Archive for ‘House Building’

Introduction to Unidos por Siempre Orphanage

March 11, 2020

With Doxa’s expansion of house building operations to also include the East side of Tijuana, it became clear that another orphanage partnership was needed. Someone who knew the new neighborhood, people, and could be an effective partner. The Rojo Gomez neighborhood is over 1 hour away from Doxa’s more traditional house building neighborhoods on the West side of the city. This also meant house building groups would need a place to stay closer to their building sites.

Enter Unidos por Siempre Orphanage. Founded by Maria Figueroa in 2002, originally as a community soup kitchen, Unidos por Siempre is now home to over 30 children who come from a variety of backgrounds. The orphanage itself is cozy and bright with yellow walls, and laundry often hanging to dry in the central patio. There are two dormitories (accommodating about 30 boys and girls), a kitchen, dining room, and common spaces to play. Maria and her staff spend time with the kids in an unhurried manner. The pace of life is comfortable here and love is in abundance. Maria greets you with the trademark “my house is your house” and you know you are home.

As house building groups have slowly gotten to know Unidos por Siempre, there are lasting relationships formed. It’s impossible to spend even a couple days there without someone getting to know your name and vice versa. Groups have even undertaken many smaller projects around Unidos por Siempre to help their facilities improve. The house building experience serves as the springboard for so much more. It’s been such a joy to journey along with them and they have been so gracious with inviting us in. We have only struck the tip of the iceberg here!

To see a current map of houses built around East Tijuana, feel free to checkout our Impact Map. Rosa, the person who screens and prepares families for houses on the West side of Tijuana, has been a mentor to Maria as she learns the screening process and how to adapt it for families throughout the East side of Tijuana.

Meet Teresa

March 11, 2020

Teresa and Ubaldo come from Puebla and have been married for 14 years. Like most adults in Tijuana, they ventured here for better job opportunities. Teresa also says that “living with my mother-in-law” in Puebla helped guide their decision-making (ha!). Tijuana is a popular destination as it’s known as a major economic hub and manufacturing city throughout Mexico.

Teresa and Ubaldo have three children and live in the Eastern TJ neighborhood of Rojo Gomez. They were successful in buying a small piece of land, but were unable to fund the building of a house. Teresa remembers how she first encountered Doxa’s house building: “one day I saw a group building a house near my land and I also saw Maria [Unidos por Siempre founder] so I decided to investigate how it all worked, and thanks be to God she told me she could help… all I needed to do was apply and do some community service at the orphanage.”

After Teresa’s 120 hours of community service, a group from Oak Brook, IL came to build in August 2019. Ubaldo vividly remembers all the work that he did to prepare their piece of land for the house. He excavated, by hand, about 9 square yards of compacted dirt and rock. Talk about commitment!

At this point in the house building process, families typically start to make their new house into a home. What makes Teresa’s story unique is that, apart from moving into her family’s new house, she continued to serve at Unidos por Siempre. She is a gifted cook and Maria recognized this during her regular volunteer hours. Teresa has now joined the Unidos por Siempre staff as a cook. She is a great fit for the culture and mission of Unidos por Siempre, not to mention she live just right up the street.

Under different circumstances, Teresa and Maria might not have met and discovered their natural synergy. What an extraordinary example of a win-win-win for everyone involved!

Teresa’s family and the group who built the house together

Spring Break House Building

March 11, 2020

Since the early 1990s, groups of high school students have traveled to Tijuana to build houses over their Spring Break. These early groups, predominantly from Washington and California, continue to be the cornerstone to Doxa’s development throughout the city of Tijuana.

The month of March is marked by large semi-trucks of materials arriving at Doxa’s Annex in Tijuana, families preparing their land for a new house, and groups putting the finishing touches on their trip preparations. Hogar de los Niños and Unidos por Siempre orphanages also plan for the influx of people and prepare their best salsa for all of the temporary guests set to arrive!

Groups with 15, 20, and 25+ years of history not only have significant experience with Tijuana, but more importantly have long-term relationships with the people. These are house building families, orphanage people, hardware store owners, neighborhood leaders, church pastors, flea market vendors, and others. The commitment and consistency that each group shows translates into value and love when communicated in Tijuana.

While, unfortunately, some groups from the Seattle-area have been impacted by the coronavirus this year, the majority of groups are continuing as planned. As hard as it is to cancel a Spring Break trip like this, it is all understandable and safety comes first for all involved. Sometimes mission can get messy and things don’t always function the way we had planned. These moments provide perspective and an unexpected opportunity for creativity. In partnership with the Holy Spirit, nothing is impossible.

Doxa is so thankful for all of the house building groups that have made this serving experience part of their larger ministry and annual rhythm. We look forward to this year’s building and many more years to come!

Checkout some of these old school photos, taken back in the 1990s.