Charity around the world
Mexico is well-known for its notorious spring break spots: Cabo, Cancun, Tijuana. It’s a week-long party in the sun and sand. But some students who go to Mexico over spring break for an entirely different reason: charity.
“Our goal is to make a difference in other countries and change attitudes and hearts here in the U.S.,” said Susan Carter, co-founder of the Charity Anywhere Foundation (CAF).
According to their website, the Charity Anywhere Foundation is an organization that aims to serve poverty-stricken communities by offering free dental and medical care as well as shelter.
The organization’s website, charityanywhere.org, lists the foundation’s mission as “to give ordinary people the life-changing opportunity to provide needed medical care, dental services and basic shelter to less developed countries while concurrently forever changing the mind and heart of the volunteer for good.”
The organization was founded in 1990 by Carter and her husband Gordon after they visited rural Ecuador; it was based then out of Twin Falls, Idaho. It then it moved to Bountiful, Utah in 2008.
Carter said since its beginning, the CAF has set up in office in Quito, Ecuador, and has also served in Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Senegal, Africa, Haiti, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Paraguay, Albania and India.
The foundation has donated various medicals supplies including medication, vitamins, wheelchairs, x-ray machines, dental chairs and hospital beds.
Carter said Charity Anywhere has served an average of 10,018 people per month, giving an amount equivalent to $4,054,752 in services.
They have helped build houses in Tijuana and Agua Prieta, Mexico. They have constructed an addition to a school in Guatemala and provided an ambulance for a community in rural Guatemala.
“This year we are planning projects and expeditions to Ecuador, Guatemala, Peru, Haiti and with Native Americans in the outback of Alaska,” Carter said.
Carter said there have been over 120 volunteers who have participated in these projects.
“Each volunteer feels that they are truly making a difference,” Carter said. “They felt that they not only helped others but learned a great deal about themselves.”
Catherine Urie, senior in psychology, has been on the Tijuana expedition twice and is going again in December. “(The expedition is) really fun. It’s kind of hard,” she said.
“It gives a different experience. We had to learn to communicate without communication, since only a couple of us knew Spanish. I’m taking a Spanish class so that i can communicate with them when I go back,” she said.
Carter said most projects students participate in are construction based, building additions to homes.The USU club is going to Tijuana in December, and they also do a trip over spring break.
“We normally organize four expeditions to Tijuana, Mexico every year, including Christmas, spring break, summer break and fall,” Carter said.
Carter said the USU branch of CAF is “determined, resourceful, and hard working.”
The CAF also has groups at the University of Utah, BYU, Utah Valley University, Weber College and in other states as well as Great Britain.
Clearfield High School is sending a group of over 60 people sponsored by the organization to Tijuana to repair and build houses over Christmas break.
“The CAF group from USU will be among those with hammers and saws and smiles,” Carter said.
There are many projects sponsored by the foundation that need funding and volunteers.
“As you can imagine in our depressed economy, funding has been a concern,” Carter said.
The group is always applying for grants and seeking those in the community willing to donate money and equipment.
Carter said the members of the CAF club on campus meet about once a month prior to their trip. The cost is about $275-475 plus gas; the group drives to their destination in Mexico. The fees go toward travel, meals and materials for the projects.
“It took a long time to get there,” said Urie, “but I definitely recommend it.”
A typical trip, as outlined on the CAF website, starts early on a Friday morning, spending the entire day and part of the next driving to Mexico.
Saturday morning, they cross the border and settle into living quarters ranging from houses, dormitories, empty buildings, homes of host families – anywhere with space enough for the group to bunk down and eat dinner.
Sunday includes church and visits to previous projects to check the progress. The real work begins Monday and continues diligently for two or three more days, winding down by Thursday, tying up the loose ends.
The second Friday is spent immersing in the culture, buying souvenirs and packing up to head back to the states the next morning.
“A real friendship and bond is developed between our volunteers and our hosts. Our main objective is to do good,” Carter said. “Our (presence) brings hope to the hopeless. Our construction is important but far short of extending a helping hand to those in need.”
– shanelle.b@aggiemail.usu.edu