen to help the people of Mahahual after Hurricane Dean, members of our group, as far as we knew, were the only ones raising money and driving supplies to the area. In the days that followed, we discovered other people and private organizations were soliciting funds for help in Mahahual. We applauded everybody’s efforts and welcomed any and all volunteers, donations, or efforts to get the word out and the supplies in.

One of those organizations that began to solicit funds was a travel site based out of Akumal, Mexico called locogringo.com. They set up a fundraising campaign. One of their members even created a website, helpafterdean.org, which took people to their fundraising webpage.

Our thought was: the more the merrier, or at least the better. So, when we were posting on TripAdvisor we made sure to mention locogringo’s efforts. The link was also publicized on playa.info, which had already become home base for the Playa Pals to raise money. Again, nobody (at least in our little group) saw any issues of competition or conflict. We thought the more people raising money and helping, the better it would be for Mahahual.

That’s why we’re pretty surprised to find ourselves under attack on the locogringo forum. It started out simply enough from our point of view. We learned that locogringo had deleted a posting by one of its members which told about the Playa Pals’ efforts. We were confused by this. We were directing people to their website. Why were they not allowing reference to ours? After all, it’s all about Mahahual, right? The more money raised, regardless of the source or the site, the better. So we posted what we thought was a pretty reasonable comment. We explained who we were, who the Playa Pals were, and the work that we were doing for Mahahual. And we asked a simple question: why was the previous post deleted? In our comments, we praised locogringo and its forum members for their efforts on behalf of Mahahual and said that they should keep up the good work. And we meant it.

One of the moderators of that forum responded in a way that we thought was pretty unsatisfactory. There was no apology, no reaching out. References to our effort had been deleted, he said, because they had a policy of no solicitations. The reason for the policy, we were told, was to protect their members from con artists and unscrupulous people. We were a little taken back by that. We have never been perfect, and over the years we might have been called a name or two, some of them maybe even deserved. But to be lumped in with con men and “unscrupulous people” not only took us by surprise but frankly insulted us.

When we wrote again explaining how the legitimacy of Playa Pals was a simple matter to confirm, all hell seemed to break loose. Some members of the locogringo forum then began to post that we were jealous, ugly, seeking publicity, and trying to denigrate their great efforts. They said we were trying to demean and attack the owners of the forum (who we have never met and whose names we didn’t even know). And the best one of all: we were attempting to stop their fundraising!

We were pretty shocked. For trying to spread the word about the problems in Mahahual and give people an additional place to contribute or offer help, we were personally attacked and condemned. Not by everybody. Some people on that website offered their opinion that what we were doing was good and that we were not bad people. But they appeared to be in the minority. Some members of that website wrote us privately, asking us to just wait, that when the owners of the website returned from a visit to Mahahual, they would reach out to us and explain to their members who we were and what we were doing. However, that didn’t happen. Instead, when the owners returned, they praised the forum members for defending them against personal attacks!

We have not posted on that forum since, and we will never post on it again. However, our name continues to be abused—unmoderated—in forum postings there. This whole episode has saddened us deeply. To be called names, even by strangers, is never pleasant. To have the efforts of the Playa Pal volunteers (Claudia, Heather, Kevin, Alex, Jessica, Willem, Soraya, Michael, Jimmy, Doug, Luis, the other Luis, Laura of the Hotel La Tortuga, Andrea of the Bomberos, the Il Barreto restaurant, the people and owners of playa.info, and many many more, not to mention all the people who have donated money and material) demeaned by people living comfortably thousands of miles away is unfair and undeserved. And to turn fundraising into a competition is the worse offense of all, because it turns people’s focus away from the real issue, which is the need for help in Mahahual.

We’re also concerned that this same website is talking about how there is now a relief program in effect for the area. This is simply not true for Mahahual. The state government of Quintana Roo–to whom locogringo gave the majority of its funds–has been trying to help as many people as it can, but there is damage and people in need everywhere in the southern Yucatan. Their resources are stretched thin. They’re doing all they can. In Mahahual, the government restored power in an unbelievable three or four days. They sent in the Army for a few days to try and stabilize the area and clear roads so people like Playa Pals can get in. They have sent in Fonatur with heavy earth-moving equipment and trucks to remove debris. They have set up chemical toilets and brought in potable water in some areas. They are doing what they can and doing it well. However, Mahahual has not yet received food, water, medical supplies or assistance for rebuilding from any official, corporate or humanitarian entity. It is still relying upon private donations and private volunteers.

We raise these issues because we don’t want people who have been directed to locogringo to walk away with either a doubt about the continued need for donations, volunteers and work in the Mahahual area or a question as to the validity of the Playa Pals and the work they are doing.

The locogringo website has collected a lot of money, and we are sure they have spent it in the way they feel is most effective. We applaud the generosity and effort of their members. However, fundraising efforts should not be handled in such a way that other legitimate efforts are demeaned.

Thanks to our blog readers for letting us get this off our chest.

Note: Subsequent to the posting of this blog entry, and the posting of blogs by others who were treated similarly on the same website, the owners of the locogringo forum have decided to “delete any negative comments” related to this topic. Seems that since the most negative commentary came from a single poster who apparently cannot be reined in because of her volunteer work for the board, the entire thread in question was deleted, avoiding the need to admonish her or others. At least with the written evidence of this horrible exchange now gone, the only people who will remain affected are those who were involved and who read the thread, and that’s probably best for everyone, although the damage has been done to our feelings and to our reputation. We’ll take away our own lessons from this experience.