The Mexican Rooster Wake-Up Call

The morning started bright and early today with the help of the neighbourhood roosters. What else to do but get up and on our way? It was another hot day, we toured the sites, met the families we will be building for and getting to know this week and hit a couple of previous Hero Holiday builds. A before shot of one of the structures that a family was living in. They tore it down when the floor was poured and in six short days will be moving into a new place with walls, windows, and a roof that will keep out rain. An awesome group of good-lookin’ young Canadians standing on the pad for Site 2.

Lunch on a rocky beach by an old sunken ship.The Awareness Tour continued and we visited the field…dry, dusty, sun-shiny lot…where we will be hosting the soccer camps. Some of the local kids were around, as usual, and are getting geared up for Thursday’s game. It will likely be another game of Canada vs. Mexico, let’s see who wins this one.Part of the Awareness Tour is learning about the different social issues that are effecting the people here who live in poverty. We visited the day care that the last wonderful Hero Holiday group worked on. Day cares are an important part of education here, and not just for the wee ones who attend it. Day cares allow the older siblings, kids who are 7, 8 and 9 years old, to go to school. Without day cares, the older siblings would be at home during the day, taking care of the younger ones while their parent or parents go to work.Other struggles that people in this area have with education is birth registration. We talked about this as well as the Millennium Development Goals and seeing them at work in Mexico. We learned about displaced people, refugees in our world and more about Mexican culture. Lots of time on the bus today, seeing what the Northern Baja looks like and meeting people. Topped of with a trip to the local street market, taco’s for dinner and a sunset by the ocean. A cultural day, thanks to the early start by another cultural standard, our friends, the roosters.The tools are packed, the teams are ready, we are getting out there and starting to pound nails tomorrow!