Retiree Ruthie Mattox Celebrates Christmas in Nepal with Street Kids

At 67-year-old, Ruthie Mattox could have stayed comfortable and warm in her Shoreview, MN, home in December 2010. Instead, she traveled half-way around the world to Nepal and India to reach out to street kids.

The retired nurse had to deal with Minnesota-like weather in Nepal. The team she joined worked in buildings with no heat and 30-degree temperatures. Ruthie was up for the challenge.

“A big obstacle was how to pack winter clothes for Nepal and summer clothes for India. I ended up wearing layers of clothing on the plane and in Nepal while sleeping, working and using the outhouse,” Ruthie said. “It was all good. We found many ways to keep warm.”

Ruthie had previously participated in Vision Trips with HCJB and a work team in Ecuador with Extreme Response. The trip to Nepal and India was her first to that part of the world.

She said the Christmas parties her team helped throw in Pokhara, Nepal, impacted her dramatically.

“Fifty street kids were rounded up and brought to a city park by bus. They ranged in age from five to 18. These kids have been thrown out of their homes, abandoned, and literally survive by living on the streets. Many sniff glue, beg, steal and gather recyclables in order to buy food.

“The kids arrived cheering and poured out of the bus, jumping off the roof and doing cartwheels. They were ragged, dirty, scantily dressed, and yet all smiles,” Ruthie said. “We were in the mountains of Nepal, where it is very cold at night.  Somehow, they survive the frigid weather.

“Our Christmas program began with singing, guitars and drums.  Kids were keeping beat and clapping.

“We began painting faces with hearts and rainbows. Many kids wanted crosses. They loved the puppet show and our clown. They laughed hysterically.

“When it was time to eat, they were beside themselves. Tiny kids consumed two or three huge platefuls of rice, peas in gravy, and meat. The place abounded with smiles.

“The kids were so excited to receive gifts and warm wool caps.  As they prepared to board the bus, each picked up their gunny sack which they use all day to pick up recyclables.  They sleep piled up in clusters, or inside their bags in door fronts on the street.

“The Extreme Response staff and the Napali YWAM team did a tremendous job of organizing the party and the program.  What a joy it was to be in there and experience this. I’ll be praying for these children who fight daily to survive on the streets of Pokhara.”

Ruthie (left) with Barb Cline

by Tim Fausch

A team of 7 traveled to India and Nepal - flying 49 hours, through six different countries and drove 54 hours on bad roads to put on 6 different Christmas celebrations.

Party #1 in Nepal was with 500 children from a local community and the outlaying slums. The kids had a great time watching the drama, the cultural dances and listening to the Christmas story.

Party #2 (Nepal) took place at a Hindu school high in the mountains and Party #3 was for a group of young Hindu mothers and their small children. The young mothers had a great time laughing and playing together.

Party #4 (Nepal) was for street boys who enjoyed the food immensely! We were able to give each one of them a warm wool hat.

Party #5 took place in India for a group of 100+ orphans ranging from 2-23 years old. They all enjoyed the Christmas story and loved the food and gifts.

Party #6 (India) was for girls who live in the slums. They put on their best dresses and came to get their faces painted and enjoy the food and fun.

Thank you for helping make these parties possible!

Yesterday we stuffed 1112 gift bags with a beanie baby, toothbrush & tooth paste, hotwheels car, 12 crayons & two coloring books. We worked together with the Youth Mobilization (YM) staff. It was a great day and our team worked efficiently and hard to complete this task. We were singing Christmas carols and rejoicing knowing where these gifts will be given and received. We have been training and waiting for this day for many months. It was time for our first Christmas party for 200 of the cutest kids in the Manila area. There were little ones still nursing to upper elementary school age. They were so excited and 80% dressed in red, which is a very good choice of colors! Our team helped with 11 Filipino games and the kids had an absolute ball! They were running around giving “high fives” to all of us and placing the back of our hand to their foreheads, to give them a blessing. They love getting their pictures taken while making their little hand signs to frame their faces and then seeing the result immediately. We were saying Maligayang Pasko (Tagalog for Merry Christmas) and they were repeating Merry Christmas in English. I wish you could have observed our team loving on these beautiful children, with their parents close by smiling with approval. We were being asked to pose for pictures with their children and to autograph their balloons!

