C.W. Post Students Build Hope South of the Border

Catholic student group helps low-income Tijuana residents build homes

Brookville, N.Y. – Forsaking Memorial Day cookouts and trips to the beach for long days of toil in the Tijuana sun, a group of students from the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University spent a week working alongside Mexican residents building their own homes.

Members of the Newman Club, C.W. Post’s Roman Catholic student organization, took part in a home-building project sponsored by Esperanza International. Similar to Habitat for Humanity home ownership efforts, the project brings together student volunteers with Mexican families who finance and build their own homes.

The Newman Club calls its annual trip Builders of Hope. It’s an immersion in Mexican culture, a socio-economic undertaking with concrete results, and an exercise in self-discovery – not to mention a great way to bond with friends.

“This was the hardest we’ve ever worked” on a Builders of Hope trip, said the Rev. Ted Brown, the priest of the Newman Parish and director of the Office of Religious Life at C.W. Post.

The mostly English-speaking C.W. Post students, staff and guests had no trouble interacting with Mexican families, or with the children they visited at a local orphanage. “The language of a smile and a hug – it crosses the barriers,” Brown said.

The Newman Club takes part in social, service and spiritual activities and is open to people of all faith traditions. For more information visit www.cwpost.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/stuact/interfaith/catholic/index.htm. For more information on Esperanza International, visit www.esperanzainternational.org.

Posted: June 28, 2007