In the US of A headed to airport

Adult perspective

What is Esperanza to me?

As more than one person shared during closing reflection, a week long trip to Tijuana through Esperanza cannot accurately be described in words or pictures.  No one who has not been here them selves even comes close to understanding this experience.

This is my 9th trip, more or less, I lost count at some point when this became part of  my summer that I look forward to all year long. I come as an Adult Leader for a church youth group, and have come with an all adult group.

Esperanza to me is an example of community more completely than I could ever imagine.  The Staff give their lives, heart and soul, to the groups from the U.S. that come to serve and the communities in Tijuana that strive to better their lives.  

I love the Mexican culture and Esperanza because they want help, not a hand out.  It is so powerful to work along side the family, see the children do more than their share, and have neighbors helping just because they can.  This is a shining example for the youth that come here of community and ownership that U.S. culture generally lacks.  

My life is so blessed, I come to be reminded of that and to give back, but every year I fail.  Every year I give a week of my life, to share my blessings, and end up taking more than I gave.  I leave Tijuana every year with a different lesson, the love of a family and community that did as much for me by example as I gave in sweat and hard work.  Without fail I learn something that I did not know I needed to be taught.

I have seen the communities here grow over the years, there are many more paved streets now, and more big stores and new businesses.  The families however have not changed.  This year hesitantly my husband agreed to join me on the trip two weeks after our wedding, to see the place is that makes me so happy.  With tears in his eyes on our last work day he said to me "they have so little, and are so happy".   It puts our daily lives in a whole new perspective.  I cannot begin to know what impact this shared experience will have on our marriage, but I am excited to find out.  

Esperanza to me is the opportunity to do one little thing that can help a family make a big change.   One piece of every trip that sticks in my mind is the thanks that is shared by the family after the last work day.  They say "there are no words" but the look of gratitude on their faces is more than enough.  Over the years one mother shared the joy of being able to tell her then two year old daughter of the people who helped build her home.  Another mother said that this home was a dream come true because she had been afraid that the walls would fall in on her children when the wind blew. These feelings I can only imagine, but Esperanza enables me to be a small part of the story of these families lives. 

Esperanza has spoiled travel for me, in the best possible way.  I am no longer content with visiting the touristy places, but long to see the daily culture and beauty in all places.  People at home are concerned when I say I am going to Tijuana, but I say "don't be". The Tijuana that I know is a beautiful peaceful place with wonderful people. I know there are places in the city that I shouldn't be and places only to be visited during the day, but there are those places near home as well.  Esperanza has helped to build communities that allow groups to see the best and most beautiful parts of Tijuana.

Teens that I have been with during Esperanza weeks go home just a little different.  They have a greater appreciation for education, their home, and their family.  Many have taken the experience and come back year after year, others have gone onto international studies because of the experience.  

As I have said words don't really do justice to the Esperanza experience. All I know is that I feel at home at the Posada, and that I come year after year to share the blessings that I have been given and end up with more love and life lessons than I feel I earned.  So, I guess I will have to come back again next summer and try again. 

Jenifer Klein

St. Louise Catholic Church

Bellevue, WA

Homeward bound

Good morning!  We are I the process of cleaning up the Posada and will be heading north in the next two hours or so.  The plan is to be back in the US by 1pm, I will update the blog again when we are so you know.  Prayers for safe and easy travel today!

Last Day

To everyone back at home,
I am coming back home tomorrow! As excited as I am at the thought of sleeping in my own bed again, I am also incredibly saddened by the thought that this week is actually over. I cannot believe it went so fast. The posada will always be a second home to me and it is always difficult to leave this place that has provided me with so many incredible memories.
Over the course of this week I witnessed miracles on a daily basis. Too many to count. I could write for ages about the numerous touching and eye-opening moments I experienced, but since there is only a limited amount of time  before I crash on my bunk bed and rest for the long day of travel tomorrow, I will share one particular experience that affected me greatly this week.
On the day we visited the orphanage, I was once again frustrated by the the communication barrier between me and the girls. Even though two especially outgoing and rambunctious girls had befriended me shortly after they had discovered how to take "selfies" with my camera, I had not discovered much about them other than their names: Wendy and Flora. After a while, a new group of girls walked up to me after they had finished playing soccer. To my surprise I instantly recognized one of the girls as someone who I had talked to with Daniel last year. Unable to remember how to say "I remember you!" In Spanish, I quickly blurted out "Los libros Harry Potter! Me llamo Maggie!"
The instant I saw the recognition in her eyes was like a small victory for me. She remembered. We quickly called over her friend, Abigail, that I had also talked to last year, and we chatted (in confused yet friendly Spanish/English) about how our lives had been since we'd last seen each other.
Before I left that day they quickly hugged me, scribbled their names on a piece of paper so I could friend them on Facebook, and left me with a smile on my face that would stay there for the rest of the week. I could not have asked for a more amazing experience and opportunity that day. I know that Fabiana and Abigail are two girls that I will hold close to my heart for the rest of my life.

