The five groups of housing components that were built during our October 24 Special Chula Vista Event were shipped to Mexico last week. They are all being stored with our longtime working partners and friends at GES Lumber in Tijuana. The owner, Carlos Davalos Lopez, also delivers them and any additional lumber plus windows and exterior door, to the sites as needed..
The houses are being built out in the hills of east Tijuana in rather an isolated and sparsely occupied new neighborhood. It is here that Project Mercy Baja is helping to define a growing community through the construction of solid houses.
On October 31st, the first of the five Chula Vista houses was raised by our Mexican crew led by Roberto Reyes and Project Mercy Baja construction manager, John Zawis.
Incarnation Lutheran Church of Poway, led by Jake Johnson, built the house segments for Ruben Gutierrez and his two young children They built the different components which included walls and roof segments and painted everything. They then helped to load it all on a flatbed truck bound for Mexico. The group had also made a collection of household items and food for their family.
This first house was delivered to single dad Ruben and his two young children, Natali 7, and Luis 6, who were living in a shack made of scrap wood with a dirt floor and tarp for a roof. Ruben’s father, Jesus, who is 79, also lives with them. Apart from their miserable living conditions they have been having a difficult time the past several months since having work hours cut and the rise in cost of food due to the impact of COVID-19 on the local economy.
Ruben himself says: “The most important thing about having a better house is, more than anything, the protection of my children. It gives me peace of mind to know that they and my father are in a better home. I don’t know how I will ever be able to express all that I feel.”
We give our profound thanks to the group from Incarnation Lutheran Church in Rancho Bernardo for coming through to give this family a solid little house to call home. They have big hearts and share our vision for making a better world.
