3 months of fundraising and 4 days of construction later…
I don’t believe any of us fully grasped the impact of what we were doing until we had left. And even now, in the nascent days of our Tijuana-withdrawal, I myself still haven’t fully comprehended the obvious: We were in Mexico for only 4 days, transcending a community service cliché by establishing something more than just a building.
We all returned feeling like we lived up, somehow, to the overarching mission of helping serve a community of 1,500 in need, but we also came back having taken with us something we never really read in the pamphlets or heard about in information sessions. Beneath the very obvious of building a clinic, we also unconsciously had nurtured a remarkable environment of affiliation and acceptance amongst one another. Novices and experts, young and elder, artists and builders, brains and brawn; strangers from all over the country boasting vastly diverse and seemingly incompatible interests, skills, expectations, and levels of determination somehow were able to quickly reconcile incongruities and establish something organic in doing one thing and that one thing well: Build.
There was no pre-screening and there was no application process. The only red tape was used as name tags. All 40 of us were instead accepted onto the team based solely on our willingness to build. Armed with the curiosity of what a bunch of strangers can do when they share the same goal, we came back learning that sometimes, wonderful things can happen.
- At time of posting in New York City, it was -1 °C -
Humidity: 39% | Wind Speed: 5km/hr | Cloud Cover: partly cloudy
Crossing the border from Mexico into the U.S.; yes they check for your passports to let you through. Very straightforward, but the traffic took 2 hours!
We crossed the border last night to meet up with one of our med school classmates as she graciously drove us around San Diego to get dinner at the famous In-N-Out joint. We were so tired though, and since we had a early morning flight to catch, the reunion was unfortunately short-lived.
Back in San Diego: My first In-n-Out experience!
taken about a few minutes ago. Jasmine on the left, Cula on the right
On our way back home!
- At time of posting in 10,000 ft. above sea level, it was -3 °C -
Humidity: n/a | Wind Speed: 54km/hr | Cloud Cover: lots of clouds
As the roof came together, I couldn’t help myself to run up there and ask if anyone wanted a new profile picture for their facebooks. After all, it’s not very often we get to sit on top of a roof on a newly constructed clinic.
Andrei
Patty & Nilam
Nilam
Liam
Guess who
Ankur
As we pack up to go, I capture some last minute shots of the site, mostly of the children families brought as they thanked us:
The remnants of our efforts:
The Ying and Yang
And the surrounding landscapes around our site:
After 3 nights and 4 days of construction, most of us whom never done this sort of thing before, we’ll look back one day and ask ourselves: “Did we really?”
Yeah, we did:
It's up!
- At time of posting in Tijuana, Mexico, it was 11 °C -
Humidity: 54% | Wind Speed: 14km/hr | Cloud Cover: Cloudy
So this is our last day and it feels like things are starting to wrap up nicely:
Pepsi better pay me royalties for this
Although most of the work is done, there’s still a lot left. Luckily we raised enough money to pay some volunteers to stay behind and finish the whole thing by early January.
And one of our construction buddies, Tommy, spent last night by himself working on this really kick ass sign at the site:
Represent.
"Home of Health"
- At time of posting in Tijuana, Mexico, it was 13 °C -
Humidity: 77% | Wind Speed: 37km/hr | Cloud Cover: clear
