Tijuana 2010 is a GO!!

Just wanted to update after a long silence….great news:

Tijuana 2010 is a go!!

We’re building another house!

We’re taking more school bags and fair trade soccer balls!

We Need your help!!!

Our housebuild fund is starting to get money pledged…we have somewhere around 2600 – That’s almost halfway!!

Check out the link to giving at the top of the page if you’d like to partner with us!

cheers

james

Excerpt from the Ground #2: Showing Love with a 13 Dollar Soccer Ball

I never knew that a soccer ball could change a child’s life, but over spring break ’09 nineteen other Canadians and I got to see 52 fair trade soccer balls change hundreds of children’s lives. Working alongside Younglife and Love Tijuana our group of twenty got the amazing opportunity to spread God’s love to the people of Tijuana, Mexico. During our six day trip we built a house in Terrazas, gave food and milk to families living at “the river” (poorest part of Tijuana), gave out 76 school bags, and 52 soccer balls.

Something I will never forget was an amazing experience where our group got to give twenty soccer balls to a school. Once the young students of the school saw what we had brought it was nothing short of a mob, who knew that twenty fair trade soccer balls could make over three hundred kids jump and scream to the point where we were all overwhelmed and even a little scared. What was so amazing was knowing that the balls we were giving to these kids were fair trade- no child labour, and the company’s factory is in Pakistan and pays all their employees fair wages. It was great to give a gift that you knew in no way had been part of exploiting someone by not treating them fairly.

There is no feeling like giving a soccer ball to a child who dreams and talks about being a soccer player, but doesn’t have the money to buy a one. To them, every gift we gave was so much more than it appeared to us, it wasn’t just a ball, it was hope that someone cares about what they go through every day and is willing to do something about it. To see the kid’s faces light up when they got a soccer ball and to see the tears of joy in their parent’s eyes brought the trip in to perspective. What does twenty Canadian teens and leaders travelling thousand of miles to come to a place where hope is strong but means are not look like to a family who received a house, to the families that were given food, to the kids who got school bags and to the neighbourhoods of kids that now have soccer balls to share and enjoy together?

The gift we all got from giving joy to those families and children far out- weighs the true fact that our group couldn’t help everyone and that we couldn’t give to everyone we saw, because we just didn’t have enough, but that feeling swells up in you and makes you want to go back and have twice as much to give. So maybe one day everyone will know that they are worth so much more than the property the government won’t let them own, or the food they can’t always give to their children. They need to know and be shown how precious they are, and we need to show them.

- submitted by Cordell W.

back on the ground…

prayer, originally uploaded by James Matthew.

{photo caption: it is an important tradition that we pray with our team and family around the foundation of their new house before we begin building. Everything stops, while we pray a blessing on the family, on our work, and on what will be their new home}

We’re home from the amazing TJ 09 drop and house build.

Wow.

This trip was mindblowing to say the least – here’s the short:

1 house build for the Maqueda family – a beautiful family – we got to spend 3 fantastic days with them… Gustavo, their middle son (the Maquedas have 7 children), is our sponsor child. We got to work, play, and even cook alongside these beautiful people.

1 Factory RESCUE – probably the most important thing we did on this trip. Thanks to some of my students from last trip, we were able to offer Ana, 14, a chance to get out of factory work, child labor, and go back to school. This was life changing! We’re so happy she said yes to rescue, and we’re in the midst of setting up her school registration…

52 Fair Trade Soccer Balls – 20 of which were given to a school for children who can’t afford normal school.

76 School Bags - hand delivered to kids who need ‘em.

40 food packs – handed out @ the river (aka ‘No Esperenza’ = no hope) – an illegal squat that is surrounded by factories. We were able to assemble 40 bags, with rice, beans, and the bags for families with children included vitamin enriched milk.

Countless other stories. We’ll try to get some up asap.
Stay tuned…

-james

TJ 09 – Two days away…

Just wanted to update and let you all know that on Saturday afternoon we’ll be pulling into Tijuana in style – 16 fantastic teens, 4 crazy leaders, 52 fair trade soccer balls (a big thanks to James @ social conscience for setting us up with such a great deal!) and 75 school bags to give away to children down there….oh yeah, and one house to build.We’re stoked to see our sponsor child, Gustavo, again, and build a house for him and his family…this is a once in a lifetime thing!!

