The Week That Changed Our Life

(This will be edited several times over the next couple of weeks and also for those of you who were there, please comment to help add revise, add, or correct the story from below...what I wrote is purely from our memory)

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We just returned from Mexico just over 24 hours ago and I'm still having a hard time adjusting. The hurry, the green, the running water, the flushing toilets...I can't help but feel guilty for how lucky we are to be in a place where the "comforts" are plentiful. Here I am sitting on a leather couch, drinking water, in an air conditioned house . . . I had no idea how much I take for granted until a week ago.

We left on Tuesday (July 1st, 2008) from Portland (Oregon) to San Diego (California). Nicole and I had on our travel clothes with our bags packed with our hot weather work clothes and other items that we thought were necessities for travel and work south of the border. I wish we had brought more...but only if we would have left it there.

For me arriving at San Diego was a surreal experience and here's why: Back in 1994, I traveled to San Diego to volunteer another "mission." This "mission" had us (upon arrival of San Diego) cross the Terminal 1 sky bridge, put our bags down and wait for a bus to take us on a life adventure. When that bus arrived on a cold night in January 1994 a man got out and started yelling at us. This was my first day in the United States Marine Corps.

When we arrived on Tuesday, our instructions were to cross that same sky bridge, put our bags down, and wait for a bus to an experience unknown. The similarity was striking and little did I know that the experience in Mexico would have echoes of that past military experience of the mid 90s.

The buses arrived (minus the yelling drill instructors) and we loaded up all of our gear and climbed in. Everyone (with the exception of Nicole's brother Josh and a few others) was a complete stranger to us. The group on this bus were from Virginia (Arlington area) and knew each other...but not us.

On our drive down we met those who sat close to us along with the two that Nicole and I had agreed to chaperon. In the interest of protecting the identity of these two minors, we'll call them "Hank" and "Mary." I was asked to keep an eye on Hank (age 13) and Nicole was chaperoning for Mary (age 12). Both of them are brilliant young adults that know how to have fun, and can also be responsive/helpful in times of need. Those two had a tremendous impact on us and definitely made the trip memorable.

We crossed at the Tecate border crossing late in the afternoon without any snags. As we rode through Tecate the contrast was apparent immediately that we were no longer in the United States of America. We arrived at Rancho La Paloma roughly 20 minutes after crossing the border.

The ranch was a humble residence that, at first sight, seemed too small to house the 140+ people that arrived in the bus convoy. Everything was a shade of muted brown. The air was dusty. I could feel the sun immediately beating down on top of my head. This was Mexico.

We unloaded our stuff and Nicole and I went to our respective dorms (because of the number of people at the ranch, only a few couples with children were able to sleep in the same room.) My room had 6 beds (3 bunks), while Nicole's had 10 to 20 bunks (she was in the women's dorm.) I dropped my stuff off and returned to the palopa (our main meeting place) for our first meeting.

(Rather than go into the blow by blow of every moment, such as meals, meetings, free time, etc...I'm going to fast forward to the first day at our job site.) Also, here is an overview of why and how this all happened. Each newly constructed house cost around $10,000 in materials. Individuals and churches donated the money needed for the 5 houses that were built on our trip. The families receiving the houses did not earn them, pay for them or necessarily deserve them. The houses were given to them, completely free of charge. This is why the house dedication had such a tremendous impact on the family receiving and all of us who worked to make it happen. Hector, one of the leaders/builders who guides these projects, became interested in helping out when his family was one of the families given a house, over a decade ago.

The home site was a 45 minute bus ride from the ranch (most of it on paved road, but with a sizable portion on dirt.) The site itself is up a hill/mountain looking west toward Tijuana (though we could never really see it...too much pollution.) On our first day the site consisted of cut lumber (2x4's and 2x6's), plywood, trim, drywall, and accessories typical to a house (windows, a door, vents, etc) all of which were positioned on the hillside next to a pre-poured foundation roughly as wide as two parking spaces at a typical mall and roughly the length of three parking spaces. I couldn't believe that we were going to be able to build a house (with a loft) in 3 days.

The first day was all about framing. Amazingly and with very little instruction, we managed to have 4 walls up and nailed together before lunch. In my mind, I thought that at the pace we were going, we would be done early (this tells you how much I know about home building.)

I should take a moment and talk about the homes (that we would be replacing) on the mountain side. They were shacks, sheds, shanties or whatever you call a residences that was a composition of pieces of broken plywood, metal scrap, old garage doors, and abandon buses or vans with boards over the windows. Sprinkled on the hillside were the occasional mobile homes that looked like they had been dropped from 10,000 feet...these were considered the "nice" places compared to the rest. Garbage and filth littered the ground everywhere you looked.