- Maggie

Never better

Today approximately 10 adults informed me that my mom was displeased that she hadn't heard from me yet so HERE I AM HIIIIII! Everything has been fabulous down here in TJ, I always forget how fast it goes by! Thank you so much for the continued opportunity to come down here summer after summer, your support means the world to me and I hope that someday I can share this part of my life with you guys. I have been cemented from head to toe, I'm a shade darker (but I'm pretty sure it's actually a layer of dirt), and my hair is from another world.. but I couldn't be happier! I hope everything is good at home and that Koda misses me dearly. Shout out to Koda! I have truly had such an amazing time down here, i love that even after my third trip down here I am still learning more, expanding my knowledge, and shaping my opinions. I'm not quite ready to leave, but I'm looking forward to seeing you goobers on Saturday. Holla attcha girl.
P.S. I'm currently rocking a "lightening mcqueen" tattoo on my inner bicep. Unfortunately, it's temporary. Sorry dad.

Much love! xoxo
Devon

Solid

Hi mom/grandma, broski,

This week has left me full and tired but has honestly been more than I could have hoped for. There are a lot of people running around the posada and it has been hectic going back and forth between groups. Brrrrrr. I've been left in charge of a few things that probably should have been led by the more experienced people buttt we are all still here and none of the houses have been completely ruined. Rigo and some of the other foreman have started to make more fun of my work so I think I'm doing a solid job. Pops has been a hoot. He's strutin around supervising and teaching us all the ins and outs of the worksite. I am alive. And full. All you need to know is life is good. Holla attcha boi!!

Salutations my people!

Conor  (C-Rob)

Bucket Lines

Hello friends and family! This is Helen reporting about our wonderful day today. First of all my group (blue group) had breakfast this morning so unfortunately I was not able to go to the amazing bakery. Instead I had to wake up at 6:30 and put out food for people. Eduardo started our day off with a powerful talk about the boarder. I think it opened a lot of people's eyes about how different Mexico is then our everyday. There were a few tears during his talk about his life and the struggles him and his friends have gone through. After this we all loaded on to the bus back to the site we went to yesterday and we finished the other side of the concrete. It took a lot of work but I think that we went a lot faster then we did yesterday. Our bucket lines are getting extremely good if I do say so my self. But I would have to say, today's lunch was my favorite! It reminded me of my moms salsa chicken at home... Maybe just a little better. After our work day was over we went back to pacada and got to relax. That was very reviling considering that yesterday was go go go.  I'm a little sad that tomorrow is our last day we have all made such good friends with the people here. 

Not all about the food

Dear Readers,

Today, Saint Michael’s and Sacred Heart went to the same work site as on Wednesday. We spent the day pouring cement to make a floor as well as moving around a lot of dirt and rocks. We shared a delicious meal of beans, rice, and a stew made up of potatoes, carrots, and chicken. Yum! We also visited a store nearby the work site. The owners of the house were very friendly and welcoming. They helped out a lot especially with carrying the heavy buckets. My arms are soo sore!!! Afterwards, we went back to the Pasada and had some much-needed down time while St. Louise went to the orphanage. We did laundry, cleaned dishes, and played a quality game of volleyball in the dark (the ball was impossible to see). For dinner we had delicious French toast, hash browns, sausage, and watermelon. Though I could go into much more detail about our wonderful day, we are all exhausted and ready to fall into bed. We’re all looking forward to sharing our experiences with you all in person in Seattle. Until then, Adios Amigos!

~Rachael

Hello World

Dear World,

Today in Tijuana I was woken up way early by my roommate's alarm, but I ended up being too awake to do anything remotely close to sleeping so I decided to go to the panadería. If no one has mentioned the panadería yet it's a small bakery down on the Main Street that has absolutely delicious pasteries for incredibly cheap. If you only bring a dollar with you you can easily buy three pasteries. ((Ohmygoodness their donuts are actually out of this world.))

