By Greg Nikkel
Fourteen students from the Christian Ethics class at the Weyburn Comp, Radville Regional High School and the Estevan Comp came back as “different people” after spending 10 days in Cuernavaca, Mexico, helping out residents and learning about the Mexican culture.
“It just made a huge impact on us. We came home as different people,” said Grade 12 student Britney Bolton.
She and Kailee Bell from Grade 11 shared some of their thoughts and experiences about the trip, including that both felt this was a “life-changing” opportunity to help out others.
“The overall experience was amazing, seeing how the locals lived in comparison to us. They were so thoughtful and generous,” said Bolton, adding of her billet family, “The language barrier wasn’t really a factor.”
She enjoyed just being able to help the community, noting the group helped to build a dry toilet and a brick outdoor oven for two different families in the village.
Bolton said she was impressed from her billeting experience with the family.
The students stayed part of the time in a monastery, and for three day were billeted with local families in the village of Huayapam, to experience their life and to eat what they normally had for food.
The students also had a day at a school to help autistic children, although Bolton pointed out there were children of many other disabilities there, and they were able to interact with many of them.
“It was just really cool,” she said, observing that the children in Mexico really are the same as children everywhere, playing the same sort of games.
“They all have big smiles,” she added.
Her billet family had one son, while Bell’s family had a daughter and a son in addition to the parents.
Bell said they ate corn tortillas and refried beans, and added, “Everything they have to eat is organic, it’s what they grow themselves.”
The day spent at the market was also an eye-opener, said Bell, as they helped a woman make crafts which she then sold at the market, making corn husks into flowers. The students then tried to see what they would be able to buy using only what was raised from the sale of the craft items.
“We gained an appreciation for what we have at home,” added Bolton.
The trip wasn’t all work and no play, as they were able to spend a day at a local resort, Las Estachas, where they were able to swim in clear, cool water. They also had a view of a smoking volcano fairly nearby, and enjoyed getting photos of that sight.
Asked for her overall thoughts of the experiences she had on this trip, Bolton said, “You learn so much, and you get so much appreciation for what you have.”
Bell added she was nervous beforehand about what they were going to experience, but found it was a very enjoyable, and it was a real eye-opener to see how Mexicans truly live and work.
She also felt that the people in Mexico helped her more as a person than she was able to help them.
