Mexico Service Trip 2008

For three years running, several SixSeeds families have joined together for a service trip to Tijuana Mexico.  You can read here for more details about the project itself, which is done in partnership with World Vision, a leading international development agency.

With each trip, we are getting a better sense of what a long term relationship with this community will be like.  The following are reflections on the subject from Jean Kingston.

It feels good to be back this third time, and I’m shocked the plants we set out two years ago are still alive. The dry land is rocky and brown, but somehow it sustains these large and surprisingly healthy plants.

I gaze across the schoolyard and at the cliffs filled with homes built with rotten wood and rusty nails.  Each time I see how precariously they sit on the hillside, I worry these Mexican families will someday watch all they own topple down the hill during a downpour.   They are “squatters,” a term for people who make homes from junk and try to build a community in an area most Americans would consider uninhabitable. 

The elementary school is at the bottom of a canyon.  Every year, much remains the same – the main building with cardboard and wood interior filled with rusty desks and chairs, the outhouse in the corner of the play yard, the river of sewage across the entrance to the school, the stray dogs with crusty eyes and clumped fur, and the scarcity of learning supplies.  Also, there is always a sparkle in the eyes of the Mexican children and their parents.

There are some notable improvements. Bright orange newer desks, an expanded cement play yard, and -- most importantly -- a strong cinder block building.  While the old building was made of cheap wood, this building is a gleaming symbol of permanence and progress. Community members proudly presented it to our group, saying we inspired them to build it for the children.

For the next few days, we mix concrete to complete the play yard, pick up scattered trash, move all the furniture out of the classrooms, scrub the classroom floors, wash the desks and chairs, dig holes, plant plants (which don’t seem to have much chance of making it), and sift the dirt for shattered glass.  We also teach a couple of Old Testament stories and do crafts with the kids. The children enthusiastically join in the work, but take time to play ball and talk with one another.  This year the Mexican kids bring out a radio and we watch as they dance to pop music.

Amidst all the fun, I worry about the plants. 

Some of them stand next to the burning trash and begin wilting almost as soon as we plant them.  My friend Jeff apparently is concerned about them too. He makes a deal with a 13 year old Mexican boy named Antonio, in which he agrees to pay him $2 for each plant still alive next year.  In every way, we want all of them, plants included, to thrive.

Every summer we come to the same realization – it’s important to have the right tools.  In the US our full pocketbooks and ready access to Home Depot make tasks run smoothly.   Here, you make do with what you’ve got - plastic bottle caps are useful for scraping old glue and paint off desks and a car key can serve as a fabric shredder, turning large cloth into small rags.  We use buckets of water and brooms to clean the floors. Our single wheelbarrow and many shovels mix the cement, sand, gravel and water right in the middle of the playground. 

Our leader Kathryn has said, “the first time you come, you show you’re interested, the second time you come, you show you care and the third time you come, you show you love.”  This year, the saying has become our reality and the heartfelt connection with our Mexican friends, a SixSeeds dream come true.

As we work in the blazing sun, next to the heat and smell of a mountain of burning trash, I realize I’ve come to love these people.  Strangely, the members of Mexican community feel like old friends even though we’ve only known them three years. 

Next year, we’ll throw on some work clothes, and go back to see Fermina, Ricardo, Angela, Antonio, Esmerelda, and many others.  Who knows what we’ll find there in that little familiar schoolyard? Perhaps, against all the odds and elements, those skinny wilting plants in the dry rocky soil will be standing tall and strong.

And just maybe Antonio will be standing there with a triumphant smile, ready for Jeff to open up his wallet.

Consider going on an overseas family service trip.  Click here for search sites that will help you locate the right one for you.