After breakfast one of the staff members, Eduardo came and talked to us about immigration and the Mexican-American border. Now if anyone hasn't blogged about HIM well then here it goes, basically he's the volunteer coordinator at Esperanza and he goes and works with groups at various work sites. Just so you can picture him properly, Eduardo has long (and incredibly luscious) locks that go down to his chest, a mustache, incredibly massive arms and nearly every time I've seen him he has had a huge smile plastered on his face and a joke not far behind. 

Today was on the more serious side and he shared his seemingly endless amount of knowledge about immigrating to the U.S. and the amount discrimination Mexicans face, especially; two things that he has been very familiar with for a lot of his life. He told us all about his first hand experiences and difficulties with gangs, and how he completely turned it around when his father died. I personally thought he was incredibly inspiring and I learned more about our border from him than I did from the countless news stories and coverage that I have read/seen over time.

 After learning all about our border and Mexico in general we all headed off to our respective work sites. At my work site we moved roughly 250-300 cinder blocks in one go (which was no problem because of my amazingly chiseled biceps OF COURSE) and finished the second half of the floor. Thankfully lunch was on time today and the wife of the house, Claudia, made a delicious chicken, carrot and potato stew with rice, beans and tortillas on the side.

After heading back to the Posada for a quick shower the St. Louise group headed off towards an all girls orphanage closer into the city of Tijuana. At first it was hard talking to the girls because language barriers and shyness but within half an hour I was having the most fun I've had in a while. The youngest girls loved the cameras,  they ran around taking pictures of anything and everything. You practically had to pry the camera away from them. They all taught us a game and got us to play it with them. They would have a group of people stand against the wall and have people take turns and each have three chances to hit people on the wall with a ball, if you got hit, you were out. The most surprising thing out of all this was that not only did the nuns taking care of the girls start the game, but they also threw the hardest. Right before we left they sang us two songs, one in Spanish and another in English, and then coerced us into singing two of our own. 

Practically every single person I talked to before going on this trip told me that it was amazing and absolutely life changing, and to be honest, up until this day I hadn't really seen that. But those girls at the orphanage, I don't know how they did it, or what they changed, but they moved something in me, something I don't think I'll ever be able to change back.

-Emma Kimmell

P.S. I also recently started rocking a pretty hardcore farmer's tan.

Enthusiasm

Hello everyone!

After a day of demoing and chowing down on some tasty food we were once again crushed by the Esperanza staff soccer players. We enjoyed our selves none the less and definitely held our own for a few rounds. Other than soccer and demo work we thoroughly enjoyed our parties on the bus singing and dancing to whatever was played, although we received strange looks from people on the street our enthusiasm the entire time was a welcome site as we reached the midpoint of our trip. Looking forward to more fun bus rides and enthusiasm the rest of the trip and many more memorable times.

Beep beep signing off.
Brendan H. 

Tijuana Birthday

So this will be a quick one since it is pretty late and we had a lot of activities today! Today was my birthday, and my small group had breakfast duty, which means that I had to get up a half hour or so earlier. I didn't mind since I was planning on going to the bakery anyway, but didn't of course because I made breakfast. Rose brought me back a delicious pink heart cookie though! Today our St. Louise group was split up and we switched sites for the day and we ended up demolishing a house, which was... interesting. The family made an absolutely wonderful lunch for us and were very kind. After that we had some free time which most people used to shower and sleep. I fell asleep on the couch with a couple other people after I got my turn of Brendan's massage's and a game of cards. Dinner was also interesting since the crew slightly burnt some of the pasta but it tasted fine haha. Everyone thought that our infamous soccer game against the Esperanza crew was at 7 pm but turns out we had to leave at 6:20 pm so in the middle of dinner we literally were running to get our stuff. Anyway Brendan wants to blog and go to bed and I said it was going to be short but that didn't happen. Love you all and I will see you soon! (Also, mommy, I got your bajillion messages from multiple people and Zandra was taking lots of picture for you because she knew you were sad.) Bye! Love you! 

Aléxis 

Hard work

Hello to anyone out there reading this blog, today we worked super hard today but it was just as full filling as we had hoped it would be. We enjoyed working alongside each other as well as a few neighbor boys who decided to help out. The food was good as usual, sadly today was our last day working with that particular family. Even though we were only with this family for two days they were still very great full for all that we had done.  We had so much fun working with Eduardo and each other. We are looking forward to the next work site tomorrow.  

