Rancho Sordo Mundo is a private, former resident school for deaf children.  They have collaborated with Young Life to serve as our base camp for these weeks. RSM exists on 500 acres located in the midst of vineyards, wineries, and is neighbored by an exclusive resort.  RSM has operated for 50 years and serves as home for students and teachers throughout the school year. Rooms are nice, clean, dorm-styled with flushing toilets and hot showers.

You can see parts of the property in this YLA Baja video. The story of RSM and its founders was made into a documentary called Hearing Everett. You can watch the trailer here.

Yes.  RSM is gated and secure. Young Life uses Healix Sentinel Travel Oracle  to make decisions on level of risk to where we travel and this area has been ruled as safe. Should the area be deemed unsafe for any reason, we will leave, or cancel the trip before it happens. RSM is located in the wine country part of Mexico, thus surrounded by high-end tourism.  However, there are risks with any travel or participation in service activities.

Rancho Sordo Mudo hosts 800 US visitors per year, and Door of Faith has been around for more than 50 years and hosts 5,000 US visitors per year.

Listen to DJ Schuetze talk about safety in Baja

In case of any medical emergencies, there is a Fire Department/Medical clinic with an ambulance located a quarter mile down the road from our base camp. We will have a U.S. physician on site at RSM as well as an EMT along with us on service projects.  Finally, there will be two registered nurses and a physician’s assistant at our service project site.

Please make sure you check with your personal health insurance to ensure you are covered while traveling in another country.  If you do not have health insurance coverage while in Mexico, we highly recommend purchasing travel insurance.  While we cannot approve a specific company, here are three options you might consider:

http://www.travelguard.com/

http://www.travelinsurance.com/

http://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/

YES. There is filtered save water from a private well at base camp and every location we go to, we have filtered/safe drinking water. Campers will be given refillable water bottles to have on them at all times.

Our primary goal is to help meet the needs of the people in Mexico by supporting local ministries that have been in operation for 20-30 years. We want to serve the local communities by meeting both their physical and relational needs and help create sustainable resources which continue after we leave.  We have three days of leaving camp to go serve, which will contain a combination of building projects overseen by a US site foreman and working with orphanages.

You can contact them through RSM or through the members of the Assigned Team. We will send out email addresses and phone numbers prior to the trip. Sometimes cell reception is limited, and we encourage a text message prior to a call.

We will be collecting all the campers’ cell phones prior to our arrival in Mexico. This is not only to help limit distractions but also because of the high cost for using cell phones internationally.  For emergency situations, campers will have access to land lines at the base camp and Young Life staff members’ cell phones to use.

An additional way for you to be aware of what we’re doing is to follow us on social media.  YL Adventures Facebook, instagram, and twitter will be updated regularly throughout the camp week.

We will be using vans and suburbans driven by Young Life Staff  to/from the San Diego airport, and in country from base camps to service projects.

Meals are prepared on site, by the ranch staff (by the on-site year-long cook). We have limited ability for accommodating dietary restrictions.

We have people on our team, and with the ministries we are working with, who speak both Spanish and English.

Any further questions: contact James Thomsen (Adventures Baja Camp Manager) – E-mail / (831)331-1483

• Passport or Passport Card (with valid expiration date)
• Completed Health, Consent, and Release form
• Twin bed sheets (or sleeping bag) and pillow. A blanket will be provided, but do not forget these!
• Modest swim suit – one piece for girls (or a tshirt & board shorts over a two-­piece), board shorts for guys
• Closed-­toe shoes (or boots) comfortable for construction/work (that can get messy/dirty)
• Sunglasses & Hat
• Sunscreen & Bugspray
• Active wear and work clothes (for playing outside, getting dirty – again, modest please)
• Work Gloves
• Light Jacket or hoodie
• Toiletries
• 2 towels – one for showers; one for beach
• Bible, journal and a pen
• Refillable water bottle
• Spending money for snacks/meals en route and other items
• Backpack/Daypack for carrying your stuff each day
• Any personal doctor prescribed medications

*A reminder that modesty is key when it comes to clothing attire. We want to be culturally sensitive and model Jesus well. This tends to affect girls more than guys. Ladies, please make sure your shorts are not too short, and your shirts aren’t too low cut or show your midriff. Better to err on the side of too modest & covered up than not modest enough.

We ask all areas to meet at the San Diego Airport, Terminal 1, Baggage Claim Zone H by 11:00 a.m. on Thursday and to plan on departing from the San Diego Airport after 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

We will withhold all electronics from guests for the duration of your stay.  This includes any music devices, cell phones, etc.  These items should be collected upon arrival.  Bags/containers marked with your area name will be provided when you arrive in your vehicles.

In case of emergencies back home, parents may contact the Camp Director for your session.

HEALTH FORMS:  The Health, Consent and Release Form (YL6007) is available on the Young Life website/staff resources.  Online health forms are okay for use for Young Life Adventures, but please print a copy of each health form and bring it with you as well.  We will need paper copies to go on activities each day.

10 DAY CHECK IN:  Please mark the due date of your 10 Day Check-In on your calendar and e-mail jamesthomsen@mac.com 1) the number of male campers and leaders, 2) female campers and leaders, 3) any prayer requests we can be aware of, and 4) dietary needs of kids or leaders.  Please note we are very limited to accommodate food preferences.  If you expect a drastic change in your numbers, please don’t wait until 10 days before to let us know.

Letter to Parents