AMY:
I am in Grade 11 and this was my second trip to Mexico. Last year I was so
excited just to be going with the gang on the plane, but this year I was
ready to really help a family get a house. It was really hard raising my funds
I needed and then this oil guy gave $150.00 towards the project and that
was the last cash I need to get there. What an awesome help he was to me.
Day 1
We landed at the L. A. International Airport with 60 other teens, collected
our heavy bags and made our way to the vans that took us to the van rentals.
The new Grade 10’s looked up to me and the others that had been there
before so we told them to relax, don’t wander off and stay with the group.
We got a brand new Ford van and Jon was our van driver. Jon had been there
3 years in a row so he got us all to count off and keep that number for the
trip. He then told us to put our bags in the cook trailer, load into the van and
then we would have a 2-hour trip to the church in Orange County where we
would spend the night. On the way down we saw the sign for the exit to
Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm but Jon said we didn’t have time to stop.
We got to the church about 3 hours later (lots of traffic on the freeway)
and we crashed on the floor of the church after a sing-song with the rest of
the group. This place had separate bathrooms for the girls which was great
because last year there was one bathroom for the girls and one for the guys
which meant we had to line up all night!
Day 2
The girls were first up and we went for a quick bite at McD’s with the group.
Then we helped load up al the luggage with the food in the cook trailer and
made our way to Carl’s Junior’s where we saw 4 other groups getting ready
to cross the border into Mexico. We got these cool T-shirts there and
played some hacki-sack until the call for us to go. This is when Jon told us
how we were to cross the border – take off our sunglasses, no talking back,
respect the guards and have our I.D. ready. We traveled with all the other
vans and you could tell the new kids were pretty scared now. The guys from
AMOR that went with us led off in their truck and went in the last van with
walkie talkie’s making sure we all arrived at the border at the same time.
We got in the lineup and then in no time we were through and into Mexico!
Jon had to drive really fast and close to the other vans because we didn’t
want to lose the other vans in the heavy traffic. We went through town,
which had broken down cars everywhere and ads for beer and stuff. We
stopped at a traffic light and all these cute little Mexican boys and girls
came up to the van trying to sell stuff but we were told not to open the
windows. We saw a lot of dead dogs just lying there in the road and one of
the girls in the van was crying because she didn’t understand why no one
cared for them. We drove for miles through this town and then out into the
country, up a hill into a guarded area and then into a big open flat area where
camp was for the next 5 days. We unpacked the cook trailer, made our
tents, built a bunch of benches to sit on, loaded the food back into the cook
trailer, and checked out the camping area. We had an awesome campfire
that night under the stars but some of our van team were homesick.
Day 3
The cooks woke us up at 5 a.m. when they opened up the cook trailer and
started with music from “Good Morning Vietnam” but they started a camp
fire right away so we go warm while they set up for breakfast. I wasn’t
hungry but the food smelled so good. We were expecting the other group to
arrive today so I knew that at supper we would have over 150 teens with us.
We separated all the tools after breakfast, Jon called us together and we
loaded up the vans with the teens and the AMOR guy who took us to the
ghetto. That was a very quiet trip that day, the garbage reeked, we saw
dead dogs on the road again, we passed a cow farm that really stunk (I
hoped we didn’t build next to it) and then into the ghetto neighbourhood.
We went way up this one street and there was like a farmer’s market going
on. They had food, blankets, hats and toys for sale all the way up this street
and then at the end we stopped in front of a square piece of land. This was
our house spot. Three kids were playing in the street and they came over to
say hi but we stayed in the van until the AMOR rep talked to Jon and
introduced him to the family. Then we got out and stood around until Jon
explained who the family was, there was a Mom and a Dad with 3 little kids.
They were peeking out from behind a tarp so we just waved. Jon got us all
to unload the tools and we were divided into 2 groups – one for the sorting
of the lumber and the other to level the lot so we can pour the cement floor.
