MEXICO

October 3 - October 15, 2004
+ Puebla, Mexico
++ Trip ID Number = gv4788
++ 10 - 20 team members
++ Pre-build staging for the 2004 Jimmy Carter Work Project

Urgent needs have arisen in Puebla, Mexico, site of the upcoming Jimmy Carter Work Project. In order to help our friends in Puebla prepare for the arrival of some 4,000 volunteer home builders, pre-build staging activities must be performed in order to meet the JCWP goals of completing 150 houses in 5 days for families in need.

This unique GV team will be involved in staging of materials a few weeks prior to the JCWP. While not overlapping with the JCWP, our work will be critical to its success. The team will move supplies and materials, stack mortarless block and roof panels, and load construction trailers at the site. There is also a secondary need to stuff packets and prepare JCWP registration materials at the site.

The third largest and most populous Spanish-speaking country in Latin America, Mexico is a land of deserts, tropical coastlines, snow-capped volcanoes and busy cities still whispering of their ancient cultures. It is also a nation in which poverty has taken hold of many citizens.

In spite of having a free market economy which has strengthened over the last decade, Mexico has not yet overcome the low (often sub-minimum) wages, high unemployment and enormous housing deficit that keep much of its population in poverty. Due primarily to limited credit access and inflated prices in the private housing market, it is estimated that one in every three adults in Mexico lives in substandard conditions.

Few Mexican cities preserve the Spanish imprint as dedicatedly as the city of Puebla. The city has the largest number of churches in Mexico and has more than 1,000 colonial buildings, many displaying hand-painted tiles for which the city is famous. Located between Mexico City and the port of Veracruz. Puebla sits in the shadow of Popocatépetl and is commonly known as the ?City of Angels.? In honor of its historic past and beautiful architecture, Puebla has been has declared a UNESCO Cultural Heritage site.

Tentative itinerary:

Our accommodations will be in a local hotel (currently the Imperial Hotel on the zocálo [main square]) with two to a room.

Short tour options include the numerous churches, museums, and markets of colonial Puebla, as well as the nearby ruins of Cholula and Teotihuacan (pyramids of the sun and the moon).

Much of our work will be, well, “grunt work”... moving supplies and materials, prepping foundations, stacking block and panels, and loading construction trailers. We won’t need any tools except for good gloves, a strong back, and an unbridled willingness to laugh. For those not able to undertake the more physical aspects of the work, there’s also a need to stuff packets and such to prepare for the check-in and arrival of the 4,000 volunteers who get in to Puebla and Veracruz on October 23rd. Grunt work, yes, but work that is necessary in order for the JCWP to be successful. It’s a crazy, tough deadline to meet, but it is doable...it has to be!

The cost of the trip will be $975, which includes meals, transportation, accommodations, tour expenses, and insurance. Team members are free to make their own air reservations, which is a nifty way of saying that the trip fee doesn’t include airfare :-) -- It’s actually a good thing. I’ve found that many people want some control of their arrival and departure schedule and some can put frequent flyer miles to good use. We simply ask that the team be available to meet in Mexico City on October 3rd so we can board a bus to Puebla (the bus station is at the airport).

If this trip interests you, please let me know ASAP. With our rapidly looming departure date, it’s critical that we keep in touch. I’ll do my best to get us all “up to speed” in order to best prepare ourselves for this exciting and important project. Thanks so much for considering this possibility. I hope it works out that you will be able to join us.