Archive for ‘House Building’

The vast majority of people experience and come to know Doxa through house building. For over 30 years, Doxa has facilitated the building of about 2300 houses throughout Tijuana resulting in safe and secure housing for over 11,000 people! Nearly 35,000 people from the US have participated in house building trips, some returning multiple times. God has truly magnified this simple experience to be much more than anyone could’ve realized.

Teams from the US come to Tijuana and discover new life by giving themselves away and being witness to others doing the same. It’s a powerful experience. For most participants, being a part of a house building trip means having a role in extraordinary generosity, most likely on a scale that they haven’t seen before. How often does one get to tangibly partake in building and giving a house away? It’s an eye-opening, horizon-broadening experience with impacts that last a lifetime. Not only are the trip participants impacted, but also the family members who now have a new house. Lives changed forever. 

Doxa’s primary role in house building has been as facilitator: preparing groups from the US and families in Tijuana, readying building materials, connecting groups with local staff and partners, and providing trip support. Most groups utilize the experience as a tool or platform, such as for youth ministry or the development of volunteer teams. The common denominator among all groups is that the house is not the only thing that gets built. 

Finishing a house in Tijuana requires sharing and participating in a vision, planning, logistics, digging, cement mixing, framing, painting, roofing, window and door installation, cooking, communication in Spanish, and cross-cultural relationship formation. All skill sets have their time to shine. It’s an experience that helps young people make meaningful and lasting contributions in today’s world. All receive the powerful yet simple message that young people don’t need to wait or ‘grow-up’ in order to engage in significant work. 

A couple years ago, Elizabeth, Doxa’s Director of Operations, had the idea of providing this same house building experience to Doxa’s high school students. She saw first-hand the impact of this experience and wanted the same for Doxa’s students. In addition to being part of an experience in radical generosity, Elizabeth notes that Doxa’s students “learn to value what they have and appreciate a hard day’s work; coming home tired after working a full day like their parents.” She also talks about commitment, “finishing what you start is an important value that we can instill in our children, especially when things get hard and you have to work in teams.” 

Like groups from the US, Doxa’s high school students get opportunities to nail, paint, measure, cut, and build the house. Elizabeth sees these learning opportunities as building blocks for Doxa’s high school students that prepare them for something more in their lives. The house build is led by our committed and experienced Flavio Camacho. He leads by example with dedicated workmanship and teaches the students how to build each day. Doxa’s Spanish building manual also comes in handy. When construction is complete, it all culminates with turning over the new house and its keys to the family. 

This experience, furthermore, comes full circle for some of Doxa’s high school students as their families were recipients of a Doxa house years ago. Now it is their turn to be on the other side of the experience. 

For the past two years, Doxa’s high school students have had the privilege of building a house over their summer break. One of Doxa’s students, Brigitt shares that a “house changes lives for the better and gives me some perspective to really value what I have.” She continues to say that “to help others makes me feel good, to see peoples’ lives improving. You never know when you are going to need help.” Another one of Doxa’s students, Angel remembers “the sacrifice that the family was making for their new house and the poor conditions that they lived in before.” He goes on to describe that “teamwork makes the job easier and that everyone on the team has their own strengths.” Still, another Doxa student, Veronica learned “to value my house, what my mom did for me. Especially after seeing how the family valued and appreciated us on the worksite.”

Elizabeth sees the house building experience as life-changing for Doxa’s high school students and would love to incorporate it as a permanent annual experience that Doxa can offer. Elizabeth notes that “it’s a mission trip for Doxa’s high school youth located within their very own city.” Just as this simple experience of building a house has been so impactful for nearly 35,000 people from the US, it has been and will continue to be impactful for Doxa’s high school students. 

Araceli and her 7-year-old daughter are dressed up in Christmas clothes, coming from a school Christmas recital. Araceli’s 1^st grader sang in front of the entire school this year, which she so much enjoys. Araceli smiles with joy as she recounts the performance and shows pride in her daughter.

Araceli grew up in Tijuana, spending almost her entire life in the neighborhood of Pedregal de Santa Julia. She is the third of six kids, who grew up at Hogar de los Niños orphanage. She recounts that her family was the orphanage, as she never knew anything else. Some of her siblings still live there all these years later. She talks about the orphanage with a heart full of gratitude. Hogar de los Niños filled a void for her, not just one of physical needs with food and clothes, but also the necessary intangibles of love, growing up with family, and role models. 

