Trip thoughts....

Now that we have been home for 24 hours - I thought I might take a couple minutes to look back on the week.  The Esperanza trip week is always one of my favorites of the year!!!  Although I'm working while I'm on vacation - it never really seems that that way.  It is a great mix of physical work, venturing to many places around Tijuana, great food, meeting new Mexican friends, warm weather and working & growing together as a group of 11.

I want to thank everyone who went on the trip for such a great week!   This is the 5th or 6th year we have taken College students from the College of Wooster.  The students work hard and we learn a lot from them.  Taking a week of spring break to go to Tijuana instead of the beach shows the character of each one of you!

Each year we get to know Eduardo and the rest of the Esperanza staff better.  They work hard and long hours every week out of the year!!!  This year we were fortunate to see Monica, the Esperanza director and we worked with two long term volunteers - Alex and Sean.  Best of luck to you both for the rest of your time in Tijuana.

All through the year I talk about how the families are strong in Tijuana.  We again found that the two families, Dora & Eduardo, Claudia both had strong family and neighborhood backing to help build their houses.

One of my favorite parts of the trip is the closing circle with Eduardo.  We each get a second to reflect on the week and Eduardo spends a lot of time talking to us as a group and then individually.

Now I have to wait almost a year before next years trip.

Phil Starr

Hola! My name is Sarah and I am a sophomore at the College of Wooster. This is my second time volunteering with Esperanza and my eighth time in Mexico. Having been last year, I knew what to expect but I still experienced and learned new things this year. On our first day working, we had a difficult concrete pour. We moved hundreds of heavy buckets up to a roof but we had help from students from Providence College. We all collaborated well and enjoyed getting to know each other. For the rest of the week, we worked without the other students and at one house. We built a foundation for a house this week, a difficult and very important job. We dug 68 inches into the ground, poured concrete into holes, and poured sand into our "trench". We also passed lots of concrete blocks down into our trench. It's always amazing to work with these families and see how their community comes together to help work. Neighbors, children, in-laws, and siblings all join. The women this week cooked amazing meals every day and we never tired of their delicious tacos. We also visited the orphanage and Casa del Migrante this week. Just like last year, these experiences were amazing and unforgettable. We all enjoyed seeing a Xolos Futbol game this week too. Although they lost, it was something none of us have had the opportunity to see before and it was great getting to hang out with the Providence College students. Coming to Tijuana, both this year and last year, has been an eye-opening experience. Someone said this week that it's incredible that students from the North East and Midwest come all the way here yet there are so many others close to the border that won't step foot in TJ. There are so many misconceptions about TJ and without seeing it or listening to the experiences of others, nothing will change. Mexico is our neighbor and having seen so much of this country, experiencing its culture, and living with its people, it is frustrating when people are closed-minded and negative towards our neighbor. It is so important that we are able to come here and make a difference. All in all, this trip has been amazing and I'm looking forward to the next time I come here!

Link to friday pictures

Link to Friday pictures:

All Pictures

Link to all pictures:

Teamwork makes the dream work.

Greetings everyone, Mo here. This is my first trip to Tijuana, as well as my first trip out of the country. I can honestly say it was nothing like what I expected. As an American, I find it easy to stay up to date with international topics by watching and reading the news. And from what I understood about Tijuana (prior to the trip) was that it was a dangerous city, overrun by drugs and violence. I can't attest to the validity to these statements as I have yet to see any evidence of this. However, I can say that through my own eyes I see a developing city with friendly people and a growing infrastructure. Today being our fourth day of work, our job was to continue to finish laying the foundation of a new house. I was again acquainted with the cement mixer. Yay me. Luckily today we didn't have to mix as much cement as we did early in the week. After a few hours in the Tijuana Sun we finally got to take a lunch break. The food was amazing and I appreciated the fact the ladies took the time to cook the food AND help us with the work site. Hats off to them. I decided to play Frisbee with the children of the house the second half of the lunch break. I don't think they played much before that but they could have fooled me because they threw the frisbee as if they had been playing for a while. Especially the youngest son Brian. After working and playing with the families I could see how strong the sense of community is between everyone. Not even a language barrier could stop us from sharing a laugh or a meal with each other. I hate the fact that tomorrow is our last day to work with the families. Nevertheless, I plan to make it a good day and create memories I'll be happy to look back on. That's all for now. -Mo

Fear to Fearless

Hola! It's Hannah here again with my last blog post of 2015 Esperanza. Today, out of all days was pretty challenging. As many of you know we are digging the foundation for a house, and with digging, there becomes a lot of dirt, that needs to go somewhere. For our site, we have been putting the dirt either in a pile that the foundation surrounds, or in a pile on the side of the fence. My job today, was to help Phil while standing on the middle steep hill of trench pass buckets full of dirt across the trench to Kevan. Luckily, all of us have fantastic balance, so no one has fallen off the steep hill yet, but it still requires an insane amount of trust in yourself to stand on a somewhat stable hill above 68'' ditches. After going on this trip last year, I have found a new sense of fearless in myself by travelling to a foreign country that the U.S. does not give a good reputation to with a group of people I had barely met. This year, I packed up again and headed off with the same group to help again. My fearless this year was found in speaking much more Spanish than the year before, and most of the time probably making a fool of myself in the process, and standing above deep trenches and sometimes over. In a way, it makes you feel able to save the world by putting your fears behind you and giving up one week to help others. All in all, it has been another amazing week in Tijuana, and I can't wait to come back next year, make more new friends in this country, and help some family create a new place for them to live in the years to come, in which ever way I can. Adios Amigos!

Through the eyes of a child...

A child sees the world differently. To them, to the world is simple; it consists of simple actions, simple emotions, and fun. I also feel that in today's world of fast paced technology, some of this "simpleness" is lost. As a kid, I played with toys, was outside all the time, and enjoyed riding my bike. Children today also enjoy such things but they are normally accompanied by technology, like an iPad or other electronic device. In Mexico, these luxuries are not as accessible to the families we work with. At the site we have been at this week, the mother Claudia, has three sons, two of which are very young, Allen and Brian. These boys have definitely been our little helpers, picking up buckets and assisting wherever there small hands can find a use. Today, I was working in a trench to fill in a hole we had dug that was no longer needed. Allen, who I would guess to be about 4-5 years old, comes and joins me down in the hole. Brian, the littlest one at 3 years old, sat at the top of the hole, on a dirt mound, watching with a careful eye. Allen did all he could to help me while I pick-axed the dirt off a hill and down into the hole. Slowly, this got boring and he turned to searching for bugs, what a boy should do. I continued to fill in dirt and quickly became his assistant in grabbing worms out of the dirt and getting these other insects that were similar to a pill bug. Allen would take these bugs and then give them to Brian, and where they went from here I do not know. Yes, it was difficult working with Allen by my side, but I did not care. I was getting an opportunity to see some of the simple joys of childhood in the actions of Allen and Brian. They were content to crawl around in the dirt, only for the excitement of a worm. I feel that much of this has been lost in American society. Kids are shuffled to activities and given screens to occupy themselves when it is proven that they can be content with the earth around them. This is a larger concept of my trip to Tijuana that I appreciate. I have so much excess in my life, and in the lives around me, that I feel is necessary and I enjoy. But, I come to Mexico and see people who do not have extravagant luxuries, who are also very happy with life. You never know what lessons a three year old, some dirt, and bugs can teach you. Children take the most basic look on life that they have the ability to strip our perceptions down to what is "simple" and realize what is necessary and why we have such excess in life. -Chelsea