We filled into the cars ready for our first efforts to create a home for Marta; a member of the Esperanza Foundation who has worked alongside all of us for the past few days. Marta, her husband, her sons Roberto and Uriel, and her daughter Teresa have been members of the foundation for eight months and Uriel is the hardest worker south of the border! We arrived at the site and set up teams to divide the workload. Twelve members of our team were sent to our previous location to lay the foundation to prepare for the creation of the walls. The remaining pierced their shovels into the harsh ground ready to dig fifty-two inches deep to create a perimeter. We uncovered many hidden treasures including an old bath mat, a lion head ring, seven tires, and the casing to a car battery.
After lunch we started the meticulous process of removing the dirt from the trenches ten feet away. What seemed chaotic and unorganized turned out to be a successful and fast method. We worked together singing while lifting bucket after bucket almost effortlessly. However, our work was stopped short with an impromptu meeting with the ladies of the community. This gave us the opportunity to meet the women in these homes, working with us, and serving us lunch day after day. We learned of the compassion that developed between them because of the program and how they chose to work together to see each individual family succeed in building their very own home.
Tuesday, we had a very special chance to watch a documentary regarding the “Maquiladoras”. The documentary revealed the harsh conditions workers face day after day. The employees worked long hours each day engulfed in fumes that for many caused nose bleeds, leukemia, and skin ailments. Foreign companies came to Tijuana hoping to find cheap labor. This documentary gave us some insight into the real conditions these people work in, which is usually masked to the public. Marcel organized a tour for us in the Tyco Industries factory. The director informed us that workers were treated much differently than what we saw in the documentary. We remained skeptical as we entered the work site and found the fumes to be nauseating. When we asked our tour guide why the men and women who work 10 hours a day in this stench aren’t wearing masks, he informed us that the adhesives were water soluble and were not legally required to have them wear masks. We were in the space for only minutes and many of us felt light headed. The tour guide seemed to be more interested in us being well informed about Tyco products rather than the overall well-being of the factory workers.
Before arriving back to the Pasada, Eduardo brought us to the border that extended into the ocean. We were able to take in the beauty that Tijuana has to offer as we looked into the horizon and enjoyed some frozen platanos. To the right of the beautiful beach, the plentiful food, and the wonderful people stood this ugly fence covered with rust that deterred the serenity of the rest of the scene.
Tonight we are taking some time to dwell on our thoughts and observations and will be meeting tomorrow to share more about border relations.
Nosotros (somos) Awesome signing off!!
No comments:
Post a Comment