Rosa and Eduvigues, who worked in the orphanage, practically became her parents. Rosa taught her to read, write, and memorize math tables. Araceli recounts that she was never really a good student, but always tried hard and Rosa did see value in that. Araceli gets emotional when talking about Rosa, as she passed away a couple years ago. Rosa left a strong impression on her that she still carries with her to this day. Perhaps that’s where her strong work ethic came from. 

What Araceli lacked in study skills, she made up for with her love of physical activity, exercise, and spirit of determination. Putting all that together led her to open a neighborhood Zumba studio. Not bad for someone who didn’t finish middle school. She operated the Zumba studio for years, teaching many in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, she had to close that business due to the pandemic, but her entrepreneurial spirit kicked in again as she went back to school to be a masseuse. 

Araceli shares that she wants to open her own Zumba and spa business once her house is built. She already has it planned out, where the house will be on one side of her property and the other will be dedicated to studio and spa. She hopes rent payments for housing and business space will finally be a thing of the past. 

When talking about her daughter, Araceli’s face starts to brighten up. She says she wants to impart humility, a good work ethic, and persistence onto her young daughter. All qualities that have served her well throughout her life. Araceli also shares of a deep desire to break the cycle of family trauma, specifically of absent biological parents. She starts to get emotional again when explaining her motivation to be an active and present parent in her daughter’s life. Wanting her daughter to have access to family in all its fullness. 

Taking a moment to reflect on her life, Araceli says that she’s learned to recognize when things change, it is always for the better. Even when it doesn’t seem like it at the time, change brings opportunity. Whether its leaving Hogar de los Niños, starting a new business, becoming a mother, or dealing with a pandemic. She shares that each stage in life should be used as a step that leads to bigger and better things. Moving on before dependence and complacency have a chance to creep into the picture. Better days are always ahead for Araceli. 

In hearing how Araceli describes change in her life, I can’t help but think of her on the waiting list for a Doxa house. How a house will be another big change in her life and how it will fulfill a need that will help catapult her and her daughter to better things. 

Since the early 1990s, Doxa has been active on the West side of Tijuana. We’ve had the privilege of building over 2200 houses, thereby providing shelter to over 11,000 people. Over the last several years, needs have been changing and Doxa has started to also build houses in East Tijuana. 

Doxa absolutely wouldn’t have been able to build so many houses in West Tijuana without a great home base. A place where volunteer groups can come, stay, and prepare for their building days. A place that is well-known throughout the local community and trusted so that families can come and apply for houses. A place to store house building materials and tools that is safe and secure. Apart from the right place, it also takes the right relationships. The people that activate those places and make them come alive. People who are deeply embedded into the local community, know the families, know the needs, and can be present year-round. 

For West Tijuana, Doxa’s home base has always been Hogar de los Niños. We’ve had the privilege of growing alongside that orphanage for decades and used house building as a launching point for even more partnership.

When thinking about the vision of an East Tijuana home base, we strive to embrace Doxa’s values at all levels of implementation. This means collaboration with local organizations to the maximum extent possible. There’s no need to recreate the wheel, if we can partner with another organization who is already active. Working together, we can often have a larger impact than working alone and complement each other’s strengths. This also means being deeply committed to people, communities, and places. Making targeted and high-impact investments in relationships and spaces that will further strengthen the local community and help Doxa to achieve its mission. Cultivating and being committed to long-term partnerships sets the stage for future collaboration. This is exactly how house building led to the creation of Doxa’s education program.

In 2017, Doxa started to build houses in East Tijuana and has built around 70 houses so far. We’ve been able to hobble along without the benefit of an established East Tijuana home base. Groups have stayed at Unidos por Siempre and Rancho. House building materials have also been stored at both of those locations, and even at a neighbor’s house! Doxa’s supplies have been scattered everywhere. When it rains, we need to throw tarps over the lumber piles! It’s a real chore to keep everything organized and accounted for. 

What Doxa has lacked in an established facility, however, it has made up for with relationships. Maria Figueroa (pictured right) and Jaime Ortiz (pictured at top) are the two principal relationships that have been cultivated over the past few years. Maria is the founder and director of Unidos por Siempre. She heads up family selection and on-the-ground logistics for groups. Jaime is the manager at Rancho. He heads up Rancho facilities and interfaces directly with groups who stay there. Together, these two (and their respective coworkers) are integral to working in concert with groups during their time in Tijuana. 

