We traveled with a team of 48 people to Juarez to build houses for three families, do food outreaches and craft programs at a women’s shelter and local church and paint the inside walls in our new library. In addition, I stayed an extra 2 days to work on getting visas for our students to comes to the U.S. next summer for English immersion. We also got to give our new van to Susie, our children’s shephard after her van was wrecked last fall.
One of my favorite things about this trip was the team we took. We had several returning trip veterans as well as many Juarez rookies. My daughter Sara accompanied us for the fourth time. Also my niece Hanna and brother-in-law Bill. Sara and Hanna kind of became the leaders among the younger kids along with the Prioleau kids who had been several times as well. Bill and I enjoyed playing guitar and leading singing of songs along with our song-leader Sally Prioleau.
I got a great email from Katie Neider, who was on the trip with her family. Her husband Bryan, and daughters Megan (16) and Brooke (12). Typically, our church, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church (MPPC), pays for one house per team. We wanted to build three houses so we needed to raise a additional $15,000. Below are the comments that Katie sent to people that she had gotten contributions from toward building the second ad third houses on this trip.
“We just got back from Juarez, Mexico where we have been for the past several days. Although it wasn't a vacation, I would have to say it was probably the best trip I have ever taken.
“The four of us went with a group of 50 people from our church. The church has teams of people who go to Juarez every other month or so to build houses for the horribly poor community there. We headed down on Sunday and spent most of the day just getting there. We stayed in a Team Center that they have built for the the teams of people who go down to build houses. The Team Center is surrounded by a tall cement barricade, topped with a layer of broken glass embedded in the cement with a final layer of barbed wire. It has guards 24/7 along with a not so friendly guard dog. We felt very safe. :-) Each family got to stay in their own room with our own bathroom and shower. However, you were lucky to be able to take a shower as water is a scarce commodity there. If the water did turn on, you were wise to be in and out within minutes as it would just shut off with no notice. There is a small kitchen staff who cooked all of the meals so we had all of our meals at the Team Center. (Katie is shown below presenting blankets to the family she helped build a house for.)
“On Monday morning, all of us headed out to the "construction" sites. We had raised enough money to build three houses. We broke up the 50 people into three groups, each group responsible for building a house. We learned that many families had gone to the church in town to put in their plea for a house to be built for them. Based on need, these families were chosen. When we arrived at our location, it took my breath away. Our family (like most in Juarez), was living in a two room shack. We met the family and worked side by side with them over the course of the next two days. When we got there, a cement slab was already there for us. The wood was pre-cut also. Our group of 18 people (10 who were kids) was headed up by a man named Chris who told us exactly what to do. It was an amazing sight to see all of us pounding away to create the frame of the house. Next we pounded away to nail on the siding. The most amazing moment is when we lined up and lifted up the walls to create the house. Next came the roof. By 2pm the first day, we had a little house built and had even finished roofing it. We had also "installed" the windows and put in the insulation inside. Throughout the day, this wonderful family helped us however they could. At 2pm, we all went back to the Team Center and had lunch. As soon as lunch was over, we were back in the van and went out to a battered women's shelter to make sandwiches for them and to play with their kids. These women and children were in such a tragic situation but still had the most beautiful smiles on their faces. Around 6pm, we headed back to the Team Center for dinner (yes, we all gained weight on this trip!). After dinner, a man named Jeff, showed us an incredible slide show along with a narrative about the situation each person in the slide show was facing. Jeff and his wife Jenny, had first gone on a trip to Juarez like ours three years ago. They became so passionate about the situation in Juarez, that they gave up their jobs and beautiful home in a gated community to live in the Team Center to organize all of this outreach. We all went to bed with our eyes widened to the situation not far from "home".
“The next morning, we headed back to the house that we were working on. We spent all morning painting the exterior of the house and putting up the dry wall in the interior of the house. Again, the family helped us paint. Even though they didn't speak any English, we had felt quite close with the family by this time. At one point, I had walked into their old "house". It is a feeling that I will never forget in my life. You can read many things and see many pictures but nothing will compare to standing inside the "house" that they had been living in. Their floor was dirt. Can you imagine never, ever being able to feel clean. Ever. Waking up and putting your feet into dirt the first thing. I will never forget the look and smell of the situation that they were living in. Water is so scarce that being able to clean is not high on the priority list. Up until the time that I had walked into this house, I had been "worried" about their new house because it was just a cement slab. Silly me, I had been concerned about how cold that cement would be for them. Not until I had stood in their dirt floor had I realized what a wonderful dream it was for them to have a cement floor. Very sobering.
