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Published on 06/01/1998 All articles from this issue

King's Academy takes annual trek to help needy in Mexico

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Special to the Town Crier

Traveling in a 29-vehicle caravan with a chuck wagon in tow, about 223 students, teachers and parents from The King's Academy in Sunnyvale recently visited Tijuana, Mexico, to build homes for nine needy families.

The annual week-long trip to Mexico is part of the Christian school's mission to minister to others, and an opportunity for students to learn teamwork as well as basic construction skills.

"The family I built for was so surprised that a group of teenagers would give up their time to come and build a house for (them). It felt good to know that the family would not be living in a run-down shack anymore after we left," said Los Altos resident Rachel McGowan, who is a sophomore at the academy.

School officials said this year's project was the biggest and most productive yet, but it was also the most challenging because of El Niño. The group's 33-tent campsite quickly turned into a mud pit, and building crews could only work during intermissions in rain because they had to shut off the generators and power tools when the rain poured, officials said.

Students divided into nine teams with four adult leaders. Each learned how to lay a wall, insert a window, build a ladder and wire electricity.

Paul Spates, dean of non-academic affairs, said the families and children helped the students carry wood and paint and handed them nails.

Each house was 16 by 20 feet and featured four rooms, including a kitchen, two bedrooms and one loft. Building the houses took about three full days.

Spates said some families had been living in one-room structures that had dirt floors, no windows and had been patched up with "every imaginable piece of scrap material."

Students raised most of the approximately $3,000 needed to build the houses, and the school provided the remaining funds.

"Building houses in Mexico not only helps families, it also changes my perspective on life. I realize just how much I have to be thankful for and that by giving up just a week of my life, I can affect a whole family's life forever." said Los Altos resident Lindsay Garcia, who is a senior at the academy.