Taking a break to build homes

By MARISA OLIVER

Spring break is going to be different for a group of 40 Santa Clara students this March. Amor Ministries, a non-profit organization based out of San Diego, will put the students to work building homes for the residents of Baja, Calif.

Sigma Lambda Beta is organizing the March 17-24 trip. Fifty-four students applied for the opportunity but 40 were selected in a random drawing. The group will drive 15 hours, stay at a campsite, have no running-water and sleep on rocks. The students are going to give up their vacation to make a difference.

Sebastian Mejias, Sigma Lambda Beta New Member Educator, is running the show. A two-time veteran of the experience through Bellermine High School, Mejias wants to bring the opportunity to Santa Clara students.

The students will build homes for people living in over-crowded homes. "Within five days we will build a house," Mejias said. "It doesn't seem like too much for us, but to these people it is."

Amor Ministries is similar to Habitat for Humanity but the students live and work in solidarity with the people for whom they are building homes, according to Mejias.

Each member of the group will keep a journal to enter thoughts and anxieties before they leave, while they are building homes and after they return. There are meetings each week to help prepare the students and answer questions.

The trip is sponsored by the Santa Clara Community Action Program, Center for Multicultural Learning and the MultiCultural Center. Participating in the program will cost each student $75. Mejias hopes this will become an annual event and boost popularity for volunteer programs over spring break.

"If you go down to these communities, you see that everyone needs a house," Mejias said.