Yesterday we began prepping the roof for pouring cement. We put plywood across the top and along the edges to form a frame. We used 2x4s as support beams. We also constructed beams of rebar to form the internal structure of the roof. Later that evening, we went to the taqueria for round 2. It was good! Following our lovely experience at the taqueria we returned to the posada for our evening reflection, which took an emotional turn when Maria's words touched our hearts and made everyone cry. It was a unifying moment for our group.
Today was a doozy. It began with a visit to the Esperanza health clinic, where we met the nuns that ran the facility who gave us a tour of the facility. They explained that they do not only help patients in the community but help to teach the patients how to live healthier lives. After that we went to Dolores' casa for another day of preparing the roof for cement. Although we measured twice, we still managed to make a few mistakes which we were able to work around. We cut a lot of rebar, made some beams, and tied everything together to get ready for a huge cement pour tomorrow! At least 30 (100lb) bags of cement to make the roof.
Then we rushed back to the posada for quick showers to freshen up before we went to the orphanage. The orphanage was full of fun. We played soccer and dodgeball with the girls that live there. After an afternoon of hair braiding we headed inside so the girls could sing us a song. They sang a few Spanish songs and we sang "Somos el Cuerpo de Cristo" as a group, then Evan gave a wonderful rendition of "What of Makes You Beautiful". Sadly, we had to say goodbye. Thanks for your support. God bless. ;)
~Bailey S. & Evan A.
An additional reflection from 2 of our adults:
On June 22, 2014, the Tijuana Mission Team from Sacred Heart Enumclaw attended mass together to receive a blessing from the parish in preparation for our trip to work for Esperanza. At mass that Sunday we wore our Mission tee shirts with the team slogan, "Build Hope". The sending forth song was "Somos el Cuerpo de Cristo / We Are the Body for Christ".
As elder members of the group we see things a bit differently. The act of working as a group, the teamwork demonstrated as we all performed menial tasks; some large tasks, many small, but together all are monumental in what was accomplished overall. Our patron for this week, St. Therese of Liseux worked very hard on all the "little things", and that is what we saw this week. Many "little" things are put together to make the whole.
If Jesus Christ was mortal today, he would be found walking streets where the need for hope is the greatest. Like the streets of the Tijuana neighborhoods your team calls home this week. For this week the Sacred Heart Enumclaw team, all of us working as one, have become the body of Christ. El Cuerpo de Cristo, The Body of Christ is beautifully define by St. Theresa of Avila, when she says that "Christ has no hands but ours.....". We truly see his hands at work this week at the job site, the posada where we eat and sleep and wherever we are. When we sang the song "Somos el Cuerpo de Cristo" for the orphans, we could see the love flow from us to them as their eyes lit up and their smiles grew larger. Maybe they were impressed by our command of their language, but we believe it to be more than that.
By extension, since we represent the parish, families and friends that are generously financing and/or praying for us, you too can claim 'Somos el Cuerpo de Cristo'. Sacred Heart Enumclaw should be extremely proud of the team you sent forth on June 22nd. We are making a difference as we build hope (Esperanza) in Tijuana. So if you are reading this blog, spread the good news, as the song continues, "We've answered 'Yes' to the call of the Lord. We are the body of Christ, we've come to bring the good news to the world".
Tom H. & Pat N.
(Pictures to come tomorrow. Sleep is needed for what will be a full day tomorrow!)
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Esperanza Day 4 (Tuesday) ~ July 29, 2014
(Sorry we are a little behind on blogs, our evening activities have prevented us from having time to reflect.)
Hi friends and family,
Hope you are all doing well. It's been a great week for our group of 15. The people of Mexico are amazing. It's a beautiful culture anyone would feel welcomed in. This week has also been a busy week filled with fun activities other working. On the second day, we basically had the same jobs to do as the first day, which was loading and unloading blocks, tying wire for the ceiling beams, and we had a bucket line to finish pouring cement in the wall. Dolores cooked for us taquitos for lunch, they were delicious as expected.