With the relationships in place, it is now time for Doxa to work on a more established East Tijuana facility. Unidos por Siempre is a good place for small groups to stay, but we also need to be mindful that it is a working orphanage without much space. Rancho, on the other hand, is a very large place with over 20 acres of land and can accommodate groups of all sizes in their dorm-style rooms. Unidos por Siempre and Rancho are only about 3 minutes away from each other and are both focal points in the neighborhood. 

The most urgent need is now a shed in East Tijuana that can accommodate 14 houses of materials, tools, and storage. This will complete the vision of having an East Tijuana home base where groups can land and launch out of in service to the local community. Rancho has graciously offered to provide room so a storage shed can be built. Plans are already finished and its time fundraise to make this a reality. Our goal is to complete fundraising for this project as part of Doxa’s December matching campaign and build the shed in time for groups to use in 2023. While there will always be more projects to further enhance and improve an East Tijuana home base, the addition of a shed signifies that all the pieces are present and functioning. 

The team of Maria and Jaime, as well as their respective spaces at Unidos por Siempre and Rancho, provide Doxa with partners for the next 2200+ houses! We are so thankful to them for working with Doxa and ultimately bringing glory to God through their service!

Lucero and Alonso are in their mid-20s and met at work, in one of Tijuana’s many factories (called maquiladoras). They were previously renting a house, but in late 2020 the landlord did not renew their lease. As a stop-gap measure they moved in with Lucero’s parents and simultaneously announced that they were expecting a boy. While exciting, they were in need of a space of their own. 

Lucero spear-headed the effort of applying for a Doxa house. She found Maria at Unidos por Siempre on the East side of Tijuana. After going through the interview, submitting required documentation, and doing 250 hours of community service, she was put on the waiting list. 

In April 2022, a group from First Presbyterian Church Spokane came to Tijuana, and over the course of a week a house was built. This was one of three houses that they built while in Tijuana. Lucero and Alonso now live in Terrazas del Valle in East Tijuana with their son, Jasiel. 

Maria went back to visit with Lucero and Alonso at 2 months and 4 months after the house was built. Follow-up visits allow a continuation of a relationship with each family, to see how they are doing, to come alongside in other needed ways, and share in the joy of the new place to live. We’d also be lying if we didn’t add that we double-check to make sure the house is holding up well and performing as designed (haha!). 

As Maria arrived, Lucero emerged from her house, walked across the dirt patio, and around a big pile of sand and gravel to open the front gate. She welcomed Maria in with a smile, asking how she’s been. Maria slowly makes her way towards the house and when entering, Lucero offers her a chair and asks about the volunteer group. Lucero remembers them fondly and says she still keeps in touch with some of them. Alonso reaches for a picture of the group and points out the ones who made the biggest impression on him. Lucero shares how she worked alongside the group to build and, unexpectedly, saw the students working so hard each day. She felt humbled by the fact that these people came from so far to help her and her family. To help provide them with something that they could never repay, but just with their thanks and appreciation. 

Alonso shares his appreciation for the solid concrete floor, sturdy walls, and roof. He’s quick to share about future projects they have planned. A living room and kitchen addition, bathroom addition (in progress), interior drywall, and small cement patio out front for Jasiel to play. They are already thinking forward to when Jasiel will need more of his own space. Alonso gets up from his seat and shows Maria behind the house, the walls of the kitchen and bathroom are already going up and the bedroom is already partially drywalled. 

Jasiel, meanwhile, is just starting to walk around the house. He uses a little plastic cart to push around and bumps into just about everything. He smiles as the dog occasionally swings by to give him some attention. The dog is a more recent addition, came one day and decided to stay. So, a dog house was also made in the same style as their house. 

As Maria wraps up her visit, Lucero and Alonso light up with gratitude. Humbled to receive such a gift and now a desire to be good stewards of this new opportunity. They are excited for all the future milestones that they will have here, a place they are proud to call home. 

We are now three-quarters of the way done with 2020 and not a single nail has been hammered by an American volunteer group. That’s a statement most, if not all, of us never thought would be the case. Instead, local building teams have been hard at work cranking out houses (15 houses completed so far). This has led to a very interesting dynamic, a worksite with all Mexican builders. 

