Since returning from our most recent Habitat for Humanity Global Village Work Trip to Costa Rica in 2016, many have asked about our next trip. We only do this trip every other year, so such an opportunity doesn’t come often. We invite you to share in building simple, decent homes with the poor, while deepening your faith.
- Since 1989 Habitat, Mexico has worked with more than 57,000 families for a better life. Still, 45% of Mexicans lack access to a modest, useful home. Mexico’s poor tend to live in huts of planks, palm trees or discarded stuff, which are often roofed with rusty corrugated tin sheets. In many cases, two families live in one small house. And it’s not uncommon to find grand-parents, parents and children living in the same room and sharing beds. Dirt floors and unvented cooking spaces make health hazards for families
- Chacala, our destination, is a quiet fishing village of about 300 along the Pacific Ocean. It is a quiet and unhurried place, friendly and welcoming, a destination where Mexicans tend to vacation. Alas, they can’t eat the view.
- As of now, our travel dates are Sat., Jan 20 to Sun., Jan. 28, 2018. This might shift a day or so, depending on the availability of inexpensive flights. (We are always cost conscious.) Our week of work is happens in between.
- We will fly into and out of Puerto Vallarta, pausing to orient ourselves with Habitat as we arrive, and to reflect and catch our breath before we depart.
- Our group will number up to 15, with FCC members having first priority at securing a spot on the Mexico trip. Your $800 deposit will hold your place.
- You need not be a body builder, a skilled laborer, or a construction worker to go. Just be in good health. We work at our own pace and support one another. The work is important because it bonds us with our hosts. But productivity is not top priority. The top priority is spiritually sharing our own gifts as God’s children with new friends, who want the same things we do.
- We will stay in a modest local hotel with clean rooms and hot showers. Simple, tasty (and safe!) meals are served to us as a group. Of course, we’ll learn about the history, politics and economy of the people, as we go.
- We begin each day with short devotions at the work site. We often work in subgroups of 3 to 4. Box lunches arrive from the hotel. We pick up the work in the afternoon and return “home” for dinner. After cleaning up and dinner, we go for walks and end with group evening devotions. This is our chance to process our day and live the experience as spiritual pilgrimage.
- I expect a cost in the $1,700 range. Most of that is airfare. Each of us pays his own way (including myself). All donations—to the last cent—go to build simple decent homes with the working poor. The homes resist hurricanes using a modular construction we learned in the 2016 Costa Rica work trip.
- I’ve led 12 such trips resulting in 87 new homes now occupied by families. As owners pay for their new homes, the funds build more homes through Habitat. With this winning formula, Habitat has built over a million homes.
- I always promise participants that your life will never be the same, having gone. No one has ever disputed my claim. I keep returning because God’s power to make a difference like this has gotten in my blood. It is a real joy.