The sun was already hot and we have to wear long pants and hats. We had to
add lots of soil to part of the lot to make it level and then we got the
shovels, the rock pile, the mixing trays together and then we mixed in the
cement and the water. Jon said it would take 300 trays full so we knew we
were in for a real long day. The girls and I worked hard at mixing while the
boys did the cement and rock adding. We took a break at 10:30 with fruit
cups, water, snack packs and granola bars. We rested for about a half an
hour then we got back to it. We were only about done part way and it looked
like we wouldn’t have time to finish so Jon said we should try to make it past
halfway at lunch break so we really tried hard to mix, pour, level and then
mix again. At noon we heard the lunch van call out from the street and the
cooks had arrived with sandwiches, fruit, drink boxes and Rice Krispies
snacks. The cooks took pictures, told us were doing just great and then left
to take lunch to the other groups. Some of the grade 10’s were already
flaking out and weren’t all that keen to get back at it but Jon got them
laughing with a joke and a funny song, so we all groaned then got up and got
at it again. The Mexican’s dog was really noisy when we were eating but we
didn’t feed it because we saved all the extra food for the family. We had
about 6 sandwiches and lots of other snacks for them. The kids really liked
the drink boxes. One of the teens asked where the recycling boxes were
and we said there weren’t any. I told them that we had to use the family’s
banjo (bathroom), they sure weren’t like the one we had at home. Pretty
gross so most of us tried not to use it at all. At 3 o’clock the water truck
came up the street to put the family’s drinking water into the big blue drums
in front of the house so Jon said we had to be careful to try and keep it as
clean as we could but we still had to use it for the mix. Jon said we had only
a little left to do. We added metal brackets to the sides of the floor walls
so that the next morning we could attach the walls to them. We packed up
at 4 PM and cleaned off the tools, loaded them into the van and sounded off
again. We left with al the other vans, who had finished their floors too, and
head back to camp. We looked pretty funny, all with cement and dirt in our
hair but we felt good we had done a real hard days work. We got back to
camp and as we went over the hill we saw the Canadian flag and we all
cheered. As soon as we were parked, we ran to the tents, changed into our
swimsuits and headed to the showers. As cold as they were (we had to get
our water from these big blue and white drums outside the shower walls –
the blue ones had warmer water!) we felt great after. We ran back to the
tents and changed into our jackets as the night was coming and the air was
getting cold. We had a snack and an awesome dinner. We met the new 60
SunWest teens that drove from Calgary during the day and told them of all
the hard work we did and told them we hoped they could catch up tomorrow.
It was sure great to see them safely arrived at the camp. We hung out with
them after dinner until campfire time. Then we all sang to some awesome
music with guitars and drums. We sang a lot about life and how lucky we
were to be from Calgary. The church songs were great too. We went to bed I did not remember falling asleep that night.
Day 4
The two cooks at breakfast were hilarious – Sam n’ Ella. Get it?? They made
a lot of jokes and the eggs and pancakes were great! We loaded into the
vans at headed out with the new teens as well. We got to our house at
sunrise at it was great to see our family safe through the cold night. We
talked about giving them blankets. The floor was hard and we started
building the walls and the roof. Sawing the wood takes a lot of muscle but
the Mexican dad helped out and the cutting went quickly. Six walls and the
roof units were put together and nailed in. We put the roof shingles up and
tarred the roof. Man were we covered in tar by the end. Again the heat, the
snacks, the lunch break, the hot afternoon and the drive home were the
same. I started to realize that we were getting pretty tired but proud of
the work we had done so far. The Canadian Flag was spotted – a cheer went
up and the run for the showers began. Dinner was great again and this time
we fed the pastors who were the camp guards all night were fed first as we
made up the meals and took them to the three guard gates. Although we
couldn’t speak Spanish we know the meals and the coffee were welcome.
Day 5
Morning looked rainy today and the view from the camp over the reservoir
made us feel cold. Thanks to the cook team for the fire that morning! We
had a really good, hot breakfast then we loaded up the vans and headed out.
The plan for the day was to get the house chicken wire up, stretch it tight,
put on the tar paper and then put the first coat of cement stucco on the
outside. We had to put in the front door and the two windows as well. We
got to our house and we were surprised that out family slept in it on the raw
concrete the night before. We felt bad when the Mom said it was the first
night they had ever been warm. But we felt proud we had helped them out a
little bit so far. We were getting closer to the end and we could already
think of how our family was going to enjoy their new home! But the chance
of rain kept us working really hard this day. I got blisters as we put in the
bird-blocks to keep the bugs and birds out, and the wire had to put on real
tight. Jon inspected the wire and then the tarpaper and then we had to get
out the shovels and make a wire cage to sift the sand for the stucco. It was
really cold by the afternoon and we thought it would rain but we prayed and
it didn’t. Jon said we had to wear gloves because of the stucco was really
hard on skin. We tried to warn the Mexican family kids too about the
danger. We finished a little before 4 PM and went over to another house
and helped them stucco theirs. Another group had some wall trouble and so
they couldn’t get their stucco done. It would have to wait until tomorrow.
We then all got in our vans and left for Camp.