Our house that we were building, known as House One (H1) was amongst 5 that Club Rust would be building that week. Josh (Nicole's Brother) was the lead builder for H2 which was conveniently located 10 feet to the south of our assigned H1. Later on in the week we would all work (teams for H1 and H2) together to complete both houses.

Immediately below our work site was the existing "home" for the future owner of H1. Their home was the size of a single parking space. They had dirt floors and a wall that consisted a garage door, broken scraps of plywood, and hanging sheets to connect them. There was an old mattress to sleep on, a propane heater, and a container for water (which they had to haul up the mountainside routinely.) Just outside the house was an "outhouse" which, without going into too much detail, was a board seat with a roughly cut hole in the center. Their living conditions were unbelievably poor.

As I mentioned earlier, we had all 4 walls up by lunchtime on the first day. Lunchtime was a welcome rest from the heat, dust, and pollution. We had to walk down the mountain side to our lunch (the buses couldn't make it all the way to the home sites because of the condition of the road and the pitch of the hillside.) Our lunches were sandwiches (choice of PB and honey, PB and jelly, or tuna fish) with carrot sticks, some fruit, and oreos (melted by the heat.) We ate for energy and it was delicious.

By the end of "building" day 1 we had walls up and a great start on the second floor (loft) along with some scaffoldings for the next day. We loaded into the bus tired and hungry. Many chatted on the ride home while others slept. By this time this feeling of tired yet satisfied reminded me of the days back in the USMC...hard work, team work, and a sense of accomplishment.

The morning of day 2 on the mountain side was a little slower. We were tired and immediately I noticed that people weren't drinking enough water. After a little encouragement, we picked up the pace and found our groove.

This day was dedicated to building interior walls, the construction and the mounting of the roof eaves, electrical wiring, and the roof itself. Even though we had a slower start we managed to have H1 roofed off (minus the roofing) by the end of the day. It was then that I realized that we still had a lot to do.

After lunch on work day 2, something happened that took us all by surprise. In the midst of all that hammering, yelling, and sawing someone yelled a words that didn't compute for a least 5 seconds..."THIEF! STOP! QUICK! GET ON THE RADIOS!!!" I was just walking off the road when we had a man on a beat up bmx bicycle ride through our work site and grab one of our backpacks and speed down the dirt road at an amazing speed. It seemed like there was nothing we could do. The trucks were blocked in, the man rode down the hill at what seemed to be 30 miles an hour, and we couldn't get to a radio to relay to other vehicles in the area.

After what seemed like an eternity, a jeep (loaded with people) raced down the hill a good 3 minutes behind the man. From my vantage point, the jeep looked like a car competing in the Baja 1000, sliding around corners with a cliff on each curve. Eventually the jeep drove out of site and we heard nothing of the status of the backpack thief.

While we waited for the jeep to return, we found out the contents of the missing backpack: a digital camera, a Blackberry, and other personal effects. The thief had made an excellent choice of packs and it had the potential to yield an excellent return for his risk.

Something should be said for what this guy did. In Mexico, people don't steal for fun, it's a weighed risked based on necessity. This man must have watched us for a long time, wondering how he could steal something without 100+ people grabbing him in the process. The explanation for his risk was explained best when the jeep returned to our site . . .with the backpack.

The rest of the backpack thief story was told by Grace Community Church's Pastor, John, when he hopped out of the jeep. He talked about the terrifying pursuit down the mountain, sliding around corners, bouncing all over the road, the whole time WITHOUT having regained visual contact with the thief. When they got to the valley floor they asked a construction crew if they had seen a man riding down the road with a pack. The crew had seen the man and pointed down a long road to where he had went. After a traveling down that road they could see the thief making his way up the other side of the valley (this was a LONG way from our work site.) Hector, the driver (and one of the heroes of this story) pulled his vehicle in a jackknife position in front of the biker and everyone got out. The man immediately threw down the backpack and rode away quickly. John checked the backpack to ensure that the contents were all still in the pack (though he wouldn't have known if anything was missing either.) Hector and the rest of the group climbed back into the 4X4 and pursued the thief again...this time for a different reason. After another jackknife stop, they stopped the thief again and asked him to empty his pockets (just to be sure) and Hector told the man that everything was going to be okay and the "policia" would not be contacted. Hector asked the man why he stole the backpack and the man explained that he had 5 children at home and he had no job...in essence it necessity that drove him to it. Hector asked the man if it would be okay if they would bless him right there. The man, full of shame, walked toward the 4X4, put his head down on the jeep while the other prayed for him. Afterward, the group gave the man $20 and welcomed him back to the work site for food if he wanted.