After a fun day of work, we went directly to Las Playas de Tijuana, which means the beaches of Tijuana. There we explored the famous border that separates the U.S. from Mexico. We experienced the emotional stories and messages that were left by people on the wall, in either writing, drawings or symbols. Something you should realize about the border, on the Mexican side, there was a whole town and park, where as on the U.S side is a large amount of land uninhabited by people except for those on horse back and those guarding the border. We felt like there was just more emotional expression on the Mexican side because of those messages. There was even multiple pictures of clocks that pointed to 6:33 which we found out later was reference to a bible verse. We will share with you that verse when we get a bible to find it.
After the border, we had the exceptional opportunity to go to a Mexican premiere league soccer game. Thanks to a generous donation from an anonymous donor, the whole group was treated to a great cultural experience. Think of going to see the Sounders but very very inexpensive in comparison including stadium food. The home team, the Xoloitzcuintles won 3-1 against Zacatepec, well I cant pronounce the name so lets just call them the "not-so-Xolos". It was great to get another taste of Mexican culture through that game.
Que Dios los bendiga,
Maria Z. & Trent J.
(See pictures from this day in the previous post.)
Hi friends and family,
Hope you are all doing well. It's been a great week for our group of 15. The people of Mexico are amazing. It's a beautiful culture anyone would feel welcomed in. This week has also been a busy week filled with fun activities other working. On the second day, we basically had the same jobs to do as the first day, which was loading and unloading blocks, tying wire for the ceiling beams, and we had a bucket line to finish pouring cement in the wall. Dolores cooked for us taquitos for lunch, they were delicious as expected.
After a fun day of work, we went directly to Las Playas de Tijuana, which means the beaches of Tijuana. There we explored the famous border that separates the U.S. from Mexico. We experienced the emotional stories and messages that were left by people on the wall, in either writing, drawings or symbols. Something you should realize about the border, on the Mexican side, there was a whole town and park, where as on the U.S side is a large amount of land uninhabited by people except for those on horse back and those guarding the border. We felt like there was just more emotional expression on the Mexican side because of those messages. There was even multiple pictures of clocks that pointed to 6:33 which we found out later was reference to a bible verse. We will share with you that verse when we get a bible to find it.
After the border, we had the exceptional opportunity to go to a Mexican premiere league soccer game. Thanks to a generous donation from an anonymous donor, the whole group was treated to a great cultural experience. Think of going to see the Sounders but very very inexpensive in comparison including stadium food. The home team, the Xoloitzcuintles won 3-1 against Zacatepec, well I cant pronounce the name so lets just call them the "not-so-Xolos". It was great to get another taste of Mexican culture through that game.
Que Dios los bendiga,
Maria Z. & Trent J.
(See pictures from this day in the previous post.)
Esperanza 2014 ~ Photos from Day 2
Day 2 consisted of building up the walls all the way, stabilizing them with more rebar, and filling them with cement. We also continued to make the beams for the ceiling. An official blog post to come later.
We also had an opportunity to visit the border and the park that Tijuana has created by it.
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| Cutting rebar for the ceiling beams. |
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| Adding rebar to stabilize the blocks of the walls. |
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| The worksite from above. |
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| Women from the community in the kitchen all morning making us breakfast. |
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| Making walls is like giant legos. |
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| Bucket line. |
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| Evan, Dolores (homeowner) and Maria |
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| Bucket line. |
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| The completed walls. |
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Esperanza Videos from Work Day 1
Day 1 Continued
Videos that capture a cement pour!
Filling the Cement Mixer:
Videos that capture a cement pour!
Filling the Cement Mixer:
Scooping the cement and passing it down the line:
Following one bucket down the line to fill the walls:
Monday, July 28, 2014
Esperanza Day 3 ~ July 28, 2014
Hey friends!!!!
Work day one went great and everyone had a fantastic time meeting the family we will be helping all week. Today, we started the day with a meeting with the Volunteer Coordinator. We talked about ourselves; explaining why we were here, and our name, and how many times we've been to Mexico & Esperanza. He was a very funny guy. He also explained to us that this mission trip was not mainly based on finishing the houses, but building a community, a relationship with the families, and our relationships with ourselves and God.
