Mexico

Mexico was absolutely amazing. Definately my favourite visit so far. To start at the start, I got up early on the first day (Saturday) and went to Amor Ministeries, where 10 of us piled into 4WD's and drove about 45 minutes into Tijuana, Mexico. I was the youngest in the group except for a 10 year old daughter who came along too, and over the next 3 days we build the frame, wired and papered the walls, and then covered them with concrete, of a 2 room house for them to live in. The family consisted of the Grandmother, 2 parents (who had been married since she was 15 and he was 17), a 6 year old girl, 4 year old girl and a 2 year old son. The total weekly income for the family is $80, and they all sleep in one bed, in what was a leaking, insecure house. If that's not enough, the younger girl had a small tumor on her back, which required her to have 3 doctors, and took almost all of their income. Because of theft, they have barbed wire fences right around their property, and use a drop dunny which is not the cleanest I have ever seen! Drugs are also a big problem in this area, and most of the people around them were living in similar conditions.

Despite all of this, they were one of the happiest, most welcoming families that I have ever encountered, and there is something about their appreciation for what they have and the simplicity of there needs that was just beatiful, and I think can teach us a lot about what is important in our lives, and the values that we have. On the first day that we were there, the 2 girls went and put on their best dresses and danced around for us- and they were more proud of those dresses (which were lovely but would not be considered exceptional by western standards) than any child with and new toy. Because that was what they had to share with us- their favourite dresses- and they loved doing it.
The language barrier was a bit of a challenge for me, but there were moments when it just did not matter. Like when we first put the door in place, the older girl looked up and her face just lit up. There were no solid walls around the door, but there was now a door and she was so excited. It would have been great to be able to talk to the children, but it also made me a little more aware of how isolated people can feel when trying to communicate to people who don't speak their language.

Overall, it was a magical few days, and I loved the approach that Amor took. They did not choose the families themselves, but worked through local pastors who found families in need. This allowed them to reach out into the community, and one of the Pastors said that 60% of his congregation were there because they had had houses build for the by Amor. They were also not looking for praise or gratitude, but rather just said that this house was from God, and left it at that. We also had a dedication service for the family before we left, where we read the same prayer in Spanish and English, and then gave the family several gifts of things that would help them. Although the outside was complete, the inside was left fairly bare and needing work, as this encourages them to put in some work themselves and really take ownership of the house (although our family helped enthusiastically throughout the build). Overall, a wonderfull experience!