Utilizing all volunteer labor, Project Mexico builds solid stucco homes with concrete floors for the poorest families in Tijuana, Mexico. Trip participants pay a fee which is used to purchase building materials and food for the workers. Recipient families are chosen by local clergy and community leaders who are familiar with and can verify their circumstances. Many of these families are part of the greatest migration in history -- rural Third World peasants moving to the cities. City planners estimate that thirty to forty families from Mexico's interior settle in Tijuana daily. Authorities state that this influx is occurring so rapidly they are unable to keep accurate population figures. Nearly 14% of the world (i.e. one of every seven people) lives in these squatter settlements where electricity and indoor plumbing are non-existent.

Low-cost government land is available only if the family lives on it. Families often spend all they have to purchase the land, leaving nothing for construction. This results in hastily constructed shanties made of cardboard, tin, or whatever supplies can be salvaged. These shelters are rarely adequate as evidenced by the numerous children who die each winter from cold and exposure.

In 1988, our goal was simply to help some of these struggling families make a better life for themselves by providing them with secure, safe, permanent homes. Now, well over one hundred families have been blessed with a safe and solid home while over 6,900 young people have given of themselves in a hands-on way. With a concrete floor, solid walls and roof, warm interior, and locking door which a Project Mexico home provides, the family's situation is given a quantum leap forward.