“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” -Margaret Mead
Happy New Year friends!
As we reflect back on 2018 and all of our adventures, the greatest and most meaningful experience we had as a family was our trip down to Ensenada, MX to build a house for the working poor with Baja Bound. The family we built a home for had been sleeping on the dirt floor of their relatives’ shack. They are a young couple with a baby son. We got to meet and spend some time with Ana and her son, Eric, while Ana’s husband went to work each day. They had been saving money for years to be able to buy the $5000 piece of land and apply for the Baja Bound program to have a house built for them. They waited 1 1/2 years and finally were able to see their dream come to fruition.
Ensenada is about 2 hours south of the US border. We drove down from San Diego and crossed at the Tecate border to avoid all the congestion at the Tijuana crossing. It was a beautiful drive through mountains and wine country. When we arrived at the site we got straight to work.
Baja Bound is amazing! They have the process down pat. All the supplies were there ready to go and the tried and true plan was set into action. Groups started organizing, hammering, painting and constructing the first four walls.
Everyone was working in small groups and it was amazing to see how fast things came together.
There were about 10-12 kids in our group and I questioned whether or not they would be able to truly be helpful, and to my surprise, they were extremely helpful! They painted and hammered and spackled like pros!
By the end of the first day we had the walls up and much of the painting completed.
Throughout the 3 days we also got to experience other service opportunities. We went to the nearby community center where they make over 100 meals to feed the local families on Saturday. We helped serve the meals and clean the center afterwards.
We also collected funds and the kids helped shop for food and necessities for 23 migrant families living in tin stalls on their employer’s property.
We made care packages and delivered them, along with donated clothing we all brought down, to the families.
It was eye opening for our children to experience this. They witnessed a whole other world and saw how their efforts and actions could help bring some light to others less fortunate.
Back at the house everyone worked hard to get the roof up and dry wall installed.
The house has a living area and two small bedrooms. There is also a loft. Our little family enjoyed our time hammering and drywalling up in the loft. It was a fun and bonding experience.
Sitting on the roof enjoying the sunset was one of the many perks!
After completing the house, we had a blessing ceremony. It was such a joy to be able to hand the keys over to Ana and present her with her new home!
This was definitely an experience that our family will remember fondly forever! We worked hard and loved every minute of it!
If you’re interested in joining a service trip down to Mexico to help build a house for those less fortunate, check out BajaBound.org. We hope that you create magical family memories together and that it fills your cup as much as it did ours!
