I first crossed the border into Mexico when I was 16 years old. I often imagine that how I felt that day is how and astronaut would feel visiting another planet. Everything was unimaginatively different, something you had to see to believe.I was headed to build houses as a part of a poverty relief and youth enrichment effort in Mexicali. Nothing anybody told me really sank in until I saw it for myself. Most of the people were living in carefully engineered piles of garbage they had collected to protect them from the elements.We arrived at base camp that evening and after what I saw earlier that day I could have believed we were staying in a five star hotel on this new planet. The camp was an array of about 40 military tents housing an average of 2 teams of a dozen people each.That whole week our team worked tirelessly to raise four walls and and build a roof over the head of the family we were assigned to. As the week steadily progressed the house went up and friends were made despite the language barrier.To this day I am still in contact with many of my teammates from all three years I have gone to build houses and have gone back to visit the families I have served. The trip helped lay the formation for my passion for helping those in need, caused me grow as a teammate and realize the great relationships I can have with people on any team or that speak any language.Feel free to contact me if you're curious about the work I've done or even want to get involved yourself.
Listed skills include Lean Manufacturing, Project Management, Process Analysis, Cost Analysis, and 25 others.