We packed up and boarded the bus after the meeting and made it to the family's house eager to help! After giving them a brief explanation about ourselves and the gifts we chose to represent our town (2 cute little cows and salted caramels from sweet necessities), the work started. Our job for the day was constructing the walls of an addition on the backside of the family's house. After hauling dozens of concrete bricks and stacking them up 7 high along the rebar that stuck in the air 6-8 feet we ate lunch. If you didn't know the family has to prepare food for everyone and also if you didn't know, authentic Mexican food is amazing!!!! They served each of us 3 enchiladas with delicious home made rice, beans, and salsa.
We were all so grateful for our amazing meal that we got right back to work pouring the hand mixed concrete and passed it in buckets along the side of the house. BUCKET LINE!! After filling in the walls we had our last and final water break. Saying goodbye was hard but knowing that we were going back the next day brightened our spirits. On the bus ride back to the Posada, covered in concrete, all we could think about was hopping in our 60 second shower. The day was great, and work day 1 ended fantastically! Hasta Mañana!
~Nathan S. and Coretti F.
Work day one went great and everyone had a fantastic time meeting the family we will be helping all week. Today, we started the day with a meeting with the Volunteer Coordinator. We talked about ourselves; explaining why we were here, and our name, and how many times we've been to Mexico & Esperanza. He was a very funny guy. He also explained to us that this mission trip was not mainly based on finishing the houses, but building a community, a relationship with the families, and our relationships with ourselves and God.
We packed up and boarded the bus after the meeting and made it to the family's house eager to help! After giving them a brief explanation about ourselves and the gifts we chose to represent our town (2 cute little cows and salted caramels from sweet necessities), the work started. Our job for the day was constructing the walls of an addition on the backside of the family's house. After hauling dozens of concrete bricks and stacking them up 7 high along the rebar that stuck in the air 6-8 feet we ate lunch. If you didn't know the family has to prepare food for everyone and also if you didn't know, authentic Mexican food is amazing!!!! They served each of us 3 enchiladas with delicious home made rice, beans, and salsa.
We were all so grateful for our amazing meal that we got right back to work pouring the hand mixed concrete and passed it in buckets along the side of the house. BUCKET LINE!! After filling in the walls we had our last and final water break. Saying goodbye was hard but knowing that we were going back the next day brightened our spirits. On the bus ride back to the Posada, covered in concrete, all we could think about was hopping in our 60 second shower. The day was great, and work day 1 ended fantastically! Hasta Mañana!
~Nathan S. and Coretti F.
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| Cumbres, the community of Tijuana we are working in. |
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| The floor of the house was already finished by a previous group. We're building walls! |
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| Putting the walls together. |
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| Isabelle, an 11 year old who is a neighbor of the home owner. She came to help prepare lunch. |
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| Making the beams for the roof. |
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| Maria with the daughter and granddaughter of the home owner, Dolores. |
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| Jackie with Ian, a neighbor. |
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| Walls getting bigger, looking into the new bathroom! |
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| Coretti scooping the concrete by hand, and passing it down the bucket line. |
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| Bucket line!!! |
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| Bailey, Coretti, and Jackie in the bucket line. (looking out the window of their current house.) |
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| Our amazing Sacred Heart group after day 1...a little covered in cement!! |
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Esperanza Days 1 & 2 ~ July 26 & 27, 2014
Hello readers,
The flight to San Diego was great! Walking across the border was eye opening, there were so many people wanting us to buy something from them. As soon as you walk into Mexico it's like an instant change from roads to houses, it makes you stop and think how fortunate you really are. There were so many more people trying to get back into the US rather than going into Mexico. Yesterday we just got settled in and waited for the other youth group. Later that night we walked down the Taqueria and ate dinner there. The food was very good and they cooked right in front of us!
