My sister, Michelle, had been looking for a humanitarian/service project for a little while but everything she was finding was either too expensive or not the type of project she was looking for. One day a classmate mentioned that she goes with a group every year to Mexico to build houses. This was right up Michelle's alley so she, her husband Steve and I signed up.
We arranged for a ride to Tijuana, Mexico and set off the day after Christmas. We stayed in Vegas for the night where we met up with most of the group. The next day we all drove to San Diego where we met up again to cross the border into Mexico. It was fairly quick, they didn't even bother to look at our passports or ask what we were doing in Mexico-I guess they aren't that worried about who is going to Mexico....
On Friday, December 27, all 211 of us made it to the church where we would stay and began unloading all our things--both personal items and donations.There were so many donations; bicycles, clothing, suitcases, mattresses, kitchen stuff, etc. The sisters from the relief society were there with homemade carne asada tacos for us. I had previously decided that I would have to take a break being vegetarian while in Mexico. When in Mexico, do what the Mexicans do, right?
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| Ordering tacos |
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| What we had to work with |
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| End of Day One |
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| End of Day Two |
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| End of Day Three |
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| End of Day Five |
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| The final product-now its up to the family to complete the rest |
We built a house for Sylvia and Damian Soriano along with their three kids, Brandon(6), Lupita(4), and Brianna(2) as well as Sylvia's younger brother and sister, Guadalupe(11) and Antony(9).
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| Brianna, Michelle y Guadalupe |
Guadalupe was so sweet, every time we saw her she was taking care of Brianna. At first she was very shy and didn't really seem interested in talking to us but my sister was persistent and she soon became our friend. Antony was the best kid. He would constantly poke my shoulder and then immediately tell me that someone else did it. I guess that joke is funny in any language :)
I learned that the Soriano family lived in a different stake than where Builders Without Borders usually works but it was really cool to find out how we came to build them a home. The Bishop of their ward emailed Chris, the guy in charge, and wanted to become a part of what was happening. Chris told him that they had no boundaries and were happy to help. Two weeks before we were set to leave Chris received another email informing him that the family the Bishop originally had in mind had left the city and he didn't know when or if they would be returning but he had another family in mind that needed a new roof. He sent Chris pictures of the house, if you can even call it that, and Chris said we wouldn't build them a new roof, we are going to build them a house. It was the Soriano family. They were strangers when we first met but by the time the week was done they were family. It didn't matter that we didn't speak the same language.
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| Michelle trying to explain to Sylvia that our Grandma made the blankets that we gave her |
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| Hermanas Siempre |
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| Sisters Forever |
We worked on the home for four and a half days and were able to leave them with four exterior walls, a finished roof, two bedrooms, doors and electricity. Now when it rains they don't have to get wet.
Our last night in Mexico, we had a devotional with the stake members. Several people shared their testimonies and we sang Because I Have Been Given Much. Because I have been given much, I to must give. That is a very appropriate sentence considering we were all there in Mexico to share some of the things that we take for granted every day. Every moment was worth while (even the ones when I was sick), you learn to appreciate the things that you do have when you see people who we might think have nothing be so willing to share the things that they do have with us.
I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to another human being, let me do it.-Stephen Grellet