Thank you so much for your support. Please keep us in your prayers if you are the prayin’ kind of person. It is always an intense trip.

Also, please pray for Ana – we are going to see if she is willing to leave her life of factory work to return to school and get an education. If she is willing, we are going to help her out – some kids from my school (who were on the 08 trip) decided to raise money to help support putting her into a private school after hearing her story last year. I met Ana two years ago, when the team I was helping lead stuccoed her family’s house. Ana wrote the test at the end of gr.7, and didn’t get a high enough grade. Now she works in a sewing factory for 10 hours a day, and rides a bus for about 3 hours to and from work. She probably makes about 10 dollars a day, if she’s lucky. Ana is about 14 or 15.

This is huge, perhaps the most important part of our trip, but Ana and her folks need to agree with the idea before we can act. If they say yes to this rescue, then perhaps we can help break the cycle of poverty in her family by helping provide Ana with an education that could get her a decent job.

I’ll update the blog when we hit the ground again in Canada. Here’s hoping for an amazing trip of spreading hope in practical ways…

cheers,

james

House build Spring Break 09 is a GO!

Just a quick update – to say that it looks like we’ve covered the cost of one house build for Spring Break ‘09!!

I sent in the last $25 this afternoon, and, if our numbers are right, that’s it for the $6500!!

Fantastic!! I’m so stoked for the CWAC/Young Life ‘09 Spring Break trip!

If you are wanting to support us, have no fear! We still have a minimum of 50 fair trade soccer balls and 50 school bags to fundraise for…please help us share hope!

A huge thank you to all of you who’ve supported this house build fund- we couldn’t have done it without you!!

cheers,

james

house {re}build

hillside, terrazas, originally uploaded by James Matthew.

I just read this afternoon that there was a fire in Terazzas, Tijuana, where our team worked last year. Ten houses were destroyed.

Our team spent a week last year working in this area, stuccoing 2.5 houses and painting. We got to know and work with some of the families, and I got to visit some of them with a few students in September, dropping off school bags, soccer balls and some small gifts.

We know people in this community, and, while I received word that friends like Ana and Heime are safe, we still feel ties to the people there.

I’m happy to say that about half an hour ago, I got the nod – one of the houses we will be building on spring break will be rebuilding for some of the fire victims.

Our spring break goals just got a little bit more important in my head…

in hope,

james

Giving made easier…

Things are amping up for our Spring Break trip to Tijuana – we currently have a team of 20 students and Young Life leaders, and are working on various fundraisers for our house builds. Next week, we’re hoping for a packed living room for a rockin’ house concert featuring Conor Searl and Colin McTaggart – slick. We’re also finalizing our TJ o9 team t-shirts (on organic sweatshop free shirts, of course).

We’ve also made it easier to give – You can now send funds to Childcare Worldwide for backpacks and fair trade soccer balls, as well as for our house builds. They’ll issue tax receipts for any donations over 20 dollars. Slick!

Click on the ‘give!‘ link at the top of the page to read more about helping us spread hope!

cheers,

james

Notes from the Ground: Sept. 23rd. Tijuana

the view, originally uploaded by James Matthew.

An excerpt from my notebook-

___________________________

Sept. 23.o8

We ended up working on 4 different houses scattered across the hillside today – putting tarpaper and chicken wire up – cramped working conditions, and very rough living…

Last winter a mudslide left a few feet of mud and debris in some of the houses, one house up the hill has no floor (and probably that is the norm here), just a tar paper covering. The house next door to it has a tarp ‘roof’ that leaks whenever it rains. The other house has tarantulas coming through holes in the walls – they have young children…

It is very hard to look people in the eyes as they try to communicate their needs (after trying to translate in your head) and give them an answer that is worthy…

_______________________________________

Our team worked on the side of a hill that appeared like something out of the Middle East – It was rocky, sandy, and windblown. Some of our team had to lug bags of cement, wood, and tools up the hill in the hot TJ sun. The view was an amazing reminder that the living conditions here are not unique…at one point, I had to walk down the hill with a local lady to talk with Carley about trying to get her tarp roof replaced with something a little more stable (her house is the one on ’stilts’ shown below, and is highest up on the hillside). It was difficult to face this lady and tell her there wasn’t much I could do. Carley’s response was graceful but practical – we’ve already committed ourselves to help certain families on this hill, and we only have so much to go around, but we do come back, and we will do what we can.- This is definitely a hard lesson to learn…

-james

hillside, originally uploaded by James Matthew.

new goals!

