Living La Vida Loca

I’ve just returned from four days and four nights in Tecate Mexico. My friend Laura invited me to join her and 170 other people on a working trip with a group called Club Dust. Club Dust was founded more than 40 years ago by one man with a very big heart and an even bigger sense of mission and compassion. Small but sturdy homes are constructed in some of the poorest neighborhoods on the outskirts of Tecate, built jointly with the families who will live in them.  Attending volunteers bring tools for building as well as donations of household items, clothing, toys, etc to distribute to the local people.  This was truly one of the most humbling experiences I have had in my life.

The goal of this trip was to build seven small two-bedroom houses with a nearby, free-standing bathroom.  They have two small rooms with an entry room and an outhouse not connected to the house. There is a bunkbed built into one of the rooms. Often, the families who receive these homes have up to eight people living in them, both adults and children. I wish I could tell you that these homes were what we are used to as a “two-bedroom house” but they are far from it. Yet, they are a vast improvement from the living conditions that the families come from. The local workers lay the foundation and cut the wood needed in advance so that building can move quickly on arrival. This group does both one-day and four-day work trips like this throughout the year.

On the monthly one-day trips, the homes that are built are called “pop-ups” and are smaller and movable. They are movable because the people who they are built for don’t own the land they are living on.  It broke my heart to see so many families living in makeshift huts, using random sheet metal, Styrofoam siding discarded from large factories in the area, pieces of plywood, and any fabric they find to hang over doors and near windows. There are times when the people for whom the pop-up homes are built must relocate so the pop-ups can be moved with them.

On this trip, about 90% of the travelers were Asian from China, Korea, Japan, and perhaps others I didn’t recognize. The balance were from Utah, Florida, San Diego area, and Northern California. The vast majority are affiliated with the Christian church. I was the only Jewish person on the trip and I hope to change that in the future. I am sure that the “word of mouth” that brought many of the volunteers together this time can encourage more religious and cultural diversity. The inclusive behavior, messaging and direction from Club Dust leadership clearly brought to this effort a mission to support others in great need and encouragement to accomplish everything as a team.

The work that was done was a collaborative effort – between the diverse groups that came from the US, the Mexican families who we were building the houses for, as well as many local Mexicans, who pitched in on the efforts. We painted, we hammered, we taped and mudded, and we decorated together.  My first task at the worksite was to paint various parts of siding, and immediately the mother and daughter who would receive the house worked right alongside me. The young girl’s grandfather lives with them and he kept busy helping construct the house.

There were as many young children and teens on this trip as there were adults, and each one helped in whatever way they could. The teenage boys were mainly on the roofs installing the shingles and climbing up ladders to paint places that short people like me couldn’t reach easily. The youngest children decorated the shelving and guard rails for the bunkbeds with paints and markers. I really didn’t see anyone standing back and watching everyone else work.

Voluminous amounts of donations were transported to the neighborhood on buses that carried the volunteers, as well as on the van Laura and I rode into the site. A few other people also chose to drive across the border, and they too brought various donations that had been collected.  Donations ranged from diapers to children’s underwear; clothing for all ages; food, items, toys, sleeping bags, blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, backpacks, household equipment, and even a huge bag of basketballs and soccer balls. We drove one of the buses into a different part of the neighborhood we were in and opened the bus. A few at a time, mothers often with a small child in tow came through and took a bag full of whatever they wanted or needed. Clearly, this was manna from heaven for many of them. There were a few families whose homes had burned down recently – they truly had nothing left.

Heading into a new year, I am filled with trepidation about the state of the world and particularly the direction the US has taken with the installation of an administration I cannot imagine will care at all about anyone in real need.  I know that I and my family are incredibly blessed – not just with material wealth, but with intact support systems and community support.  I know that I cannot as one individual impact the more sweeping changes that may occur, but my experience participating in Club Dust reinforced for me that the best I can do is give of my time, my resources, and my compassion to support and nurture those less fortunate.  I saw this determination and commitment in all the people that I worked alongside. It gave me hope that we can make a difference if we just work together.

Feel free to reach out to me if you want to learn more about the experience I had. Also, the people at Club Dust can also help. This is a TOTALLY VOLUNTEER-RUN organization and a 501c3 (non-profit). 100% of donations go to support the builds and families in need. If you can’t build, donations (monetary or otherwise) are gratefully accepted.

Feliz Año Nuevo!