Diego-Nayeli Story

The Magic of Rancho Feliz Those of us who volunteer and donate to Rancho Feliz often talk about the magic that service work draws into our lives. One of our favorite sayings is that, God, or Spirit, or whatever you want to call it, reveals itself to those with a higher purpose. What we at Rancho Feliz have found is that when we are actively involved in service to others we can actually expand our five-sensory awareness by transcending our self-indulged lives and our constricted three-dimensional realities. Here we cultivate a new tool of perception the sixth sense of intuition. Intuition allows us glimpses into a unifying and very real fourth dimension - a dimension of spirit, of a conscious, intelligent and interconnected universe. With the sixth sense of intuition engaged as the souls guidance system we dont have to try quite so hard to steer our lives. We can actually relax and trust in the magic of auspicious coincidence, in the magic of divine intervention and an ever-present, knowing energy. Our intuition becomes the Commander of Coincidence. At Rancho Feliz we have all experienced this incalculable coincidence, this divine intervention, this divine guidance, on many, many occasions. Well heres one to top the charts. Get this. Rancho Feliz focuses its charitable efforts along the U.S.A./Mexico border. Our primary work is centered in and around Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico. Here hundreds of stray dogs roam the streets exposed to the elements, to hunger, thirst, abuse and injury. Their short lives are miserable. To address this cruel situation, in 2005 Rancho Feliz, (under the direction of volunteer Kim Kroger), initiated the Mexico Mutts Program. As stated in the beautiful Mexico Mutts brochure (thank you Neill Fox of Foxnoggin design!): Consistent with Rancho Felizs goal to reduce or eliminate suffering, Rancho Feliz operates the Mexico Mutts Program with no overhead and a 100% volunteer base. Our strategy has been to partner with existing animal rescue groups to reduce the suffering of homeless, neglected, and abused dogs and cats. This goal is being realized through humane euthanasia, spay/neuter, rescue and adoption and public education. This Program has been so successful that in 2012, Rancho Feliz, Exchange Program Coordinator and Spay/Neuter Clinic Supervisor, Alejandro Laureano, directed the construction of the Mexico Mutts Animal Shelter in Agua Prieta. This was a first for the city of 175,000 people. Here abandoned animals are nursed back to health, sterilized and put up for adoption in the local community. (Volunteering at our Mexico Mutts Animal Shelter is one of our most in-demand and rewarding Exchange Experiences.) At our first spay/neuter clinic in Agua Prieta, in 2008, we visited the Agua Prieta, dog pound. Every week or so Agua Prieta rounded up its stray dogs and electrocuted them through a 220-volt wall socket in the pounds courtyard. (Kim was eventually able to replace this draconian practice with a humane euthanasia program.) There were eighteen dogs being put to death that day. Fifteen had already been electrocuted and three dogs remained in the pen nervously waiting their turn. There was a group of ten of us or so and as we stared at the three remaining dogs, two cowered in the corner and one medium sized dog came up to the

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chain link fence, looked at us with his big brown eyes and put his paw through the fence as though pleading for help. Kim grabbed his paw and he began licking her hand like any happy dog would. I got something in my eye and had to look away but not before I heard Kim say in no uncertain terms, Hes with me! I dont think there was a dry eye in the place and we all clapped in unison at the last minute reprieve. Well, I have to tell you, this dog was the nicest dog I had ever met. Somehow he knew that Kim saved his life. Straight from the pound, Kim took him to a veterinarian to be bathed, de-ticked, de-loused and all the rest. The dog was emaciated and was suspected of having mange. Accordingly, he had to be quarantined for two weeks once we got him back into the US. Nonetheless, he was alive and he had all of these crazy white skinned gringos doting over him and he was soon bestowed the title of Lucky Diego. It was a perfect name. So here was the quarantine dilemma; Kim had dogs and all of her friends had dogs so quarantine in their homes wasnt an option. They all stared at me and I compassionately exclaimed, No friggen way! And then I heard the harmonious voice of an Angel. The pure, sweet melody of Pam Earnhardt stating emphatically, Tex and I will take him. (I found this interesting since Tex was 230 miles away selling trucks or riding a bull around or something.) Well, whether Tex knew it or not, he and Pam saved the day. Lucky Diego spent the next two weeks (actually three weeks because of Christmas) at the Earnhardts ranch eating, exercising and having Pam nurse him back to health. With the quarantine over, Lucky Diego lived with Kim and her two dogs and was given a new life. I know this is hard to believe and youll just have to trust me on this but he walked around all day with a big smile on his face. He was the nicest, most friendly and appreciative dog you could ever meet. However, what this experience showed us was that Mexico Mutts needed a halfway house here in Phoenix for abandoned dogs. A safe place where they could be quarantined if necessary, nursed back to health, spayed or neutered and then placed in an adoption center and successfully adopted out into caring homes. Through Kims active involvement in the local dog rescue community she became acquainted with Kate Sivolella. Kate operates an all-volunteer, dog rescue organization called Povertys Pets. Kate and her associates are an amazing group dedicated to rescuing abused and abandoned dogs in the poorest parts of Phoenix. It was Kate who came to us with information about a home located in a very poor part of Phoenix that had been repossessed by the bank and was back on the market. The home is located at 438 N. 18th Avenue, in Phoenix (near 19th Avenue and Van Buren). Though the area is starting to turn around, the house is located in a dangerous part of south Phoenix. It was built in 1916 and is only 800 square feet. However, it sits on a large corner lot (almost acre) and has only one adjacent residential neighbor. Kim and Kate were convinced that it is the perfect location for dog rescue and that we could get a tenant who would care for the dogs as a major portion of their rent.