Today we woke up and took most of our first one-minute showers. Then we had some breakfast that a few people from St. Louise had made for the group. Then we went to Church right down the street for the 10 O'clock mass. Could not understand a thing luckily we knew the order of how mass goes and Kelsey had printed out the readings and homily for us, so we still got something out of the mass. Later after some cards and relaxing we went to the market which is about a 30 minute drive. What you see when driving is eye opening the extremes from rich to poor are very visible. Some times you see run down homes and dirt roads, other times you see resorts and huge houses up on the hills with asphalt drive ways. Once we got to the market we split up into two groups and made our way through the market. Comparing it to Pikes Place we would say it is a little more pushy but in an interesting way. some places seemed to really try to get you into their shop by telling you what they have and how good of a deal they have, but they are all very similar in pricing and some items you saw in every store. But it was good fun trying to bargain for a good deal on their "hand made" blankets and back packs. Everybody got something and when we left we all seemed happy with what we got. We headed back to the Posada which is very nice and currently have two hammocks set up, are playing soccer and waiting for dinner. Looking forward to tomorrow and the work.
Bailey M, and Josh
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The flight to San Diego was great! Walking across the border was eye opening, there were so many people wanting us to buy something from them. As soon as you walk into Mexico it's like an instant change from roads to houses, it makes you stop and think how fortunate you really are. There were so many more people trying to get back into the US rather than going into Mexico. Yesterday we just got settled in and waited for the other youth group. Later that night we walked down the Taqueria and ate dinner there. The food was very good and they cooked right in front of us!
Today we woke up and took most of our first one-minute showers. Then we had some breakfast that a few people from St. Louise had made for the group. Then we went to Church right down the street for the 10 O'clock mass. Could not understand a thing luckily we knew the order of how mass goes and Kelsey had printed out the readings and homily for us, so we still got something out of the mass. Later after some cards and relaxing we went to the market which is about a 30 minute drive. What you see when driving is eye opening the extremes from rich to poor are very visible. Some times you see run down homes and dirt roads, other times you see resorts and huge houses up on the hills with asphalt drive ways. Once we got to the market we split up into two groups and made our way through the market. Comparing it to Pikes Place we would say it is a little more pushy but in an interesting way. some places seemed to really try to get you into their shop by telling you what they have and how good of a deal they have, but they are all very similar in pricing and some items you saw in every store. But it was good fun trying to bargain for a good deal on their "hand made" blankets and back packs. Everybody got something and when we left we all seemed happy with what we got. We headed back to the Posada which is very nice and currently have two hammocks set up, are playing soccer and waiting for dinner. Looking forward to tomorrow and the work.
Bailey M, and Josh
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| On the Plane, ready to go to Mexico! |
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| So many bags at the San Diego Airport. |
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| Crossing into Mexico at the border. |
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| So excited to be at Esperanza's Posada! |
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| Our wonderful Sacred Heart group. |
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| We're a bit goofy. |
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| Mass at St. Anthony's church down the street from the Posada. |
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| Getting our soccer on in the Mexican heat. |
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Agape Day 3 ~ Tuesday, July 1
Today in Agape we planned for arts & crafts & activities for the kids at the migrant camp. After eating breakfast we went straight to planning. Well after we prayed and talked about today. Once we were all finished planning we went to pack so we can go to the pool, swim, then shower. We stayed at the pool for at least an hour and a half. after swimming and showering we left straight to the migrant camps to play with the kids. we played with the kids for three and a half hours. We met some of the kids and in order to eat at the barbecue we had to make a buddy and learn 3 facts about them. The buddy's that I met were Marisa, favorite color green, & she is 13, and Jessica, favorite color red, & she is 10. Both of their favorite sport was soccer. At 7 we left and said our goodbyes. We came home, did our reflections in our journal, talked about the food bank (banco de comida), made sandwiches for tomorrow, then we got free time. In our free time all of the youth played spoons and it gets very intense.
~Bekah
Today I had a great time in the car ride home because my car and I were jamming out to music, specifically to one song, by the time I got home, I was sweating majorly.
=Javier
Some pictures of the beautiful friendships that were formed today. Community in pictures!
~Bekah
Today I had a great time in the car ride home because my car and I were jamming out to music, specifically to one song, by the time I got home, I was sweating majorly.
=Javier
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| We love dodgeball!!! :) |
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| We played a lot of soccer! |
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| Screaming photo! |
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| Such an amazing group! An absolute blessing serving with this group! |
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