Hope you enjoyed reading, see you soon.

Glen

Tuesday

Today we finished poring cement in the foundation at the house we are working at, but first we had to fill in the other rectangle that we were working on yesterday with dirt almost all the way to the top. We really got the bucket line down today!!! With all the dirt and cent dumping that was done today. We tied more rebar today, which is prep for the beams in the ceiling. We only had one load of bricks today which was a nice brake from the like 20 we had yesterday. 

After we were done working today we went to Casa Del Imigrantes which was a nice follow up to our visit to the boarder at the beach yesterday and driving along it and seeing the divide. Casa Del Imigrantes is a halfway house for people that have been deported . We had the director of the place talk to us a little bit about what it is that they do there and how things work for the men that stay there. The men have 12 days there to find a job or get money from family to either try and get back in the sates or go back to their families. They also have doctors, social workers, and a lawyer. The house is there for the men so they have a way to get on their feet after being taken away from where they are use to to a place they might have never been before because most men had lived in the U.S. almost all their lives. 

We had dinner with them and talked to them about their experiences. I talked to two men who wanted to go back to the states because they don't have family in Mexico but one man that I talked to was only in the states for a few days and didn't want to go back. The whole experience was very eye opening to the imagination that is going on and deportation. The man that is in charge of it is very amazing in what he does, he's been doing it for a very long time and is very dedicated to what he does and it shows.

All in all day was very eye opening to everything going on here on the boarder. 

Maddie

Happy to be in the swing

We are all happy and doing well.  The work today was a challenge and definitely tired us out physically.  Our trip to the border tired us our emotionally.  It is 10:09 pm at the Posada at everyone but adults are in bed, good night.

Monday

Hello friends, family and everybody reading this blog!

My name is Sydne from St. Michaels and I will be reporting about the wonderful day we have had today! 

First of all, this morning I and many other teens woke up at 6:15am to go to the local bakery called the Panaterea (I hope I spelled that right) to get some delicious pastries. Such as, custard filled donuts, cookies and etc. Most of us afterwards felt like we were in heaven after eating our baked goods. Haha...

With that, today was great because it was the very first day we got to work on a family's home in Mexico. All of us, St. Michaels, Sacred Heart and St. Louise, couldn't go to the same site so we had to separate into two groups. Since St. Louise and St. Michaels were fairly small groups, we combined into one group and visited a family who once had a house made by Esperanza and wanted to expand on their old house for their growing family lineage.

Our work involved things such as carrying buckets of rocks and dirt, shoveling trenches and breaking down old cement flooring; it was an awesome experience getting to know each other!

Finally, that last great moment of the day was going to the border by the beach and seeing the split between America and Mexico, it was very shocking to see the differences between the two countries, though we were not so far apart.

Overall, today was a spectacular day and I can't wait to experience many more adventures! 

Thank you for reading this blog, I hope you enjoy reading about our many adventures!

God Bless,

Sydne

First day at worksite

Today was our first day on the work site! Some of us were motivated enough to wake up before 6:30 to take an early walk to the panadería and we enjoyed some freshly baked pastries. (They were delicious by the way). After breakfast we loaded up the vans and St. Louise drove to one worksite while sacred heart and St. Michaels headed off to a different one. My group from St. Louise spent the morning moving bricks in a bucket line and tying rebarb. The home owners provided us with a delicious lunch of carrot and potato beat stew along with tortillas, rice and beans. It was very satisfying. After lunch teamwork was essential as we began mixing cement and passing it in bucket lines to fill the foundation of the house. It was definitely a workout but we all had fun and those of us who are new learned a lot of techniques. :) immediately after we left the worksite, we drove straight to the Mexico/USA border on the water and observed the different writing on the wall. While some of the writing referred to religion and god, others said in both Spanish and English that love has no borders. Along the top of the fence, there were small designs of a person holding balloons, almost as though maybe one day they can float up over the fence and be in the USA. This was very interesting to me. After splashing in the water a little, we headed back to the posada. The evening was relaxing as we all showered, ate dinner and enjoyed our free time. Shout out to JT and Ron for allowing a few of us to lay on the giant fuzzy rug in their room. :) I hope everyone back in Washington is having a great week and I just want to let you know that we are doing great! Keep the prayers coming! 