We’ve posted our dreams and goals for 08-09!

Just click on ‘goals’ at the top of this page, or click here.

Our first big push is for January 15, 09, as we need to have funds in place for our two, yes, two, house builds for Spring Break. This is so that we can line up our contractor, and get everything in order for the build.

So, that translates into money.
Two Tijuana house builds = 11,000 dollars (Update, Dec. 7th. Due to the changing Canadian dollar, our construction costs have risen – that means a new total of 13,000 for two TJ houses…).

Now for the good news: We’ve already started! We had an over run of 1600 dollars from our fundraising for the Sept. House build, and I was also handed an envelope with 330 dollars in it today by one of my amazing students, who helped build our 08 house (and she’s also coming with us to build the 09 houses!).
So, that leaves us with 9,070 (11,070) dollars to raise by January 15th.

You can donate to Childcare Worldwide for the house builds – just follow the instructions under the ‘give’ link on our site, and you’ll get a tax receipt for any donations over 20 dollars. The easiest way to donate is online, at Childcare Worldwide’s website.

Donate Online to Homes for Mexico on Childcare Worldwide’s website, and then e-mail Pamela Poblacion at ppoblacion@childcareworldwide.ca . In your email, state the donation is to go towards the Cameras With a Conscience Housebuild.

We definitely need your help in making these dreams become a reality!
-james

Notes from the ground 1: House Day – Sept. 24/08

death grip, originally uploaded by James Matthew.

——————-
From my notebook:
What a day! Wow! I’m very tired, so I will summarize:
A house build, in about 7 hours! The foundation was done when we arrived in Lomas in the morning of what would prove to be one very hot day. So we put the house together, from framing to painting, trusses to tarpaper and shingles, trim, drywall, mudding, and electrical.
An amazing accomplishment! I was given the honor of presenting the keys to the family and giving a blessing on the house. A humbling and mind blowing experience – I am blown away!
——————

Imagine, if you will, a group of 28 people (24 crazy grade 12 students, and 4 even crazier adults) converging on a small cement pad at around 900 in the morning in the developing community of Lomas,TJ. We spent one amazing day there, working side by side, sometimes shoulder to shoulder, on a house that is a bit bigger than a two car garage. On a side note, it is an amazing thing that there were no injuries, as we were literally shoulder to shoulder in some spots, swinging heavy framing hammers, moving wood around, etc. When we arrived, the foundation was ready to work on, so our group did the rest of the house build.

At this point, I’ll relate that our contractor usually spends a solid day building this type of house with his professional team. Our group of students completed the house in the same amount of time as a professional team. Extreme Home Makeover has nothing on us!

By the end of the day, there was a beautiful red 2 bedroom house, complete with a sleeping loft and a great room, white trim, 4 windows, and a strong front door. By the end, there was a group outside doing an impromptu children’s program, while a small group was rushing to finish electrical and mudding, with Carley (our guide and host) popping his head in the door every few minutes to tell us how much time was left – it was hard work to the bitter sweet end, with the last few minutes being spent in one very sweaty loft trying to put the finishing touches on the mudding. I think I sweat out a few pounds in that loft.

The most amazing moment was having about 30 people cram into the house with the family to sing to them, and pray with them that their house would be a place of peace and happiness. I (james) was given the huge honor of handing over the house keys and giving a small speech and blessing over the house. It was an intensely raw and humbling moment.

Then there was laughter and applause, and many hugs and tears of happiness for our house family.
It still gets me when I think of this moment.

Thank you so much for helping us make this crazy dream a reality!
What a gift to give this family! Just a little note about them: Dad is a truck driver, and makes about 8 dollars a day. Mom stays at home and cares for their 4 beautiful children.
This house is our way of saying we care for the Reyez family – that we want them to be safe, warm, dry, and happy.

Stay tuned, I’ll post more notes from the ground, and our goals for 09 are coming soon (and I’ll tell you now, they’re pretty mind blowing!!)

-james