Mexico is a popular destination each year for Canadians looking to escape the cold, but nine local residents were in the country last month for a completely different reason.
They comprised the majority of a 15-person team that travelled to Mexico from Jan. 19 to 28 for a mission trip through the Regina-based Archbishop Charles Halpin Centre for Education and Dialogue. Most of their time was spent in the small town of Hueyapan but they also visited the large city of Cuernavaca.
Local members of the team were Roberta and Casey DeRosier, Randy and Becky Franke, Allan and Annette Kendall, Jackie McGillicky, Hayden Sutter and Cecilia Wanner. They were joined by four people from Regina and two from Victoria, B.C.
“We were mostly doing adobe bricks, hauling fill for a school house floor, and assembling the brick onto the school in layers,” said Allan Kendall.
They also started preliminary work on the fence, so that the area will be fenced in.
It was an enjoyable experience, Roberta DeRosier said, but it was a lot of hard work.
“I think we pushed ourselves physically, but we were happy to do it, because you’re working alongside them,” said DeRosier. “You’re not doing it for them, you’re doing it with them. And that’s really cool.”
Five people from Hueyapan were working alongside the team members. They are the first to be part of the college’s program.
The area was initially slated to be an agriculture college for the people of Hueyapan. But Franke said the people of the village don’t have many opportunities outside the community once they graduate high school, so they altered the plan to also be a technical school.
“They’re going to try to have carpentry, wool-weaving, agricultural classes and adobe brick-building classes,” said Randy Franke. “They’re going to try to work some trades in.
It will allow young people to learn some life skills as well.”
Language was a barrier on the job site, DeRosier said, so they had to figure out how to receive direction from the Mexicans, and communicate on a level beyond words.
“It’s pretty amazing how you can’t really converse with them, but at the same time, you figure out what each other is trying to say, and you become pretty good friends,” Franke added.
A lot of friends he and his wife met in Hueyapan last year were still there, and so Franke said it felt like “going to a family reunion.”
The site was basically bare land when the Frankes were there last year.
“We built one building last year, and there was a bit of a framework for a greenhouse,” said Franke.
That greenhouse is now constructed, along with another building. A third building is under construction.
“I was kind of in awe when we drove up to it, because you never know what to expect. You kind of picture it the way you left it last year, but a lot was done,” said Franke.
DeRosier had been to another part of the Hueyapan area two years as part of a mission trip through the Estevan Comprehensive School’s Christian ethics class. At that time, they helped construct an ecological kitchen and encourage organic farming practices.
For Kendall, it was the first time he had been there, and the first time on a mission trip of any kind. He found it was a rewarding experience.
“I’d be interested to go back next year, and see what’s happened since we left,” said Kendall.
He also encountered different cultures that, as a Canadian, he hadn’t seen before, and was amazed to see how happy and humble the village’s children were, even though they don’t have as much as Canadian youths.
“You can appreciate home much, much more than we did after seeing (how they lived),” said Kendall. “Not that the people were sad or gloomy or anything like that.”
Kendall noted that while he was there, he spent some time with a bricklayer, who gave Kendall instructions on how the bricklayer does his job.
“There’s a little bit more to it than what the eye might see,” said Kendall.
DeRosier marvelled at the generosity of the Mexican people.
“If we have people visiting with us or staying with us, we tend to share some, whereas there, they were more than willing to share everything they had, and just feed and feed and feed us, and do everything they can for us,” said DeRosier.
The generosity of the Hueyapan residents was evident in that even though many of them lost their houses due to an earthquake, they still welcomed the team members into their homes.
“They’ve gone through a lot of tough times with that, but they’re still generous,” said Franke.
All three said they would recommend the mission trip experience to anyone, and they can’t wait for the next time they return to Hueyapan.
