Students use break to build homes in improverished Mexico
Winter break was anything but restful for some USU students who traveled to Tijuana to perform service for people in the impoverished area. The group consisted of 80 people, which also included three families, and was organized by the Charity Anywhere Foundation (CAF).
Matt Dawson, a volunteer for CAF, earned his bachelorís and masterís degrees from USU. Dawson has traveled to Mexico for five trips with CAF over the past year. He said the foundationís creator, Gordon Carter, started the group 18 years ago.
ìHeís just a guy,î Dawson said, ìbut in 18 years heís built hundreds of homes.î
Volunteers from USU spent seven to nine days building and repairing houses for families in Tijuana. Joey Stocking, sophomore in business, went on his first service trip last year.
ìI made a lot of friends,î Stocking said. ìItís how I met Josh, my roommate.î
Stocking said he and Josh Jones were asked by Gordon Carter to organize the USU students into cars for the trip down, collect fees, inform participants what to expect as well as advertise for the trip. Stocking said they advertised mostly by word of mouth, but they also hung signs in the TSC.
One of these signs in the TSC is where Danielle Cash, junior in social work, discovered the service trip.
ìI saw it and I just knew I was gonna be there Christmas break,î she said.
Cash said she drove to Tijuana with three of her roommates.
ìIíve been in Tijuana before and parts of Mexico but it was Americanized. Iíve never seen poverty this in-depth,î Cash said. ìItís sad but I can see how those people are happy.î
Cash said she and the other members of the group completed basic carpentry tasks such as roofing and building walls throughout the trip. She said it was a good experience to help the people of Tijuana and to see their gratitude.
Although Cash said she doesnít speak much Spanish, she said she could still communicate with the families she served.
ìTheyíd say a little in English and Iíd say a little in Spanish,î she said.
Cash said she would recommend a service trip to ìanyone and everyone.î
ìWell, maybe not the high-maintenance kind,î she said.
Future CAF service trips have been planned for Mexico, Dawson said, but there are also several other destinations. He said the foundation is going to Senegal this summer with USUís womenís basketball team. There are also several options for other summer trips, spring break and winter break, he said.
ìWe should do what we can to equalize the world,î Dawson said. ìAs a society, we are in debt to the rest of the world. We owe them for taking their resources.î
Dawson said he agrees with Mother Teresa that ìIn this life we cannot do great things, we can only do small things with great love.î He said he feels CAF does just that.
For more information on the foundation and future trips visit CAFís Web site charityanywhere.org or contact Carter at gordon@charityanywhere.org.
ñrac.ch@aggiemail.usu.edu