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Brant, Okotoks area students at home helping Tijuana families

Students from the Foothills area build a pair of homes in Mexican community
Brantchristianschool1
Brant Christian School students celebrate with a Tijuana family after building them a home in the community south of the American border in early February.

Home is where the heart is.

More than 30 Brant Christian School students gave from the heart when they travelled to Tijuana to build homes for a pair of families living just a stone’s-throw away from the United States border in early February.

“In three days we built two homes,” said Grade 11 student Joshua VanderMey. “These are very simple homes. They were about the size of about an average garage. They have three rooms, a main entrance with a dining table and a stove. Very small, but much higher quality than they had before.”

The houses had basic wiring for lights, he said.

The work was done through Youth With A Mission in Tijuana. They returned from their weeklong trip on Feb. 5.  

The family for which VanderMey helped with in building the new home, previously lived in what he called “pallets wrapped in tarps.”

The students practically started from ground zero when they arrived in Tijuana. All that was done when they arrived were concrete pads. However, they had all the lumber and enthusiasm they needed to build two homes.

The Brant students weren’t just standing around holding tools for other workers.

“I did a lot of framework so I was building the walls, helped put them up and all together,” said the Aldersyde resident VanderMey. “Another team was painting, others were dry-walling and we had at least one person on the roof putting on shingles.

“Everyone was completely hands-on doing something the whole time.”

 It wasn’t a typical holiday for student Kenan Chisholm of Okotoks.

“It was a great experience to learn a new perspective,” Chisholm said. “There are a lot of people who aren’t as fortunate as us. It’s not the nicest of conditions compared to our own.

“But we didn’t have to do any schoolwork, so it was kind of like a vacation.”

He said he enjoyed being with the people and learning the culture.

Chisholm was a jack-of-all-trades in Tijuana, taking on many duties to lend a hand.

He worked side by side with the family for whom the house was built for.

“They were really happy and wanted to work — and they were very optimistic.”

Chisholm was humbled by the experience.

“I appreciate what I have more,” he said. “I have new appreciation for what people living on the other side of the border have to go through.

“I definitely appreciate what I have and what I went down there for.”

Math teacher Jason Doerksen and his wife Mandie were leaders who accompanied the students.

“This gives the kids the chance to see beyond their own social circles — they were able to come out of their comfort zones to help others,” Jason said.

The students were told to imagine they worked in a factory at $15 a day with little hope of getting credit.

“What we were able to do was basically build a home for them in three days, where for them it would take them years and years to save to do that,” he said.

The third leader on the team was Brant Christian School alumnus Brayton Wasik.

Bruce Campbell, OkotoksToday.ca

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