The second day…

Hey, my name is Nikki and I am a school of leadership student this year. This week I have been lucky enough to be a part of the 2009 Penticton annual trip to Mexico.  I have spent the last couple of days working with a few students who are a part of something so much bigger. While getting to know and chatting with a lot of students, who I am sure I will come to call great friends, I have been able to watch the full construction of a house. Although,  we are building a house for a family who was previously living in what could be called by Canadian standards, shambles,  we are building so much more, a future,  and a sense of hope. Within our group we are also building, friendships and for many students we are expanding their pool of knowledge about the world surrounding us. It is not difficult to see the process coming along, not just the walls going up but smiles growing on the faces of family members and children from the community.One the second day of the build, my job was   ‘site photographer’, what that meant was the I spent the day on the roof of the bus taking photos and admiring the progress being made on the house. I found it completely incredible to watch a very diverse group of people, some of whom have never been to Mexico before, or even held a hammer before working alongside those who are on one of many house builds. Together, the group went from nothing to something basically overnight.  From the roof of the bus, I watched the walls go up, and the roof carefully placed on top. It was a great way to see the entire build take place as well as work on a pretty solid tan. It is pretty safe to say that we have a very cohesive team because we are flying along,  we were even able to take the afternoon off of work for a little relaxation and a soccer game, Mexicans vs. Canadians. Inevitably, the Canadians lost haha.

I feel so lucky to spend time with so many amazing people. The students in our group are so enthusiastic about everything going on, well except painting, but the point is that their thirst for knowledge about the family and the Mexican people encourages me to learn more myself.  We have spent the last couple of days playing soccer, painting a few houses, nailing, putting tar on the roof and all over ourselves as well as shopping at the mini-Mexican market, long story short we are immersing ourselves into what is around us.