With the onset of COVID-19, it became clear that this year was going to look very different for house building operations. While Doxa was firmly committed to building for qualified families that had been on the waiting list, it would be accomplished with the hiring of local building teams and raising financial support from groups and individuals. This new model has showcased some of the best of everyone involved. Groups and individuals have shown enormous generosity in giving, families have worked hard on their own houses, and Doxa has been able to provide increased employment opportunities for builders in the local community. Seeing everyone shine in their roles has been a privilege. 

Many times groups that have experience building in Tijuana assume that locals would build the house much better and faster than they do. While there may be some truth to this, there’s still a learning curve. The local teams use cement mixers and power tools to speed up the process. It’s also not uncommon for them to pre-cut all of the lumber the day before. These steps dramatically speed up the assembly process on the worksite. Not to mention the experience that these teams gain week after week of working with each other and the 12-hour days they put in. 

Of course, there’s still the moments of “oh, I forgot the box of roofing nails back at the orphanage” or “I could have sworn that the window lengths were 46” instead of 46 ½,” guess we’ll have to recut some lumber.” Squaring up the walls and roof can also be a challenge. It doesn’t magically just come together for the local teams, either. Kids on the worksite still play in the paint while moms chase after them. It seems as though, even across cultures, we still have things in common. 

One thing that is different on the worksite is the feel and atmosphere. There’s less talking and more non-verbal communication. There’s an awareness of process and order of building that is unspoken. When things are explained, few words are used. Everyone is keenly aware of the overall goal of finishing the house and is constantly looking to see how the group is progressing. To describe it in a nutshell, it is a group mentality versus an individual mentality. It is approaching the task from the standpoint of what is needed, instead of what I want to do. Not surprisingly, the time with the most talking is lunch time. Conversations start and drag on through the food; until it’s time to get back to work! 

Through the end of this year, our goal is to keep the local teams building and houses coming. We are about half way to our goal of funding 20 more houses. Thank you so much to everyone who has already contributed, you’ve already made such an impact. If you’re interested and able to donate, please do so through our secure website. 

All families that end up receiving a house from Doxa must go through an application process. This process has been the product of many years of experience and, to some extent, trial and error. Since 1990, it has been Doxa’s privilege to be part of building over 2000 houses all over Tijuana. This magnitude of work, however, has also necessitated an application process that ensures only qualified families receive a house.

Rosa and Maria work on the western and eastern sides of Tijuana, respectively, to process family applications. All families follow the same process:

1. The family makes initial contact with Rosa or Maria and fills out an application form with basic information (names, contact info, employment, financial info, family history, location of land for the house).
2. The family submits various documents: IDs of all adults who will live in the house, birth certificates for the kids, proof of land ownership, employment/school records, and other documents as required. Doxa has learned the importance of requiring land ownership. If the recipient family does not own the plot of land, then they can soon lose their new home to a formerly absent landowner.
3. Rosa or Maria interviews the family, reviews all of their information, and begins to understand why they are applying for a house. Sometimes a site visit of the family’s current living situation is needed, other times not. Rosa or Maria typically make a determination as to whether the family is approved. If a family falls into a gray area and they are not sure if a family should be approved, then we discuss that family among everyone to make a final determination together. Most families that apply for a house successfully end up receiving one.
4. If approved, the family moves on to complete 120 hours of volunteer service. This is usually to a partner orphanage, but could also be to other local organizations. Rosa and Maria try to find a natural fit for any skills that the family has. For example, if the husband in the family knows how to weld, then maybe there’s some metalwork that needs to get completed. Likewise, if the wife in the family is an excellent cook, then perhaps she’ll dedicate some time to cooking for the orphanage. It’s all dependent upon the current needs of the community and the skills of the family.
5. Rosa or Maria conduct a site visit of the family’s land. They counsel the family about what work, if any, needs to be done to the land to adequately prepare it for a Doxa house. Some families have nothing to do while others have to move entire hillsides or take down their current living structure to make room.
6. The family goes on the wait list. We typically get to families within a year, but there are some cases where they wait longer. During this time is also when the family is responsible for preparing their land.
7. Sand, gravel, and water (if no running water available) are delivered to the family’s land a couple days before the volunteer group is scheduled to begin.

This process ensures qualified families receive houses and are good stewards of the home after the volunteer group leaves Tijuana. On return trips, we encourage groups to visit their old building sites, reconnect with the family, and see how they have turned the house into a home.