For the last six years, members of our Club have joined Dan Doherty (RC Calgary West) and the dozens of his recruits to travel to Mexico and build houses with Homes of Hope.  This year, 90-odd (some very odd) people gathered together to build homes for six needy families.  Building conditions were ideal… in past years we have seen torrential-wash-away-your-generator builds as well as I-don’t-care-how-nice-the-weather-is-the-roof-is-too-hot-at-37-degrees-C years.  At both extremes, the job still got done, but this year we were pleased to have moderate heat and no rain.
 
Homes of Hope is a project run by Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and all the qualified builders/translators/support staff are volunteers putting their time in helping the less fortunate.  We recognized many familiar YWAM faces from past years (and several of them remembered us… either from the build or from the “apres hammer” celebrations at Plan B, the closest bar). YWAM coordinates all the builds; from interviewing and selecting potential recipients, to ordering and arranging delivery of the raw materials and concrete foundations, to training the supervisors who manage to keep a bunch of unrepentant do-gooders from cutting off bits of themselves thereby staining the walls with fresh blood/tears/icky stuff.
 
We gathered mid-afternoon one Thursday in March at the airport in San Diego.  Two large buses pulled up to transport us across the Mexican border down to the YWAM campus near Rosarito.  The newly renovated border-crossing is pretty impressive - shiny luggage X-ray machines and serious customs agents in crisply starched uniforms.  We arrived at the YWAM campus, picked up our keys and gathered for dinner and to meet with our team-members and YWAM building supervisors.  We volunteered (or were volun-told) our assignments for the next day:  painting, measuring, framing, wiring, assembling roof trusses or cutting on the mitre saw. 
 
First thing Friday Morning, we dragged ourselves out of bed, stuffed our faces with a fabulous hot breakfast and coffee, then boarded the buses for the build sites.  Thirty minutes later we found ourselves standing on a solid, dry concrete pad beside a stack of dimensional lumber and plywood, thanking the families for giving us the opportunity to help build their new homes.  We moved to our designated jobs (made a bit difficult for me when the generator failed to start), and over the next day and a half, gradually converted that wood stack into outer walls, a roof and inner walls complete with electrical sockets and lights.
 
First thing Friday Morning, we dragged ourselves out of bed, stuffed our faces with a fabulous hot breakfast and coffee, then boarded the buses for the build sites.  Thirty minutes later we found ourselves standing on a solid, dry concrete pad beside a stack of dimensional lumber and plywood, thanking the families for giving us the opportunity to help build their new homes.  We moved to our designated jobs (made a bit difficult for me when the generator failed to start), and over the next day and a half, gradually converted that wood stack into outer walls, a roof and inner walls complete with electrical sockets and lights.
 
Every wooden surface and nail head was painted, every drywall seam covered with trim. Some of the funds raised went to furnishing the homes with a stove, bed, table & chairs as well as a shopping spree for the family at the nearest Walmart.  The story was the same for each of our six teams - the families moved from dirt-floored, one-room hovels to dry, rain- and wind-resistant homes complete with windows, shingle roof, metal door and locks.
 
Our final job was the “Key Ceremony” - presenting the family with the keys to their new home.  Every Team member took a few moments to wish the family “good luck” and to express what the weekend meant to them.  It is a very emotional event where often there isn’t a dry eye in the audience.
 
Our heartfelt thanks go out to Dan Doherty for introducing us to Homes of Hope, for his unwavering energy and enthusiasm… and for his patience since he will see a whole bunch of us again next March!