Winter 2007 - Soltesweb.net            January, page 2

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Thursday, Jan 11 - The Old Pumphouse, Hidalgo

This afternoon, after work at the Sower project, we took a walk to see the Old Pumphouse here in Hidalgo.  Originally a steam-powered pumphouse for irrigating Rio Grande valley crops, It is now becoming a birding center. 

The historical plaque nearby says it all: Hidalgo Irrigation Pump House.  The semi-arid lower Rio Grande valley was productive only for cattle grazing until several steam-powered irrigation systems were established in the early 20th century.  In 1909, a steam pump was built here to channel Rio Grande water to about 40,000 acres of land.  The Louisiana-Rio Grande Canal Company installed additional equipment in 1911-12 to increase production to the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo area. Sold to the Hidalgo County Water Improvement District in 1920, the pumping plant continued in operation until 1983, when an all-electric plant opened downstream.

Progress towards the Birding Center in obvious, and the Center is to be officially opened on February 17. We see a few more photos later.

Friday, Jan. 12 - Reynosa

We got to go the Reynosa, Mexico today.  Reynosa is a rather large city (500-800,000 people) jus a mile or so across the Rio Grande from where we are parked (that's us on the right).  We were picked up in a van, so we didn't need to cross over with our vehicles. We first visited an orphanage home now run by Calvary Commission and originally by Last Days Ministries, led by Keith Green.  You might recall that he was the Christian songwriter and singer who was killed in an airplane crash in the early 1980's.  His influence lives on, both in the orphanage and in Calvary Commission, which had strong ties to Last Days.

The orphanage is now 3 stories tall, and being renovated to clean, modern classrooms where children are taught by young missionaries.

We then drove through the area of the city where people live in shacks in the city dump.  Poverty is evident.

The first picture below is a tricycle outfitted with a large box to contain stuff that is being salvaged from the dump.  The second is a common sight - they still use burros.  The last picture shows that not all residents of Reynosa are poor - that's a private home!

On a lighter side, we stopped for lunch at Tacos Pepe in Reynosa.  These are the menus, and a picture of the guys that worked there.  The kitchen was outside.  We really enjoyed the food.

Saturday, Jan. 13 - Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge

Today was our first visit to the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge which is supposed to be the Jewel of the Wildlife Refuges in the US.

It was a cloudy day, and we didn't get to see many birds, but you can see how varied the terrain is.  Most of it is relatively wet habitat because of the proximity of the Rio Grande.  Actually, the river is the southern boundary of the park.

Sunday, Jan. 21 - Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge

On Friday, we were supposed to go with another ministry, Way of the Cross, to some homeless people locations in Mexico to give out food, water and some clothing.  However, the weather was so cold and rainy that the trip was cancelled.  They felt that the homeless would be hidden in some shelter because of the cold, and hard to find.

On Sunday, we got back to the Refuge. This time we took the tram ride around the park, so we could see more.  This is the Rio Grande, and a spot where there are many people crossing.  The Border Patrol is very noticeable everyday...cars, helicopters and  planes. Just to the left of the picture, we saw several black plastic bags that are used to carry dry clothes while they wade  (3-4 feet deep) across the river!  The reason this is an active spot is because the park provides cover for them since it is an island surrounded by low level crops (cabbage, onions, etc.).

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