Lopez-Blas 1

Daniel Lopez-Blas

Dr. Morgan

CTW 1

September 26, 2019

The House

When I think about my high school experience, there are a couple of things that come to

mind: my teachers, my counselors, my clubs, fellow classmates, teammates, and the Kairos

retreat. Out of all of these, neither compares to the impact that my high school trip to Tijuana had

on me. At my high school, we are offered immersion programs, which are devoted to serving

communities either abroad or in the United States. This particular trip had a singular purpose: to

build a house for a family in need. Upon our arrival at Tijuana, Mexico, we were taken to a

campsite where we set up our kitchen, shower, and tents. The job site was not too far away and

we walked over to it every morning with our tools and lunches. Essentially, we had to build a

house from the ground up; installing walls, laying down foundation, roofing and placing stucco

to keep the walls and house covered and intact. The family that we built the house for was really

helpful and was eager to receive their home. At the end of the week they invited us to eat with

them and they had a whole celebration to commemorate the occasion. It was an overall humbling

experience as many of us got to interact with this family who materially had close to nothing, yet

they were extremely happy and proud of what they did for a living. It was especially impactful to

me because I was one of the few people in the group who actually spoke Spanish. As a result, I

was put in situations where I had to talk to the family and was able to voice their opinions and

requests to the rest of my group. I got to connect with the family in a special way because I was

the bridge between them and my group.

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While in Mexico, I began to reflect on my own life back home and all the times I took my

luxuries for granted. We have all these opportunities and resources that are available to me and

my peers and half the time we take them for granted. As Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said in her

TED Talk, the “single story” blinds us and forces us to stereotype. The danger in my single story

stood in the fact that I didn’t know that people with so little could be so happy. When I first

heard of this family, the first thing I thought was how miserable I thought their lives were and

how they struggled to live. Of course, I didn’t consider the fact that they were a really close

family with lots of love and compassion. They allowed me and my peers into their home and

they trusted us, a bunch of high school students to build them a sturdy and functioning home.

Their trust in us was reflective of their own happiness and joy to receive this home. I was unable

to see them as anything but poor but upon interacting with them, I began to see our similarities. I

was able to see them like people and not just another family in need. Overall, this trip allowed

me to meet wonderful people who are just as eager about life as me. It showed me a different

way of living life and gave me a greater appreciation for what I have.