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Paul Nuccio, right, reunited with 14-year-old Omar, one of the children at the Pilar de Esperanza orphanage who looks forward to Nuccio’s annual visit.
Paul Nuccio’s vacation in Mexico earlier this month isn’t what you’d expect. The director of Respiratory Care Services faced 105 degree heat, 100 percent humidity, scorpions, cockroaches, no clean or hot running water and an uncomfortable bed.
Yet it was his third annual trip to Reynosa, Mexico, where he travels with a group from the Trinity Covenant Church in Lexington to tackle a variety of humanitarian projects to help the village’s orphanage, Pilar de Esperanza.
They arrived to a plumbing disaster that became their first project: underground pipes were destroyed, causing toilets to clog. “Right off the bat, we had to dig up everything, buy new pipes and rebuild the septic system,” said Nuccio, whose own children and wife have accompanied him on the trip.
These projects are par for the course on this annual trip. This past trip, the group mixed and poured concrete for a new cafeteria at the orphanage. Last year, they dug the holes for the foundation. In between, several other similar groups have worked on the building, laying the foundation and putting up the framework.
Another problem Nuccio identified is that the village’s intense humidity can cause mold to grow in the orphanage, making children sick. This year, Nuccio asked for and received funding for two dehumidifiers from the Massachusetts Society for Respiratory Care to bring to the orphanage.
The approximately 35 children at the orphanage appreciate the work of Nuccio’s group. After working all morning, the group plays soccer, baseball and other sports with the children, often bringing sports equipment for the orphanage to keep.
“They have a blast when we’re down there,” said Nuccio, chief chef for the annual barbeque that they throw for about 150 people from the village.
Despite the poverty of the village, Nuccio said the people there always seem happy. “You notice how little they have, but how happy they are,” he said.