We passed out the gift bags to the children and food to the parents. Some of the food was spaghetti with a hot dog on top. The kids went outside and devoured the spaghetti and then decided to open their gift bags…interesting! They seem to really love the beanie babies - both boys & girls hugging and holding them. They really liked the crayons & coloring books too!

Our last party was yesterday with the Kanawan Tribe in the mountains. We had a 30-45 minute hike up the mountain on Sunday evening in the dark, using our flash ights under a beautiful sky replete with millions of twinkling stars! The Kanawan children carried our backpacks, bedrolls, pillows, mosquito nets, food, Filipino games and two large boxes with 50 gift bags each. These heavy boxes were carried by some of the teenage boys. The children in the village were elated to see us. We remembered some of the children from our last party in 2008. The kids were climbing all over us, playing hand slap games with our younger team members, piggy back rides, tag, tons of “high fives” and one happy reunion! The children sang and danced for us and as usual asked some of us to join them…it wasn’t pretty! We slept on mats on the floor of their beautifully remodeled, expanded church building, under 15 mosquito nets hung expertly on twine, with our bodies plastered with mosquito repellent with a high concentration of deet.

The party the next day was a big success. The kids were so happy and full of food. They played one game where a 25 ft. pole is greased and they have to TRY to climb it to the top to retrieve a flag. Only one kid in the whole village succeeded.

Today we drove to Cavite City to share a party for 100 very poor children who usually get one meal per day! We had a two-hour drive in three vans to accommodate the YM team, us and the supplies for the party.

The children were really excited to see us!. They heard the Christmas Story through our Illusionist. We met five senior citizen men who were playing checkers on the perimeter. They told us Christmas is never for them because they never get anything! Joanie wanted to do something for these men so we bought them ice cream cones from a local vendor and we sang We Wish You a Merry Christmas and then gave them their cones. They beamed!

Today is our final day in the Philippines and we leave with mixed emotions. Last Thursday we also had a party at Jollibee’s Restaurant in a mall for 210 street kids. These children had never been inside a mall before and had never eaten inside a Jollibee as they always ate the leftovers from the dumpster behind the restaurant. What a celebration we had! The kids were so excited with the program for them, eating a delicious spaghetti, rice, juice and ice cream sundae, dancing, magic show, our team singing two Christmas carols for them and then the gift giving and balloons shaped in animal forms. Wow this party was the best for so many of us! The parents prepared weeks in advance for this party, sacrificing and saving their money to buy their children some party clothes. The children arrived sparkling clean, neatly dressed, hair fixed a full of energy!

Yesterday we traveled three hours to a remote area, Tiaong (pronounced Chi-ong) where the primary employment for the parents & children is rice farming. There were 110 children at this party. They were more subdued than the street children from the previous parties, but still energetic, smiling, high fives, excited and thankful for the games, gift bags and food. This party was later then the rest, 4-7:30 pm. We arrived home late!

Thank you ER Philippines Team – you’ve helped change many little lives!!

An Extreme Response team of 12 from Sunrise Church in Sacramento, California arrived in Manilla on December 1st - with suitcases full of beanie babies, hotwheel cars, crayons, coloring books, toothbrussh, toothpaste, bars of soap, kids sunglasses and Disney toys. They had enough to make 1400 kids’ gift bags. The first party was held at the Smokey Mountain dump site. The party was held outside in the street for about 500 energetic kids. There was a carnival with 10 different games, ice cream, sodas, cotton candy, the gift bags and food bags for the parents. It was a wild and crazy event.

Over 600 children attended the Olangapo party in a big covered arena. The kids were so beautiful, respectful and smiling from ear to ear the entire time. When the gifts were passed out there were children all around the arena hugging & caressing beanie babies, holding up their crayons & coloring books and pushing, zooming and, of course, crashing their hotwheel cars. This went on for nearly an hour. Later that night the team slept on the floor of a local church, underneath colorful mosquito netting.

An hour drive and a 45 minute hike up a mountain trail is where the final party took place with the 200 kids of the the Kanawan Tribe (plus their parents). The team had an amazing experience being in such a remote place with such appreciative people.

Thank you 2008 Philippines team and all of you who gave to make all this possible!