-Rose Thompson of St. Louise 

Tijuana Culture

Today was quite exciting!  Although we did not build houses or lay foundations, we still had a fully packed day. We started the day with mass at the local church, which was down the road from the posada. Even though some of the Trekkers were unable to understand the Spanish, it was still fun experiencing a Spanish mass in Mexico! Later in the day, we travelled to puerto nueva (Newport) which is the Mexican equivalent of pike place market. We had a delightful time bartering for goods and tasting authentic Mexican cuisine while appreciating the beautiful pacific coast. Unfortunately, the tourist part of our journey has come to an end, but we are all excited to get to work in the morning! 

-Chris O'Dore

OMG - by Brenna

OMG!! Mexico I am back, baby!  I have missed you but now that I am back, I want to work harder than ever for you and your citizens.  I can’t wait for the oncoming days to come when all three of the churches are united under two goals; to a difference in someone’s life and strengthen not just themselves but also, their spiritual connection to God.  But speaking of today, it was a ton of fun!  I made friends with the nice stewardesses upon our flight to San Diego.  Their names are Kim, Dena, and Amanda, and they wish to have our flight back.   They are very sweet but I am definitely jealous of their next stop to Cabo. San Diego airport has a rustic, modern feel to it and I give them an impression score of 7.  It was very crowded and people were rude and anxiety was in the air.  One old guy yelled that the poor, swamped Starbucks was killing him because they only had artificial sugar to put in his coffee.  “Well toughen up cupcake and get over it.” (Quote from my book I am reading.)  Being in Tijuana makes you take a step back from your life, from your egotistical ideals, from your bias revelations.  It is so much different from our lives back home. Water that can make you sick, poverty that can make a man desperate to protect his own, garbage all over the lonely, dusty landscape, and barred windows and doors.  So if not getting the right kind of sugar in your coffee or even worse, that you can’t have sugar at all, is all you got to complain about.  Sounds like your living a pretty amazing life to me. Being in Tijuana makes you rethink the way you live, the way you think, and the way you treat the people around you.  Some people may think going to Tijuana is just a feel-joy-and-praise experience, they are very wrong.  Tijuana is alive, full of kind and strong people. Their culture is rich, and their hearts are inviting.  Helping people and building their hopes and dreams is not just a feel-joy, it helps encourages futures and helps make a life worth living.  Thank you for supporting me and helping me get their, mom.

First thoughts

Walking across the USA to Mexico border,  I didn't think it would be like this.

Seeing the less fortunate all around me, men and women selling candy, children wheeling weak elderly on broken down shopping carts. I imagined how Mexico would be like, from geography to climate to weather. I knew that one of the many reasons I was coming here was to help build houses for those who didn't have one. Looking at all these life-story-filled murals and differently made houses as we drove through Mexico, I felt stupid for the times I complained to myself about the times I wish I had a better house, better car, better clothes, better life. 

Later that night,  we read a prayer during our night time reflection called "A Prayer For Those Who Have Too Much", which practically summarized all the thoughts and feelings I felt on our way here to Esperanza's facility. 

       "Forgive me for my greed of always wanting, newer, bigger and better things."

I know that I can never really help myself from eradicating that feeling because it's human nature but I believe that I can try and do something to better myself. Though I felt sadness and sympathy for those I saw suffering here and knowing that there are more in the rest of the world, I felt grateful for what I have waiting for me back home. I hope this feeling of "guilt" will remind me to be selfless and thankful as I serve here in Mexico this week.

As the first day of my first mission trip ends, "I offer you my promise to become more aware of [the] situation and to change my lifestyle as I work for transformation of our world".

Christine Tecson

St. Louise Parish

WA State, USA

Packed and ready!

So exciting, we leave for Tijuana in the morning!  We will spend most of the day traveling but be in LaGloria for dinner and already settled at the Posada.
Teens, don't forget your water bottle, towel, and good work shoes!  Get as much sleep as possible tonight, you will need it stored up for this week.
See you at SeaTac bright and early.  :D

The Foundation: Esperanza International

We will be traveling to Tijuana to help build homes for local families.  This trip would not be possible if it weren't for the organization that is there building community every day.  Please follow the link to Esperanza International to learn more about this amazing organization and the work that they do.
Below is a map of many of the communities that they are active in.  The green building is the location of the Posada where will be living for the week.

View Esperanza in a larger map