Muscles I didn't know I had

So my name is Cindy Gaul and this is my first year on the Esperanza service trip.  I grew up in the San Diego area, so I am no stranger to Tijuana.  We spent many fun times shopping on Revolution Ave., camping in San Felipe and eating lobster at Rosarita Beach.  My main reason for coming on this trip is because my daughter Hannah is a co-leader senior from the College of Wooster and she has been begging me to come with her for 4 years.  She has always been very excited about what is being accomplished here.  Also, she will be moving here in July as a one-year permanent volunteer, and I really needed to see for myself what exactly they do here and also where she will be staying.

I am so glad that I made the decision to come.  So many things that I have experienced in the short time that we have been here.  We have visited the border and seen the wall.  We went to Sunday morning mass at the Catholic church down the street.  We shopped on Revolution Ave. and also visited the Tijuana history center.  We have eaten some truly amazing food.  We visited the Migrant house for men which helps men that have been deported.  We went to a Xolos soccer game.  Today we visited an orphanage for girls 5-12 years old.  We made necklaces and bracelets and played with balloons.  They sang for us before we left.

I guess I am most impressed with the resilience of the Mexican people.  It is a society rich in culture and tradition, family and values.

Some things that I have seen that are heartbreaking have been people trying to touch each other through the wall, even though the opening is only big enough for maybe a pinkie.  A mom and her children sitting outside the wall talking to a man who I assume is her husband and the children's father.  Men who have lived in the US for 5, 10, 28 years, who are suddenly deported, leaving behind spouses, children and extended family and have no idea where they are going or whether they will ever see their families again.  I am not talking politics or immigration laws or regulations, I just know as a mom with a family, this is heartbreaking.

The family we are helping with their home are here because the dad, Arturo, was deported.  Their two girls are American citizens.  The mom, Luce, left behind her whole family, who are American citizens.  So, we are helping them try to rebuild their lives by building them a new house.  We have been hauling blocks, buckets of cement and buckets of dirt.  And yes I am finding that I have muscles I never knew I had.  Hasta Luego, Cindy Gaul