Recipients shack with blanket covering the door
Recipient's newly completed house with windows and lockable door
 
RB Sunrise Rotarians Jay Riordan, Tracey Van Putten and Alison Farrin gathered with four additional friends and family and crossed the border to build a house on Saturday for a young Couple expecting their first child.  The house build project is a partnership of RB Sunrise Rotary and Project Mercy, a charity that is headquartered in Poway||
 
This community, on the road from Otay Mesa towards Tecate, sits above a wash that must run deep with water when it rains.  When dry, residents have taken advantage of the sandy bottom to create a soccer field.  This seems typical of this community, like many others in impoverished areas of Mexico, taking full advantage of every castoff to provide shelter and make a home.  When we arrived, there were two slabs sitting adjacent to one another and we went to work on the higher one.  We later learned that one of the couples helping out was slated to have their house built on the lower slab the following week. The recipients of this house is Dominguez family. Ana Barbara, 19, is due to give birth this coming week.  She says the baby (boy) is waiting for his new house before making an appearance. Renato, 25, works as a laborer on a ranch and earns very little.
 
Helping out were the watch words of the day, as the seven of us who came from the US could not have built this house alone.  The Three amigos - Nacho, Roberto and a third man, assist on most of these builds.  What seemed different from many of our past builds was the amount of community assistance that went into this project.  When we arrived, a bit late due to an issue with secondary at the crossing, there were twenty or more community members already assisting with painting the trim and setting up the studs for cutting.  They all continued to pitch in and the kids that wanted to help were especially endearing.
 
Painting the outside walls and trim was completed in record time and many of us got to stand an watch as the walls went into place.  We weren't needed to assist, as there were 15 more people ready to help lift!  Before noon, the walls were up and the ridge beam and rafters were in place, as well as the interior walls.  We had just enough paint remaining to pool the white from the trim with the orange from the outside and paint half the interior peach and cream!  
 
Windows, the front door and the trim pieces went in quickly after lunch and soon we were ready to stand in front of the finished house and present the keys.  In addition, Kris and I donated a table and chairs that had been stripped and refinished by my dad over 50 years ago.  We also brought 90 pounds of rice and beans, canned goods, as well as many other staples that could be used by the family as they settle in.  There were towels, sheets and blankets, enough that other families in the community may have shared in the donations.  She also received dishes, pots, pans, eating utensils and.... a can opener.