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So, as an investment, but primarily to help Mexico Mutts, (I needed a rental property on 19th Avenue and Van Buren like I needed a hole in the head!), I made an offer and purchased the home. The house required a block perimeter wall and a substantial amount of fix up. However, Kate oversaw the remodeling of the home and it now serves Povertys Pets perfectly. But here is where all of this is heading. Shortly after the purchase, Kim and I drove out to the house to meet with Kate to discuss the remodel. The visit confirmed what I already knew. This neighborhood was rough - there was just no getting around it. I was worried about how we would be able to keep an eye on the house during construction, etc. and make sure that it wouldnt be looted and vandalized. While we were going over all of the fix-up items I noticed a Mexican man and his small baby standing in the yard next to us. I waved him over and started torturing him with my Spanish. His name was Jose and it turns out he was from Obregon, Sonora. This is the city where we (Rancho Feliz) have many good friends and the city I lived in for the month of March in 2007. What a coincidence? I thought as we discussed the city and the surrounding area. Soon his wife Cindy appeared with two more small children. As I told them about my many visits to Obregon, I also mentioned that I spent quite a bit of time in Agua Prieta. Cindys eyes lit up and she told me she was from Agua Prieta. This really is a coincidence! I thought as she told me that she knew Irma Teran and even Queta Ibarrola two of Rancho Felizs Mexican associates. I told her that we do a lot of work in Agua Prieta building homes for displaced families, conducting food distributions and supporting local shelters, etc. Cindy then told me that she knew of a group of gringos that helped the whole City of Agua Prieta, but especially a shelter where her younger sister used to live. What shelter is that? I asked. La Divina Providencia she answered. (The Divine Providence!) I was stunned. Who is your sister? I asked. Nayeli Arely Ruz Martnez she told me. Nayeli? I asked. The Nayeli who is so smart? The Nayeli who is 17 years old? The Nayeli who is going to go to college? The Nayeli who spent this Christmas in Mexico City with Alejandro and his family? Si seor, Nayeli es mi Hermana! (Yes sir, Nayeli is my sister!) she replied - just as shocked as I was. Well, for those of you who might not know, Nayeli is like a daughter to all of us at Rancho Feliz. She was one of the original girls in the La Divina Providencia shelter. We have supported and encouraged her since she was six years old. We brought her to Phoenix with us on several occasions. Mike and Roxsand McCreary were her Guardian Warrior sponsors. Irene Carroll and I took her to La Jolla with us on one of Nohemis operations and showed her Sea World and introduced her to a professor at Scripps College that the Martindales knew (at one time Nayeli had wanted to be a marine biologist). Tex and Pam Earnhardt conducted an unforgettable Quinceaera celebration for Nayeli several years ago.

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And most importantly, Nayeli was our first shelter child to enter university. In December of 2014, she will graduate from Tecnolgico de Monterrey, (one of Mexicos most prestigious universities), with a degree in Chemical Engineering. We all just kind of stood there staring at each other in stunned silence. Finally, Jose whispered to no one in particular, Es un Milagro. (Its a Miracle.) It is a miracle. We are family. With over 4 million people living in the Phoenix area we had Nayelis sister and her family living next to our new Mexico Mutts shelter home on 19th Avenue and Van Buren. Hadnt I been worried and wondering just five minutes earlier about who was going to watch our house and make sure that it was safe and secure while we were getting it ready for occupancy? What a coincidence! Once again I was reminded and that time not so subtly that our work with Rancho Feliz consistently imbues our lives with a divine guidance. We can trust it. Service work truly is the Commander of Coincidence. Gil Gi l l enwater

Lucky Diego!

Post Note: In March of 2014, Lucky Diego passed on. While saddened by his loss, we are comforted in the fact that Kim rescued him from Deaths Door and gave him seven years of Heaven on Earth.