For all the pluses and minuses of living in Cabo San Lucas vacation paradise, one truly must admire and appreciate the different and unique group of people that create answers to problems and dilemmas that positively affect and enrich the lives of our less fortunate. We’ve covered quite a few.
Feeding Los Cabos Children, Building Baja’s Future, Tres Deseos “Three Wishes” Foundation, Casa Sheila Animal Shelter, Seals Rescue Organization, Firefighters Toy Drive, Learning with Love, Heart 4 Cabo, El Ranchito, Sarahuaro Foundation, Horse Saints, Casa Hogar, Caboholics, Amigos de Los Ninos, and The Young Foundation.
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In a growing city, whose population has risen from 70,000 in 2009 to 310,000 by 2024, the non-profit foundations that continue to reach our most impoverished neighborhoods, another community caring foundation is always a blessing. The Other Side of Cabo was founded in 2019 by John and Teresa Bodle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Teresa Torres-Bodle was born in Chihuahua and raised in El Paso, Texas but lives in Tennessee, where she works at a Special Kids Therapy & Nursing Center. John Bodle, graduated from Piner High School, in Santa Rosa, of Northern California; and attended college at San Jose State University, Oregon State, and Ohio University. John is a professor of journalism at Middle Tennessee State University. The happy couple were married in 2007.
“We met in Las Vegas, while I was attending a conference, and she was working at a casino,” said John Bodle, then explaining what happened years later at Medano Beach.
“Teresa and I were playing tourists, enjoying the 75-degree warm, winter sunshine of Cabo San Lucas. But while Americans and Canadians were enjoying beverages in the sun, the kids in Cabo were working. Brayan approached us with his homemade potato chips and Valentina hot sauce, asking us to buy. We soon discovered his needs and those of his family were much greater than just making a sale,” said John.
“Brayan was easy to identify. Among all the kids selling food and souvenirs on Medano Beach that day, only one child had an eye permanently wandering in the Wrong direction—a condition known as Strabismus. Brayan was unable to align both his eyes upon the object of his attention,” described John. “Some might call it an accidental encounter with Brayan. It depends on your perspective; others would say it was preordained. Either way, this was our introduction to the kids that live on the other side of Cabo, about five kilometers up dusty dirt roads; and far from the fancy tourist hotels.”
“Throughout our marriage, Teresa would tell me about her experiences growing up poor in Chihuahua, Mexico, near the Texas border. We would compare her life with my rather privileged upbringing. And sitting on the beach that day with our new friend, Brayan, we could no longer be ‘just’ tourists, enjoying the beach in Cabo anymore. We needed to find a way to change lives, to be part of the solution to the poverty found in Mexico.”
And find a way to help and change the lives of the poor in Cabo, they did. As John and Teresa returned home to Tennessee after their 2015 vacation turned their vocations into more than just their chosen careers. Teresa began holding yard sales in their neighborhood telling everyone all proceeds would go towards helping the poor children who live, “On The Other Side of Cabo.”
Their non-profit organization has helped more than help 80+plus children learn English, graduate from high school, and obtain the skills necessary to escape the poverty that comes with growing up on the ”other side” of Cabo. The side tourists never see.
In December 2016, the Bodles arrived in Cabo with 400 pounds of clothes and presents for kids and their families. Much of what they gathered was thanks to the help and support of parishioners and friends from River Oaks Church, located on Rucker Lane in Murfreesboro, TN., a city with a population of 142,000 and famous for its American Civil War history.
“When we ventured into the streets on the poor side of Cabo, learning about the people’s needs and the extent to which these needs were being met, we came across Amigos de Los Ninos, an organization that gives free operations to kids in need. Among these surgeries — “eye operations!” said John. “We asked Brayan to join us for lunch on the beach the following day to talk about the possibilities of surgery. He arrived on time—along with three other children from his neighborhood who heard that a couple of Americans were buying lunch.”
“Several months later, Brayan became a candidate for the free eye surgery. The operation was successful. His outlook changed—visually and socially. At school, Brayan went from the boy who was laughed at to the young man the girls wanted to date. Our desire to change lives has now grown to 80 children and their families on the poor side of Cabo”
“We started with one child, Brayan,” added John, “and by 2017, it was over 30 kids.”
The following year, the Bodles were focused on how to find a way to help kids complete high school while also meeting the needs of their families. An annual Christmas party for the children and families became the pinnacle of happiness, organized and hosted by the special husband and wife heroes from Tennessee, every December.
Playing music for money was part of Josue’s dream. Cabo guitar players earn decent money by playing music for tourists. And when his guitar was stolen, that dynamic duo, humbling servants of humanity and decency, returned to Cabo San Lucas and handed the young teenager a new guitar.
“He’s a very good kid—very sweet, very kind,” said Teresa. “He wants to continue studying, because he wants a different kind of life, away from the dusty roads.”
Understanding the financial and cultural pressures facing each child’s family is something John and Teresa have seen firsthand. With parents raising children in homes built from concrete blocks or living under pallets, scrounged siding and cardboard. Families use the wood to cook food.
“This is just the beginning. Thanks to all the sponsors. Because of their generosity, we can help even more children,” said Teresa Bodle.
The happy, hardworking couple operate Blue Moon Los Cabos yacht tours when they are in town. They offer friends a dynamite deal of a week in their 3-bedroom, 2-bath ocean view penthouse condo in Cabo San Lucas available with a donation to The Other Side of Cabo nonprofit organization.
When the Bodles added a Christmas party yacht tour on their boat, it was a first for many of the children and their parents.
“About $80 per child buys a pair of tennis shoes, a change of clothes, a toy, socks and undergarments,” said John, noting what The Other Side of Cabo children need are school supplies, money for school uniforms, jackets, used and new cell phones, tablets and laptops, regular clothing, toys and sponsorship for the Christmas Party gifts.
The 40 or so children range in age from elementary to high school teenagers.
If anyone would like to help please email: bodlefamily@hotmail.com, or in the U.S. call Teresa (615) 971-1057 or John (615) 896-7717. In Mexico, John or Teresa (624) 980-0645, and/or (624) 100-8034.
