Like all other trips I have taken, this one started out the same. I took the same procedures to prepare for this trip as I would any other. First I picked out everything I would need to wear for ten days. I picked out all the accessories that I would need, such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, and hair brush, etc. and packed all of that. Nothing electrical was allowed on the trip, which meant no curling irons, no electric shavers, no electrical anything. For most of us girls, it was a hardship to deal with. The emotional and mental trials I experienced on this trip have affected my lifestyle and have influenced me to become the person I am today.
I arrived at the church around 5:30 am with all the others going on the trip, and for some apparent reason, I was so awake. Maybe it was the realization that once again I would be in a place totally new to me, with different values and views in life than our group of people had. Also, the amount of work we’d have to do that week was on my mind as well. Of course, there’s also that feeling of backing out at the last moment because I would miss my boyfriend, my mother, and my friends. I then realized that I needed to go and do this, soI ended up going just like I always do. It was about 7:00 am when we arrived at the airport, and by 8:00 am, we were all through baggage and security just waiting on the plane to begin boarding.
Anticipating the week ahead, I calmly watched out the window of the plane as we flew across land that looked so awkward, because it looked like a bunch of squares connected by lines that you weren’t able to tell if they were people, cars, or trees. Then all of sudden, I knew we were almost to our destination because the plane itself started to thrust downward, and the bumpy air turbulence started to set it on my body. The plane smacked into the runway, as if we were in a car slamming on its breaks.
We made it safe and that was all that mattered to me. Soon after we landed, a bus came to the airport and took us to our camp site, where we would stay for the remainder of the week. My first reaction as I stepped outside was, “I’m in for a rude awakening, because I have never been exposed to mosquitoes this big, nor had I ever imagined just how hot it was there.
At this camp, there were probably 8-10 different youth groups helping out and another group that made up the crew that ran the camp itself. Every night at 7:00pm, there was a church service that we must attend. At this service, we described what happened that day at our sites and if we had special things occur as well. I mean we were physically building a house from pieces of pre-cut wood, and we had to build the foundation ourselves, paint the house, put on the roof, and attach windows, doors, and flooring.
I began to get scared by the middle of the week, because we were not making good progress and I did not think we would get to finish the project. Wednesday was the second to last day we had to work on the house. When our group arrived at the site, our whole roof was put on the house. It was like a prayer had been answered from the “big guy upstairs”.
The remaining tasks left us busy all day long. About five of our crew members grabbed one of the heavy tools called a hammer, and with arm-breaking force, we slammed those nails into the wood for the see through windows. We then applied the hinges for the doors by screwing in the bolts in a hard, circular motion into the wood. Also, we cleaned the house and started the job of taking brushes, rollers, and anything we could use to pain the house. We probably spent hour after hour rolling the brushes in the thick, chunky liquid and applying them towards the house. By 5:00pm, we were done and thankful to accomplish such big tasks in so little time!
When I first arrived to my work site, the little Mexican children were very skeptical as to whether they should talk to me, ignore me, or just run away. It was very sad to see them living in a hot, dry, clutters of trash pilled up everywhere, and very dusty environment. The family that I was assigned to lived in a one room house, with practically no roof, barely any food, no running water, and maybe only one or two complete outfits of clothing, which were covered head-to-toe in holes.
The ironic thing was they were the happiest people I had ever met in my entire life. The look in those people’s eyes as we were about to leave were so painful, because by the end of the week they didn’t want us to leave. I have never felt so wanted and appreciated until that moment. I didn’t want to leave those kids because they had made the highlight of my week.
This trip really changed me as a person, because I used to take everything for granted and complained when I did not have what I wanted. It was like a big cultural/reality check for me when I entered Reynosa, Mexico because I learned that you do not have to have everything to be happy and appreciative.
If I had to recommend this trip to someone, I would definitely do so. It is life rewarding to help someone without expecting anything in return and knowing that what you did made them really fortunate and happy. Spending time with people of different ethnicity and cultural background will make you realize just how good things are here in the United States and just how fortunate we should do.
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1 comment:
Wow!!!!! That is a very touching blog. I'm speechless. It's so cool that you went somewhere beyond your comfort zone to volunteer. I would be too scared to do that. I really don't know what to say about this blog. KUDOS!!!!!!!!
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