Reflections
of HHAB Team Members
“I am proud to say that I
am a volunteer for this marvelous organization. It truly is gratifying to see
how many lives HHAB touches through its services.”
Leticia Grajeda, Volunteer/Correspondence
Secretary
“
San Diego
is a world away. I am surrounded by
kind people who I can now call my friends. I
was moved by so many things, like Carlos’s kind words at the end of the day.
The sweetest event: making friends with a little girl named Mareli, who
gave me her hugs and smiles. What a
great day!”
Marilynn
Ono, Volunteer
“The whole thing to me
was something new, and I learned a lot. I
have more awareness for the way I live. My
favorite part of the trip was seeing all of the families so grateful, especially
all of those children living their lives so gleefully.
It seemed as though they had no idea of where they were.
All the respect I was given from all the people was awesome.”
Mike
Cabrera, Volunteer
“While working at the
dump clinic, I walked to the top of a nearby hill to take a panoramic
photograph. Atop the hill, I was
surprised to see Point Loma and
San Diego
, perhaps twenty miles to the north. I
found the contrast of so many people living at the dump in abject poverty,
within sight of one of the most affluent areas of the world, to be very sad and
ironic.”
Dave
Rose, Volunteer/Board of Directors
“I was moved...by the
stoic dignity of people living in a very difficult environment.”
Jonathan Kelley, MD
“Although my contribution
may seem minimal in comparison to the overall need of the people of Mexico, it is more important for us and the people we help to understand that they are
not forgotten. That's what we do: we care and offer our support as best we can,
regardless of the skills we have to volunteer.”
Ricky Gutierrez, Volunteer
“Living in the
United States
, most of us never think about how fortunate we are to live in a relatively clean
environment.
We take for granted the trees and the grass around us. I imagine
that if we had to live in our own garbage as they do at the dump in Tijuana, we would think twice about all the trash
we generate.”
Laurie
Lake
, RNNP, MPH
“As a non-medical
volunteer, I often feel that I contribute very little to help the numerous families in Mexico
that are in abject poverty. Yet, after a weekend of seeing the smiling, grateful faces of the families we help, I
feel that I have really made a difference in other people's lives.”
Adrian Castro, Volunteer
“When I first joined the
Healing Hearts team, I thought God had provided me with an opportunity to give to
those who were really in need. Now I realize that I may be getting just as much, if not more, in return.”
John Rodarte, MD
“Today I translated for a
pastor who was seeing people who wanted to pray. At registration, everyone was
asked if they wanted to pray and whoever said yes could go to a little corner
and talk to the pastor.
It was quite emotional and touching to hear about all the problems these people
had and really felt depressed about. Women would come by and cry and talk about
their problems. Many of them didn't have anyone else to talk to and I guess they
just wanted someone to listen. A few of them were suicidal too. Their worries
included their own health, loneliness, spouses/children across the border who
don't visit them anymore, death of a parent/loved one, unfaithful spouses, etc.
If you simply looked at them on the outside, you wouldn't think that they were
so sad. It seems like they bottle it up for the most part, as there is really
not much of a concept of 'mental health' resources there.
And then there was the married couple who just wanted to pray because they were
so happy and grateful about something that happened the day before. There was
apparently a big fire in the area where they lived so they had evacuated their
home. Then they said they prayed like crazy for their house to be saved. It
turned out their house was saved by just inches from the fire. So they were just
so happy and thankful about that they wanted to pray and thank God.
The wife was saying how they moved from Chiapas
[an agricultural area in southern Mexico] to
Tijuana
about 18 years ago and that she felt it was really 'bonito' here. At first, I
wasn't sure if I heard right, as
Tijuana
is not exactly 'bonito' (which literally means 'pretty'). But I guess it can
also mean 'nice'. And I guess she really felt like it was nice in
Tijuana
because she worked in a factory where she made more than twice as much (13
pesos/day instead of 5; conversion is about 1 dollar=10 pesos) as in the
countryside in
Chiapas
. It’s just amazing how relative everything is. Something that is utterly poor
and deprived to us is nice and 'bonito' to others. She said the only reason they
don't cross the border to earn in dollars is the danger of death involved.
So I guess my experience today was pretty intense and something different for
me. It just made me see these people in a new light-- that they have the same
worries/problems/mental health issues that we have and need to let it out.
Although the pastor and I couldn't really do much about anything, I hope it was
helpful to just listen.”
Shruthi
Sriram, Volunteer
