Group from Soulway Church looking forward to going to Mexico soon to build a house for a family in need. PHOTO/EMMA BROWN
Trio spend night hungry and cold
EMMA BROWN
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With only a makeshift hut and a tarp for coverage, three students spent a night out in the cold to fundraise for an upcoming trip to Mexico to build a home for a family in need.
Fourteen people from Soulway Church in Masterton are taking a trip of a lifetime to Rosarito in Tijuana, Mexico.
Leaving on September 24 for 10 days, the group will spend three days building a house for a single mother and her three teenage children before spending the rest of the trip going to prison to hand out care packages or feeding the homeless on the streets.
Raani-Samson Rouru-Bourne, 12, Tiare Rouru-Bourne, 18, and Karnyae Ropiha-Waiwai, 12, spent nearly 48 hours last week with only one can of beans, a bottle of water and two pieces of bread each for food.
During this time, they also went to school, hungry, and spent Thursday evening in a home-built hut with only a tarpaulin for protection.
They raised more than $2500 towards the materials for the home in Mexico for their efforts.
“I was a bit hungry,” Tiare said.
She said it was a bit colder than it would be in Mexico, but they just made sure that they covered up for the night.
“It was a great experience.
“A little bit of what they go through in the slums in Mexico.”
Having been on the trip to Mexico once before, Tiare said the trip made her think about how others lived.
“It’s humbling.”
“I don’t want anyone to live life like that.”
“You feel stink almost in a way with all you have, then you feel blessed by all you have here.”
She found people were going without things such as toilet paper.
The tradition of the trip to Mexico started more than 20 years ago in Palmerston North, continuing from Masterton when Soulway Church opened.
During the trip, the group will also get the chance to see the family they helped build a home for previously.
During the build, the family receiving the house will assist in the process.
A bond and connection is created with those giving and receiving the house, Maria Bourne, a pastor at Soulway Church, said
“To see a family homed is absolutely amazing.”
“[You are] bringing positive change to their lives.”
“We want to give another family another opportunity of life; to give to a situation when we are able to.”
The group has run multiple fundraisers from sausage sizzles, bake sales, garage sales, hangis, and the stakeouts by the kids.
People wishing to see how the trip goes or wishing to donate towards the materials can contact Soulway Church on their Facebook page.
I wonder if anyone involved has actually considered the cost to the planet of their travel, the efficiency of their method, or the overall long term effect of their no doubt well-intentioned effort.