“By 1pm the second day we had completed our house. We then got together with the other two construction teams so we that we could have a ceremony at each house to "hand over the keys". With the help of an interpreter, the family was able to share their feelings of gratitude and we were able to share our feelings of honor to be able to do this for them. Bryan speaks spanish quite well so he was the only one who was able to speak to them directly in their language. As you can imagine, it was quite an emotional moment after growing to care so much about these people.
“After these wonderful ceremonies, we headed back to the Team Center to have lunch, and then off to a local church for another food outreach. We again made sandwiches for them, gave out ice cream and played with the kids. The families who we had built these houses for were all at this outreach. By now it was dinner time, so back to the Team Center to eat, and then back in the Van to go to a church service. Again, these families were there among the church community. I had a little nine year old girl sitting next to me clutching my hand for the entire service. By now, it is late and time for bed to get ready for our flight home on Wednesday morning.
“I am so very thankful that we were given this chance. I would like to go back again next year with our family. We have gone on many wonderful vacations but nothing compares to this.
xoxo, Katie”
Katie’s fresh perspective, reminds me of the excitement I felt the first time went to Juarez. It is a rare person who is not equally changed by the short trip.
Another great thing on the trip was my friend Jonathon. A dentist here in Northern California, Jonathon decided to sign on for the trip after doing some outreach dentistry for the church last April. Jonathon brought his assistant Lydia along. He also brought $5000 worth of donated supplies and equipment. In two days he treated some 26 people, performing root canals, fillings, extractions and various other dental miracles. Jonathon and Lydia actually worked to long they burned out the shop-vac that is used for suction at the team center. (Jonathon and Lydia do their magic below.)
Another good friend Warren, brought along his son Brennon age 7. Warren lead the construction team on our house. Our team, dubbed “Team Azul”, consisted of lots of children including the Peterson triplets, age 8. We also had three high school freshmen, including my daughter Sara, niece Hanna and our friend Kelley. Kelley’s mom Cindy was a tireless worker as well, particularly gifted at the trim on the house. Cindy will be working with Joni and I on JCEP in the future, so it was good to have her see the colonia first hand.
After dropping the team off at the airport on Wednesday, I stayed behind to see if I could get some visas for the four girls we planned to bring to the U.S. next July for a month of English immersion. These are the four oldest girls in our JCEP program, Miriam, Martha, Blanca and Anahi.
I was sad to find out that our recent high school graduate Miriam had decided not to enroll in college and instead succumbed to the temptation of a job. $10 per day is a serious temptation for someone who has almost nothing. Even sadder was the news that Martha is now pregnant. Even though she plans on finishing high school this June, she is out for the trip to the U.S. for obvious reasons.
That leaves Anahi and Blanca for the summer trip. I spent a day at the U.S. embassy in Juarez trying to find out what we need to do to get them visas. The list is long, but after a day of frustrations, I finally got to talk to someone by phone who gave me the full scoop. I came home without visas, but at least I know what we need to do.
One highlight of my trip was the Wednesday night English class that we sponsor. I dropped in on our teacher Joel and his class. The English is proceeding nicely. Even from my last visit in January, I see improvement. Joel has been giving tests and it seems to have inspired the students. Two of our new students for next year, Edith and Moises were there. Also Anahi, Blanca, David, Samuel, Juana and Claudia. Margarita was out sick.
During the class I started quizzing them in English. “What is this?” I would ask while pointing at the air conditioner, wall or blackboard. The class got every one correct!
We also got our new van on the trip. It is a 12 passenger chevy van in excellent condition. It is a vast improvement on the mini-van we had. Susie will be able to easily fit all 12 students.
Finally, we painted the inside of our new library which was built in January. Thanks to the volunteers both days that volunteered to help. Including, Louis, Kevin, Warren, Brennan, Russ, Harry, Donna, Leilani, Alana, Marc, Isabelle and Brooke.
Blessed again, I never fail to have my faith strengthened each time I travel to Juarez.
SK
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