Rio Bravo, Mexico Men's Construction Team

First day went well. We arrived early so we did a little shopping at WalMart and ate some good ol’ chic-fa-le. We didn’t have any trouble crossing into the border. A federali inspected our vehicle a little bit but eased up when we told him we were a church group going to build some houses. As we crossed there was a slight silence. A few questions like “do the people really live in those houses?” and remarks of grief, thinking we had it bad in the U.S. It’s a true eye-opener seeing such poverty and observing them being thankful for the things they do have. They might not have an Xbox 360 or the newest purse—actually most of them don’t even have shoes, but what they do have is their family. The smiles on their faces playing soccer in rubble that you wouldn’t even want your dog to walk on, but they’re truly happy and that’s all that matters.We unpacked and set up everything early so we hit the town. Headed to the famous “shed” for some good ol’ Mexican tacos, where a wonderful guy came up and sang for us (wait until you see the video). Second day started a little bumpy, my alarm didn’t go off. I’m lucky I made it to breakfast—thanks to my brother. We loaded up the vans with lunch and water and headed out.

Arrived at the worksite, anxious and excited. Gloves on, boots tight, ready to rock n roll. Our bricks were quite a bit further from the house than we wanted, but so were team #3’s. So, being the nice gentleman of team #2 we marched over to help them move their bricks onto the foundation where the house will be built. (For some reason team #1 was nowhere to be found. It figures—ha-ha. We were successful in moving all their bricks, so they returned the favor. We got to work. Guys started sifting gravel and preparing for the mixture of mud (cement). Then the fun began—laying bricks, letting the meistro (boss) fix all our mistakes so the walls weren’t built crooked. Then the fun started falling out of the sky—shaped in little raindrop forms. Some continued to work while others took shelter under a pavilion. Then it started raining really hard, so we couldn’t exactly make a good quality product with a wet soupy cement. At that point we went for shelter. Then magnificently it started hailing. Yes: hailing! In Mexico! We headed hurriedly to the vans. Getting back to the VIM. Calling it a day just in time for lunch. As everyone gathered I began looking for my brother to share some stories.

At one point along the way we noticed a car was on the side of the road, knee-deep in water. A woman’s head popped out, a face begging for help. Her car was stuck in the mud and there was another woman and a toddler inside. So I asked if I could help. I got into her car, took about five minutes but I got it unstuck and had to drive it down the road to dry land. If you could have seen the woman’s face of gratitude, it was amazing.

I’ll keep you posted!
Shannon Ortman