Cement and Smiles

Hello family and friends of the 2014 Esperanza Trinity/COW Mission Trip! My name is Chelsea and this is my first time visiting Mexico and serving with Esperanza. I am a junior at The College of Wooster and am majoring in History. At the College, I do a lot of service work with Cornerstone Elementary and the Wayne County Children's Services. It was this history and dedication to service that led me to join this group and travel to Tijuana. Constantly I am reaching out to others in the United States and I am finally getting the opportunity to fulfill a dream of helping out in the diverse world which I live in.

First Impressions
Over the past three days, I have been completely amazed with what I have seen here in Mexico. Tijuana is vastly different from any place I have ever traveled to or seen in the United States. This difference is the level and degree of poverty that exists here. In the States, poverty has many meanings but usually means a lack of funds and resources to support yourself or a family. In Tijuana, poverty is experienced by most individuals and entails this plus deteriorating homes with no roofs and trash filled streets and hillsides. Their levels of poverty and life and much more severe than what we are used to. Every time I look out into the distance in Tijuana, I am still amazed with what I see: thousands of homes dotting the steep hillsides with no paved roads or proper construction. Something else that strikes me is how obvious the massive population and overcrowding is in Tijuana. This is attributed to the hilly landscape. In the United States, cities are relatively flat and have been leveled for habitation. In Tijuana this is not the case because homes are built on the hillsides, exposing themselves and exactly how many there are. I have many thoughts on my impressions of this country but lastly it is the people. The Mexican people are humble, warm, welcoming and many other positive adjectives. Yes they may look and stare at us simply because we are from the U.S. but they will also be the first one to exchange a smile or a joyful "Hola!" More on this next....

Our First Day of Work
What we came to Tijuana to do is assist in the construction of homes for people in the community in need. Last year, Esperanza helped over 800 families. There are many more in need but their efforts make a large impact. Today we poured a cement floor for a lovely single woman whose husband died two years ago. She had been waiting for Esperanza's help for a year and was excited to finally be moving on with her life with a roof over her head. What we did today was mix around 35 bags of concrete and then transfer this concrete using buckets. To put this in perspective, that took about 500 individual buckets that had to be passed up into the home using a well thought out assembly line of volunteers. After all of this work, I will NEVER look at the floors that I walk on the same. Modern technology makes this process somewhat easier with large cement trucks but completing this process by hand for 6 hours was eye-opening hard work. At the end of the day, I was covered in cement (including inside my ears), hot, exhausted and sweaty. But what I gained in the void of energy was an appreciation and knowledge that my hands had helped a woman better her life. She and the other women in the community thanked us with a delicious meal and eternal words of gratitude. She could not thank us enough for our service and we could not thank her enough for her hospitality. The people I met in the community today showed so much gratitude and kindness. In the United States, we get caught up in our busy lives and our cell phones that acts of kindness are many times forgotten and the Mexican people are an example of a group of people who live their lives by caring and being kind to others.


Tomorrow and for the rest of the week we will be going out into communities such as the one we visited today. I hope to continue to grow and be impressed and amazed by the individuals I come in contact with. I'm sure they will not disappoint.


-Chelsea