Spotlight on the Association of Latin & American Students (ALAS) Spring Break Trip, 2007
April 12, 2007
NOTE: Click the images to view a larger version of the photos.
While other spring breakers were soaking up the sun and enjoying the nightlife offered by popular vacation sites, 13 Miami Hamilton students decided to go a different route. They followed the lead of Spanish teacher and ALAS adviser, Jill Gauthier, and traveled to Tijuana, Mexico on a humanitarian mission. Dr. John Cinnamon, professor of Anthropology, joined the group too.
(Image, right: Students prepare a foundation for a new home for residents of the landfill area.)
Gauthier had already been to Tijuana with Bittersweet Ministries and recalls how that trip led to the 2007 Miami Hamilton ALAS Spring Break in Mexico.
“I talked about my experiences in Tijuana in my classes and the students decided they wanted to go as well. We coordinated through Bittersweet Ministries in Dayton and were actually the first non-faith based group to take part in this activity. We posted a sign-up list, and two days later all the spots were filled. While the trip was sponsored in part by ALAS, each student also participated in fundraisers and contributed $100 each.”
Culture shock
Arriving in Tijuana, students were shocked at not only the living conditions but also the deplorable working conditions residents are forced to endure.
(Image, right: Students sit around the house that they, literally, builts during their spring break trip to Tijuana.)
“Literally every family in the area works at the local landfill while their homes actually surround the dump.” Gauthier says. “Our students were surprised by the poverty—it was a different reality than what they were used to seeing.
“A typical day in the lives of the people of Tijuana begins at 5 A.M. when the dump opens. The men will scavenge for recyclable items and take them to the women who have set up ‘camps’ where the items are sorted. There’s no running water, no bathrooms and the workers have to watch out for the vehicles unloading trash. They work until 5 P.M. usually; sometimes later than that.”
Parents aren’t the only ones who work in the landfill. There was a time when children as young as five would labor along side their parents. However, laws have become stricter and the minimum age is now 14.
Challenges in education
“Most of the children living around the landfill don’t go to school.” Gauthier explains. “Their parents only bring in $40 to $60 weekly and schools charge around $300 a month. Children are required to wear uniforms and families just can’t afford them. They purchase most of their everyday clothes at the used clothing markets held on the weekends. Parents try to keep the kids in school for as long as possible, but the cost can be prohibitive. Bittersweet Ministries offers scholarships, which helps provide school uniforms. They also have a program where $125 sponsors a child’s education for a year. Many times these kids have to stop going to school because the money runs out and they have to work to help support the family. Once they leave school, it is very difficult to get them back. Bittersweet Ministries is doing what they can to help break the cycle, but it is difficult. They’re also working with adults, bringing those who are skilled carpenters, cement mixers and other craftsmen off the landfills to help build homes.”
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