Silver Teeth, Cement Burn, and Too Many Tortas

The day opens on a turtle-green hillside, slightly littered with old tires and Tecate cans, as a small group of Americans begin to stir in the egg yolk-yellow walls of the barbed-wire rimmed sanctuary they now call home.

Now that the scene is set- day two of the work week is coming to a close. My group worked primarily on pouring concrete into the walls, which is no easy task. All hands were on deck, volunteers and community members alike, taking sand and stone and turning it into a home. The concrete is made in a mixer loaded with buckets of sand, gravel, cement, and water which is then scooped out of a trough and passed down our line in buckets, lifted to a very dedicated, strong member of the team on scaffolding. It's then poured down into the cement bricks which make up the wall. This process took about two hours and a lot of sweat. In all honesty, of the four other times I've been here, today was the hardest I've worked myself- handing buckets up to Rick to pour into the walls and scooping out the cement from the trough. Major muscle work out. Today was also one of the most rewarding days of work. I also got to pet the family's cat. Which is a big deal if you know how much I like cats and the fact that Tijuana is run not by government, but the enormous amount of stray dogs.

We called it quits after the walls were all poured and came back to the posada to get ready to go play with the girls of a local orphanage. These girls are amazing. Ages 5-18, the kids are orphans or are placed there by parents who cannot support them. They are all totally excited to see us and get down to some serious playtime. Jump rope, soccer, friendship bracelets, balloons, piggy-back rides- not many of of can speak Spanish, but no one really cares. That's the great thing about kids, they just want someone's hair to braid, conversation is not a major concern. I've always gravitated to the kids we meet at the work sites because I feel more at ease with not being able to string together a proper Spanish sentence. They seem to like me too, but that may be because I'm usually carrying a few kilos of candy on me.

After the orphanage, we reconvened at base camp and then took off for dinner at the glorious taco stand. Now everyone is dispersed around the posada, playing games, heading to bed, coloring (actually just Heidi is coloring), and catching up on homework. I'm looking forward to another day of hard work and Hibiscus water. Hasta luego.

Jill 

Day two - La Morita - Julie's house

Here is a short video for day two work site - after the walls were poured.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ocq6J11i4Jc&list=UU91HaoDuJbuEte300Fy1ShQ&index=1

Tuesday morning

Hi,  this is Gail Klise, I am a first time volunteer.  I was inspired to join the group on this trip because of my daughter Heidi and her friend Jill and some of the other folks at Trinity Church. The girls have each been here four or five times.  The conversations after each trip was at first surprising to me... these high school girls at the time LIKED to dig in the piles of sand and haul buckets of cement.  There is a secret in this experience that should be captured and even required for all young people.  The phrase we have always heard:  " it is better to give than to receive" is put into practice every day and every moment at Esperanza.  Even the bonding between volunteers who have just met each other is very apparent, even on this morning of our fourth day.  After hearing more and more stories of the very positive experiences every volunteer has had and their desire to come back, I finally decided it was time to try it out for myself.  In fact I was becoming a bit envious of the people who have put themselves into this serving role. I am a retired mom looking for purpose. 

Our first day was an easy step into 'how the worksite works'.  Heidi is the current long term volunteer and I was fortunate to watch her in action.  When she called out that there was a new task for two or three we would listen for instructions.  The next generation is stepping into leadership roles, taking control and using their energy to help others.  It really is a wonderful world. 

The actual construction site is interesting -- in America we have Habitat for Humanity which I assume is similar.  Everyone gets a wrench or a hammer or is asked to dig or haul buckets.  Most all of the jobs are a first time experience and learning to do it correctly is more important than becoming dirty....... off to the worksite we go for more .