This story when it was told to us moved us tremendously when they returned to the work site. It was a wake up call...this is what people have to do to survive (and their families) in this poor portion of the world. I will never forget this thief and I will never have ill will for his attempt. I hope that Hector (pictured left) and John had an impact on his life and helps him see the world in a light that he may have never been exposed to. That experience energized us through the rest of work day 2.

Day 3 on the mountain was vastly different from the previous days. H2 was seemingly behind (but I later realized that they had done a number of things that H1 hadn't yet completed.) H1 had plenty of things that had to be done as well. Most importantly, these houses were supposed to be finished (sheet rocked, roofed, trim, wiring completed, windows installed, and a door hung) by 4:30pm. To top things off, this was by far the hottest day yet.

The heat and the urgency may have lead to a couple of pauses in our operation in the form of injuries. I was on the roof of H2 when I heard someone say "DAVE!!! DAVE!!! WE NEED YOU RIGHT NOW!!!" Dave was our first aid guy (amongst many other vital roles) and when someone called out for him it was usually because they needed first aid.

From my vantage point I could see Julie holding her head and walking up to the road with blood running down her face. Somehow in the heat and rush, a swinghammer stapler had slid off the roof and hit her in the head. Dave immediately jumped off the roof and ran to her aid. After 15 minutes, it was apparent (to our relief) wouldn't need to be transported to the U.S. and that though she couldn't work for the rest of the day...she would recover.

Dave dressed the wound, knotted her hair to act as a suture, and monitored her as she sat in an air conditioned vehicle. Not more than 10 minutes after addressing this injury, another person (Courtney) was hit by a falling 2X4 and Dave had to care for her. Fortunately, Courtney received just a bump on the head and went right back to work. Without Dave and the others with medical training, we would have had to take some of these people off the site and possibly to San Diego for treatment.

The day pressed on and so did the heat. We did manage to get into the groove and though 4:30 came and went, we reached a stopping point around 5pm. The house was 95% done. There were some vents that needed to be installed and the walls would need some mudding, but all in all 2 homes were nearly complete. Also (to our relief) we found out later that Hector and Pablo would come the next day to complete what needed to be done.

At the end of work day 3 was the house dedication. It's important to note that no matter what I write about this dedication it can't possibly capture what it was like. The experience changed me permanently.

Leida, the mother and wife in the family that was receiving the house, walked into it after we gathered in a circle in the main living area. One by one people presented donations and gifts to her. The one gift that stood out at the dedication was a Spanish bible. She immediately started crying and would later explain (through the help of "Mary" our 12 year old translator) through her tears, said that ever since she was 10 years old she has wanted a bible. She was visibly stunned when Julie (with her newly bandaged head) handed her the keys to her new home. All the work, sweat, blood, and tears had paid off and Leida's reaction showed it. Again...this experience cannot be captured in words...I recommend if you want to know what it was like, you schedule a week next year to come. . .if it doesn't change you forever...I'll pay for your trip.

The rest of the time there consisted of relaxing, traveling to Tecate, and visiting an orphanage. There are plenty of details that I have left out in the interest of keeping this short(er) such as the random dogs (that we weren't supposed to feed...but Nicole did anyway because it had the demeanor of our dog back home) or the filthy conditions nearly everywhere. I also left out that we had cold showers every day, slept on rock hard beds, and we couldn't flush the TP in the toilet. We had to use bottled water just to brush our teeth, too. All this and we were considered amongst the privileged in comparison to those who lived outside of the ranch.

(A quick note on the "church" aspect of the trip. There was no preaching involved. Each day before we began to build, someone prayed for the house, for the family receiving the house, and for our day. On the last day of building, as we gathered early in the morning to pray for our day, one of the families receiving a home asked if they could join us in prayer. Just one of many touching experiences we had.)

Nicole and I made some (over 50) amazing new friends (too many to list!) We hope to stay connected with all of them as they each had a tremendous impact on us. The group that we worked on H1 and H2 were primarily from Arlington, Virginia, but we also made connections with people from Seattle area (Shoreline to be exact) and New Mexico.

This was a life changing experience and Nicole and I are still struggling knowing that there is so much need in the world. I suspect that we will be leaving again to do something like this very soon. At the very least we are planning a trip in the next couple of weeks to Arlington to visit those who affected us.

~"Preach the love of God everywhere you go, and if absolutely necessary, use words." Francis of Assisi