While many would rather spend their spring break tanning on the beach or exploring new cities, many Miramonte students decided to build houses while sporting matching overalls instead. Every spring break, students from across Lamorinda travel to Tijuana, Mexico, on a volunteer trip, to build houses for rural communities. Not only do students earn volunteer hours, but they also gain valuable life skills such as working with a team, problem-solving, and planning.
Moraga Valley Presbyterian Church (MVPC) is the main organization Miramonte students attend the trip with. The Church’s main goal is to serve families in need by working with the Amor Ministries – this is a nonprofit organization dedicated to leading different churches through the house-building trip – and volunteers to build homes in Mexico.
To attend the program, one does not have to be a member of the church or have building experience, which enables students of all skill sets to partake in the trip and learn new skills.
“What I got out of it was a really fun time with my friends where we built houses for an entire week…for me, building houses and hands-on work like that is really fun,” junior Rishi Haldar said.
The week-long trip consists of working on construction during the day, while also having access to meals and sharing tents with fellow volunteers. Junior James Rogers details how a usual day went during the trip.
“We would wake up around 6:45 and eat and prepare for the day, next around 7:45 we would board the buses and head to the worksite. The morning shift was from 8:45 to 12:45, and then from 12:45 to 1:15 we would go eat lunch and talk with our teams about a daily lunch time topic, then we would continue working from 1:15 to 4:00. After that, we would head home, shower, eat, and have free time until 6:30 when we would eat dinner,” Rogers said.
Usually, trips with churches also include worship sessions, which Rogers said went from 7:30 to 9:00, and then left enough time for the attendees to hangout in their tents and talk until 10:30 when it was lights out.
As students built houses and shared tents and meals, they had the ability to grow closer and form strong friendships outside of their usual school bubbles.
It’s open to all schools mostly in our district so you end up talking to new people, especially because they intentionally make working groups that don’t have your friends in them, so you work with new people,” junior James Giquinto said.
While reflecting on their trip, many attendees say that their unconventional spring break was more fun and rewarding than they expected. The experience rendered a newfound sense of appreciation for their own lives, and a new sense of responsibility to continue helping others when they can. Many participants also ended the trip with a new community of Lamorinda students that they can always fall back on.
“I would say that it definitely changes your perspective because everyone [in Tijuana] is so happy even though they have so much less than us. The trip is a really great experience because you know you’re spending your time helping people and improving their lives in a really direct way,” Giquinto said.
Service trips are a common way for many students to fill their breaks throughout the year. Miramonte students’ experiences during the Mexico service trip create a newfound appreciation for their own lives, a new sense of responsibility to continue to help others when they can, and a community of friends that they can always fall back on. If you find yourself in need of volunteer hours, adventure, or just more friends from other schools, volunteer trips are a great option. For Lamorinda students, programs like Amigos, Global Leadership Adventures, and Conservation Volunteers International, offer ways to learn something new and support those who need it most.
“While other people are on vacation, you kind of get a reality check and [the trip] puts your problems into perspective,” Haldar said. “When you come back, you’re appreciative and thankful…I felt like I had a lot of clarity.”