Day 6
Last day. We got up at the crack of the crackle of the fire and hung around
it in our PJ’s until we warmed up enough to join the food line-up. Then we
changed into our clothes and got ready to leave. Everyone was excited and
yet a little sad because this was it- the last chance to build and then pass on
the keys to our house. We were told that just because we had finished out
house we had to look for other teams that needed help. We weren’t going to
leave any house undone. So we left the campsite and made our way down the
highway to the ghettos, past the familiar Mexican gas station, past the good
looking houses on the highway and into the patchwork houses up the main
road, past the fence that stretched for acres made up of bedsprings, past
dead dog #5, past the cow place, past the bridge, up the hill and finally we
lurched to a stop in front of our house. All of the cement tools were brought
out of the van and Jon said we had to get ready for the last coat and if we
had time maybe one more. As we worked and sang, the girls took time to
play soccer with our family’s kids. The rooms were really taking shape and we
poured a sidewalk to the house as well. As we finished the second coat, Jon
asked us if we would want to contribute our family in a really great way. We
all chipped in $5 or $10 each and then went, while the cement was drying, to
the corner store and bought staples for the family- a broom, rice, flour,
diapers, beans, cooking oil, and flat bread. We figured they would have
enough there for 2 or 3 months. When we marched it all back to the house,
the Mom came out crying and the Dad was smiling big time! It felt so good!
We then went over the hill and helped another house team that were going
slower than us and we helped them finish their cement off. We all took an
hour break for lunch and played soccer with the kids from the school. It was
then time to go back and Jon lined up the Spanish interpreter who told us
that we would dedicate the house in 15 minutes. We all gathered our
cameras, got in a big circle in front of our house with the AMOR rep and
with the family heard the words. ”God bless this house, the family in it and
their children and their children’s children that will be in this house in the
future. We present these keys to your house and pray that you would be
safe and secure within its walls. We know you will be warm here and we hope
you are able to help others with the warmth and safety it provides.” We all
cried and hugged and handed out the set of tools, candy and little Canadian
flags and Canadian pins. We took tons of pictures. As we said goodbye to our
family and their new house we wondered if they would be OK until we came
back the next year. We gathered up all the vans and headed out to the
camp. We were all really quiet. As we came over hill before the camp for the
last time we saw the Canadian Flag and then we smelled the roast beef!! Man,
were we hungry and the cooks were ready for us as well. We waited until
everyone was ready, the guards fed and then we pigged out. It seemed like
the best meal I’ve ever had! After supper we sang until really late and then
we had a sharing time around the fire. Everyone was quiet while the cook
team did a skit where they pretended to be a little Mexican boy and girl
from the ghetto and what the new house meant to them. It was very real and
everybody was real quiet. We all got a chance to say something then after
and some teens were really challenged by this week. Some were too tired to
speak but others were pumped up about going home and telling others what
they had seen and learned. Everyone laughed when one teen said he would
kiss the first real toilet he saw! As we headed for bed that night we knew
we had done a good thing.
Day 7
Wake up at 7 AM was ok but the packing up after breakfast was maniac! We
all pitched in and put all the tools we had in bundles for AMOR’s use,
gathered all the tents, sleeping bags, tarps, food and sorted it all out. We
waited until everyone was finished and then we hopped in the vans and made
in a caravan for the border. We didn’t have the AMOR rep’s with us this
time so we had to stick together. We got to the border crossing and the
lineups were very long. Men and boys were selling blankets everywhere to the
drivers of the vehicles and r van bought 6 for $5 each. We then passed
some cripple guys with their hands out for money. Finally we got to the
border guards and they knew what we were doing down there in the ghettos
but they took away our apples and oranges. We all met up at the Carl’s Jr.
again, went to the bathroom with real toilets and ate a quick bite. We then
split up all the vans and agreed to meet at the church at 6 PM that night.
We decided to go back into Mexico for necklaces and sunglasses and stuff
they sell at the border. Jon said we couldn’t travel in groups less than three
and to remember our I. D. We had a blast going across and bargaining for
stuff. Janine got a cool blanket, I got two pairs of “J-Oakleys” and someone
bought a fake Rolex. We all met up before the border crossing and one of
the guys was hassled because he was acting too cool but we made out OK.
We met back at the church and then went out for a swim at the local poolthe Plunge- and then went back to the church. The cook trailer was unloaded
from all the luggage and we headed to sleep for the last night in the USA.
Day 8
We had to get up at 4 AM just to make the vans get to the airport on time.
Most of us slept all the way there but we were OK once we got in the airport
lineup. We gave our bags to the airline people and said goodbye to the other
groups traveling on the other airlines. We left L.A. and went to Vancouver
where we laid over for 4 hours. Then we finally got home that afternoon. My
Mom and Dad met me at the airport but I didn’t want to say goodbye to my
friends.
It was a great trip and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn
how to see if they can make a difference in the world. I know I can and my
school year has been much better for it. I hope you can go some time.