Fishermen Cast Line to Help Needy

The morning sun is providing warmth not felt around this Baja California city in weeks, and it brings a smile to the face of Enedina-Damian Albarrez.

The mother of five has reason to smile. Eight months ago, her family lived within cardboard walls in a riverbed on the outskirts of town. Now, thanks to the Rotary Club of Ensenada, they live in an actual house that won’t wash away when the big rains come.

And on this particular day, thanks to a helping hand extended by Bob Fletcher and the San Diego Rotary Club, Albarrez’s smile is especially bright.

Her family is among hundreds of Ensenada’s poor families receiving visits, and packages of food, from members of both clubs as part of Fletcher’s “Fish Across the Border” program.

Fletcher is widely known as the hard-working president of the Sportfishing Assn. of California, which represents the interests of fleets from Morro Bay to San Diego. But many landing operators, and certainly most of the anglers they cater to, don’t realize he is equally dedicated as a humanitarian.

“He is one of those inspirational guys who makes other people better by just knowing him,” says Christopher Cramer, a San Diego brewery owner taking part in this year’s Fish Across the Border tour. “He is the one who inspires our club to do this sort of outreach program.”

Fletcher started Fish Across the Border eight years ago, he says, “As a way of showing Mexico my appreciation for the good relationship our fishing industry has had with them. But beyond that, the program enables us to put food directly into the hands of those that need it most.”

Southland anglers have a role in the program: They have the option of donating some or all of the tuna they catch aboard long-range vessels running from Fisherman’s Landing in San Diego. This year, Fletcher collected a record 137 cases of tuna, or 6,576 cans.

The cans go into packages for the needy, assembled and distributed, once a year, by the Ensenada Rotary Club. “This is our only reward,” Fletcher says, between deliveries. “Seeing these people smile like this is all the thanks we need.”

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The smiles begin during handshakes when members of the two rotary clubs meet, as they do for one Saturday every January, in downtown Ensenada to plan and execute their deliveries.

Fletcher, his wife Anne, and his group have formed a close bond with Eloy Perez, Julio Casas and other leading members of the Ensenada Rotary Club.

And the smiles begin anew at the Fish Across the Border tour’s first stop: Albergue San Vicente, a downtown shelter for migrant workers down on their luck. Clothing is dropped by the pile; it’ll be given to those staying at the shelter or sold to buy food and medicine.

The stop has become a Fish Across the Border tradition and on this trip, during a brief ceremony in a shady courtyard, Fletcher is asked to accept a plaque, from Sister Hortensia Dacosta, proclaiming him an Amigo Del Albergue, a friend of the shelter.

“It’s a beautiful thing that they do because we struggle so to support this place,” Dacosta says, explaining that the facility houses individuals or families for 10 days, “or until we can find them a job or another room.”

The drop-off is completed quickly because there is work to be done in the valleys and hills.

While some of the trucks have traveled to the truly destitute parts of the city, where children are little more than skin and bones, Casas has directed Fletcher and his caravan to an area southeast of the city where a community of 25 small homes has been established in the last two years.

Casas, president-elect of the Ensenada Rotary Club, wants to show the San Diego Rotarians the progress that has been made in the last year at Colonia Santo Tomas--where the Albarrez family now lives--thanks in part to their donations.

The last house was completed three months ago. All are wired for electricity but it is up to the families to pay the bills and provide general upkeep. Each family has a Rotarian mentor who visits once a month. Social workers try to find work for the men and, in some cases, the women.

The families can stay as long as they wish but they do not own the property. Rarely has anyone been evicted, but Perez, a physician known for his humanitarian efforts, acknowledges that it has happened.

“Once,” he says, “we had to evict a woman because she became a prostitute and started bringing her clients here.”

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Things are fairly quiet in the community, even for a Saturday. Many of the men are working in the city. Children are buzzing around on bicycles, which seems odd until it is explained that the bikes, for the most part, are gifts from Rotarians.

Colonia Santo Tomas is a work in progress. Its school, teaching grades one through six, has grown in one year from a shack made of palettes to a four-room facility complete with brick walls, chalkboards, school chairs and tables.

In one of the rooms a colorful Christmas tree made of paper is glued to the wall, decorated with paper ornaments bearing the names of students who made them.

A map of North America has a prominent place on the wall, as does a report detailing the evils of tobacco. Outside, the foundation of a playground has been laid, alongside a rotting wooden lavatory.

Casas explains that a sewer system will be built for the houses and the school as soon as enough funds are raised.

“School is not mandatory here,” he adds, continuing his tour. “So without this school, these children here would not have a chance at an education.”

Others have fanned out into the community, going door to door with their packages. Some of the residents appear embarrassed to be accepting these gifts of sustenance, opening their doors only slightly, taking the bags or baskets, bowing their heads in appreciation, then slipping back inside.

But others are outgoing and openly thankful. Albarrez is one such person. She has stepped out into her small dirt yard, her children at her heels, to greet her visitors with open arms.

In the two packages she accepts from Fletcher are such staples as beans, flour, cornmeal and sugar, along with some cookies for the kids and, of course, several cans of tuna. Her family will be well-fed for a week, maybe longer.

After making small talk with the Rotarians, Albarrez sweeps her youngest child in her arms and invites a reporter to follow her inside for a tour of her house.

The tour is a brief one. There are no lights. She flips a switch and explains, through a translator, that although her husband has found work as a bricklayer, they cannot yet afford electricity.

It’s clean but somewhat dank inside the one-room house. Just inside the door is a working stove fueled by propane. A few feet away is a small table for dining.

At the opposite end of the room, about 20 feet away, is a bed for Albarrez and her husband. There is no bed for the children, although Albarrez points to a large stained mattress standing against the wall, and then to the cold concrete floor next to the bed. The mattress is put on the floor each night so the children have something soft to sleep on.

Albarrez’s smile disappears briefly as she explains that three of her children, two boys and a girl, are sent to the orphanage in town for five days each week, because at the orphanage, she knows, they’ll be fed and cared for. But at least they always have a real roof over their heads, she says, smiling again.

For the “saints” who have given her family a chance to live like human beings, she has nothing but praise.

“I’ve been here eight months and couldn’t be more grateful,” she says. “Before, our home was lined with cardboard and we couldn’t keep the water out. Whenever it would rain, we’d all get very wet and cold.”

On this day, there are no such concerns. A warm front is moving through.

News and Notes

* Fly fishing: Gary LaFontaine, a renowned fisherman, author and fly tier, has died of complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. LaFontaine, of Montana, was 56.

* Surfing: Kelly Slater, 29, of Cocoa Beach, Fla., is on top of the world after winning the Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau on Monday at Oahu’s famed Waimea Bay. The six-time ASP world-tour champion, known primarily for his prowess on smaller waves, outscored many of the world’s top big-wave riders on surf measuring 40 feet on the face. He edged Tony Ray of Australia, claiming the $50,000 first prize.... Garrett McNamara of Hawaii and Rodrigo Resende of Brazil won the inaugural Tow-In World Cup, also on Monday at Jaws off Maui.

* Showtime: The International Sportsmen’s Expo, featuring products and services from more than 350 companies, lodges and outfitters, is in progress through Sunday at Fairplex in Pomona. This is the ISO’s first stop in the Los Angeles area. Admission is $8 for adults and free for children 12 and younger. Hours are noon-8 p.m. today, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday.