Habitat for Humanity: Re-Cap

Lisa, PY, Lauren, Boyfriend and I headed to Tecate, Mexico this past Saturday to participate in Habitat for Humanity. Along with being one of the longest days of my life, it was also the most rewarding. We got into Mexico around 7 a.m. and Lisa, PY and I took the painting tasks while J Man and LoBo hammered and nailed away. It got up to 120 degrees so water and Gatorade were our BFFs throughout the day. The family was so grateful and had worked 500 hours of community service to receive this addition to their home. The mom was actually the first woman fire fighter in Tijuana. My favorite was the youngest child, a four-year-old little girl who loved torturing the baby cat and sucking her thumb all while playing with her bellybutton. I had never actually witnessed pure poverty before and it was truly an eye-opening experience. I had to keep reminding myself that the youngest girl was just thankful to have a roof over her head and that running around on concrete floor chasing the kittens was pure happiness for her, that she has never known anything different. We worked until about 6 p.m. and had a closing ceremony where we gave the family a signed letter and the translator read us a letter aloud from the family. There was not a dry eye in that desert by the time we were done. I highly recommend this experience for anyone, it is a day I will never forget. And thank you to Jenner for documenting the day with photos :)