Mexico Workstudy Trip

Give Ye Them To Eat

February 2002

Five Methodist Temple members participated in the February 2002 workstudy trip to Mexico.

Several work projects were completed or moved into another phase of construction at the "Tree of Life" Training Center in Tlancualpican, Mexico during this particular week of labor.  The mission team was joined by local staff members, scholarship students and day laborers assisting and/or instructing them each day.  There were many small projects that took the skills and energy of two or three people to complete in a half or whole day.  And there were other major projects that took most of the week to complete.

The following is an overview of the type of work involved in the major projects that Bob Blessing, Jim Close, Bob Coleman, Jacque Hardin, and Jerry Moore participated in while they were in Mexico.

Office Roof Construction: which Jerry Moore worked on.  This consisted of putting up trusses on the structure and measuring and cutting metal to contractor's specifications.

Bathroom Construction for a composting toilet and storage room:  Jacque Hardin and Jim Close nearly complete the modern but ecological bathroom that is an appropriate technology for this part of the world.  The GYTTE ministry really promotes recycling resources and composing toilets are one way to turn a waste product into a useful resource for farming land and landscaping.

Bamboo and Tile Roof:  Bob Blessing was one of the "Bamboo Boys" that had the hard job of splitting (with machetes) thick-walled bamboo and wiring it to bamboo beams where the 100 year-old fired tiles will rest to protect the outdoor mud cook-stove.

Tool Room Project:  Bob Coleman was the "Tlancualpican Tool Man"  who kept the tool shed organized and repaired miscellaneous tools and other items such as the sliding door on one of the Training Center's vans.  In his "spare time" he shoveled large quantities of sand, gravel, and "green earth", a regional clay used for building material.  Bob also preached IN SPANISH at the Thursday night worship service in the village's Methodist church.

There were over twenty smaller projects going on and completed during the week in which the team worked, including installing a solar hot water heater; sifting dirt and ash for the composting toilets; hauling dirt and gravel for road fill; sealing tiles on the thatched round classroom; designing, welding  and painting antenna towers; and on and on! There are many, many ongoing projects and plans for future projects and future work teams.

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