Vol. 3, No. 2 Spring 2006

Viviendo Esperanza with Project Mexico

This year I was privileged to be a part of Loyola's Project Mexico team, comprised of program coordinator Andy Goicochea, staff moderators Dave Opitz and myself, and 20 students. This immersion program has several purposes: to learn about social justice issues in the border areas, to serve by working with Mexican people on community projects, to grow personally by reflecting on what we have experienced, and to bring the spirit of Mexico back to Loyola. Our theme this year, Viviendo Ezperanza (Living Hope), proved to be a very fitting one. During the fall, we began our preparation for the trip with weekly meetings and planning for the annual auction that raises money for the trip and for the organizations that we work with in Mexico. On January 3 we began our long-anticipated ten-day trip to Mexico. The first night we stayed at Rancho Nazareth, an orphanage for boys in Tecate, where we played with the boys and distributed presents. After a day of soccer and relaxing in the Mexican sunshine, we headed to Tijuana where we would spend most of our time. The trip was coordinated by Los Niños, a community organization that works with schools, women's groups, and orphanages, and also organizes trips for U.S. students. The Los Niños staff were kind, enthusiastic, and knowledgeable, and made sure that the program ran smoothly. Tio Juan, our bus driver, always had a joke and smile.
Along with parents from the local schools, we typically spent our mornings mixing and pouring cement for school yards. After a wonderful lunch prepared by the parents, we played sports or games with the children. Some of the children, such as Victor, a first grader with Down syndrome and a bright smile, made a lasting impression. In the afternoons we visited the border, a local factory, and other organizations. During the evening we often had a speaker or night-time reflection, but there were also trips for tacos and ice cream.

Visiting the border was a powerful experience and I was reminded of the Robert Frost poem "Mending Wall," which plays upon the proverb "Good fences make good neighbors." I was immediately struck by the contrast between the beauty of the beach and the ugliness of the fence, much of which was built from scrap metal from Desert Storm. Large posters display the names of the nearly 4,000 who have died trying to cross the border since the mid-1990s. Behind the initial fence there is a strip of land patrolled by the U.S. border police and then a new, very high, seemingly impenetrable fence built by the United States at a cost of about $1 million per mile. One night we stopped at a different section of the fence where crosses have been attached with the names of those who did not make the trip across. We also visited a house run by Catholic priests for men who had been deported from the U.S. or were planning to cross the border. The men openly discussed their situation as we ate dinner with them. Everywhere we went people were friendly and expressed no rancor toward the U.S.; while we became aware of their struggles, we were also inspired by their inner strength, faith, and good nature. We had an opportunity to visit one of the hundreds of factories that line the border. The factory owner, an American who lives in San Diego, gave us a tour of his business, which makes the interiors for airplanes; it seemed well-run and offered some advantages to employees. We also learned that some of these businesses, such as a battery factory abandoned by its American owner, are causing serious pollution problems. The minimum wage in Mexico is about $4 per day (not hour) and workers, typically women, are on the job six days a week. And the cost of living is not correspondingly low; I paid about $3.50 for a gallon of milk.

At the beginning of our trip we flew into San Diego, and I was struck by its beauty and thought I would like to return another time. By contrast, the hills around Tijuana are covered with everything from ramshackle dwellings made of scrap lumber, metal, or even cardboard, to nicer stucco houses. Poorer people will often build a shelter with whatever materials and space are available, and then gradually improve it as their income grows. Although the land is very dry with no grass, many houses, as well as the hibiscus and bougainvillea that grow nearby, are brightly colored. Lights of many hues dot the hills at night. I came to appreciate the variety and vividness of this landscape; San Diego seemed rather bland when we passed through it on the way home. While I would not welcome the hardships experienced by those who live in Tijuana, I came to appreciate the warmth of the people, the religious faith that strengthens them, and the vibrancy of their culture. I hope to try to do more to help those less fortunate economically, and I also hope that one day conditions on either side of the border will be so nearly equal that a fence is longer necessary. Or as Robert Frost begins his poem, "Something there is that doesn't love a wall…"

Click to see a presentation of the Project Mexico trip.