Progress

A lot of progress has happened lately.

First, we gave out our first legit micro loan. It was to a family who wanted to start making/selling tortillas. They put in their request for start-up costs (less than $300) and got approved pretty quick. Before we actually delivered on their requests they had two accounts with stores nearby. They are selling tortillas to shops in their neighborhoods.

Second, we did a test run of our thrift store/picking up trash idea. We opened up shop and told everyone in the surrounding neighborhood that if they pick up one bag of trash (we provided trash bags) we will give them tickets to shop in the clothing store. Most people took the bag and filled it, shopped, and enjoyed it. Others came back with one piece of trash in their bag. Others complained that it was a lot of work for the little amount of tickets that we gave. And still others tried to steal clothes and stuff once they were in. Whatever, we'll always have people trying to cheat the system. At the end of the day, it was a success. People understood that we're not here to give out more free crap. You want something bad enough you'll do something for it... nothing is free. If new clothes aren't worth picking up one bag of trash to you than you probably didn't want/need them anyway.

There's more to come. Basically we're moving towards being an organization that doesn't give anything out for free (obviously there are some exceptions but the concept is there).

Three Neighbors

Over the last three months we've met a lot of new people. Three in particular live near each other. Gilberto, Didier, and Miguel all live close to each other in the San Rafael colony of Penasco.

They knew each other only as cordial neighbors before becoming involved with One Mission. On a job site about a mile away from their homes they realized that they all live near each other when they started walking home together. After volunteering countless hours together they began to get to know each other more. Over the course of these three months they all got houses from One Mission. First Didier, then Miguel, and then Gilberto. They all played significant roles in the construction of each others' homes.

We visited Didier a few days ago and to our surprise we saw Miguel and Gilberto there as well. After receiving his One Mission house Didier had begun to move his previous shack to fit it around his new house. Miguel and Gilberto were there helping Didier rearrange the piles of scrap wood, metal, and other materials. After working with them for a few minutes they explained how next they were all going to Miguels house (next door) to help him with some things. The next day the plan is to help Gilberto rearrange his old house around his new house.

These were men that barely knew each other three months ago. All three men have wives and kids that now spend a lot of time together cooking and playing. They went from living near each other to living in community with each other. It's the perfect example of what we're all about at One Mission.

Little By Little

So this afternoon I was planning on visiting a few (more like 10) families.  Just wanted to check in and say hi to a few people before we headed up to the states for Thanksgiving.  Of course I underestimated how much time this would actually take. 

First stop was our friend Alicia.  We started talking about 'Dia de Pavo' (Turkey day).  It was actually quite a challenge trying to describe all the yummy Thanksgiving foods to someone who speaks a foreign language and has never even tasted turkey.  We decided that I need to make a full Thanksgiving dinner for them so they can really experience all the delicious traditional Turkey day foods.

Next stop was Elena's house (which was just built this past weekend).  They have already moved, rearranged, and reconstructed their previous pieced together home to fit better with their new 2-room casita.   Elena had such a peace about her and seemed so content, that chatting with her in her kitchen, which just 5 days ago was her bedroom, was surprisingly calming (which is rare because communicating in Spanish usually stresses me out).  

From there I went around the corner to Marlen and Jesus'.  They're just great and I always love hanging out with them.  They told me my Spanish is getting so good and I'm understanding so much.  That was real encouraging, until some neighbor ladies came up and they all started chatting...it was so fast and so much Spanish...I don't think I understood a thing.  Ugh...  Poco a poco, right?  With each conversation, each time I stop by just to chat, I'm learning just a little bit more.  A little bit more Spanish, a little bit more about these families, and a little bit more about my friends way of life.  

Today was a good day.

Meeting with the Mayor

Last night I represented One Mission in a meeting with the Mayor of Penasco and all the other organizations and churches in the city. It was a decent enough meeting but the cool part was being recognized as an organization by the city. They talked about how we can all work together and neat stuff like that. All in all it was fairly political but it was cool to be a part of it.

The productive part for us was when they created a system for how organizations can reach the city. Previously you had to know someone who knows someone to get a meeting with the city. Now we go to this one guy (who One Mission has worked with previously) and his role is to help the city help us. It should be pretty cool. I'm setting up a meeting with him soon about the community we want to be building out in the barrios of Rocky Point.

Community

Over the last year One Mission has done and been through a lot. We're excited to say that we've built over 30 homes in the last year.

What really gets us going (and why we do what we do) is the community we get to create. At our last job site there were 18 American volunteers but 57 people on the job site. Those were neighbors, friends and family members building up their community. Angelica (who received the home) not only slept in a nicer house that night but she also became more connected to her community. Her community came together and helped her in her time of need. Its an exciting thing to get to be a part of.

To see neighbors who previously didn't trust each other laughing, eating, and working together is absolutely inspiring.

Thanks to CCV Adult Ministries Staff for coming down and spending the week with us building for Angelica and her community.

One Mission Blog

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