Five construction management students postponed the start of their winter break and went to Mexico from Dec. 12 to 18 to bring help to families in need.
Boyd Fife, assistant professor of construction management, said the purpose of the trip was to provide humanitarian aid to families in Guaymas, a southwestern city in the northwestern state of Sonora, Mexico.
“This time we installed two concrete floors for homes that had dirt floors,” he said. “We also replaced a roof that had previously had toxic fumes.”
One of the houses worked on had a dirt floor soaked in diesel fuel, Sharon Brown, College of Computing, Integrated Engineering & Technology college adviser said.
“There was a 2-month-old baby and a 6-year-old living there and breathing in fumes,” she said. “The students worked together to dig up the floor and remove it.”
After the students removed the floor, they cemented the floor and replaced a leaky roof, Brown said.
Students also toured an inflated dome, which uses a hot air balloon effect to create storage facilities, Tyrell Fife, a freshman construction management major from Cedar City said.
Once the shell is blown up, steel pieces are hung on the inside, it is shot with insulation and finally, concrete.
“You can store whatever you want inside,” Tyrell Fife said. “In Mexico, it was used to store fertilizer but it’s a very strong facility.”
For seven years construction management students have provided their time and skills in Guaymas, Boyd Fife said.
“We work with Larry Reintz, who helps us line up the projects,” he said. “We usually go through local churches like the Catholic or LDS Church.”
Reintz, an American citizen who has lived in Mexico for 24 years, added extra rooms and a kitchen to his home, providing the students with a free place to stay while there, Boyd Fife said.
“The students pay their own fuel and buy their own food,” he said. “Overall, it’s pretty inexpensive.”
Tyrell Fife said he went to Guaymas because he wanted to “make an impact on other people’s lives.”
“I can’t help everyone, but I can help at least one person,” he said. “The trip was a way to get away from everything and serve people.”
Learning opportunities abounded in Guaymas. One lesson Tyrell Fife said he learned is that happiness can be found in any situation.
“People are people no matter what language,” he said. “It makes them that much happier when you can build a home for them.”
Brown said the experience was humbling.
“So many families in that area live in such poor conditions,” she said. “Yet, they are so happy and appreciative of the work our students did to help.”
Students learned that it is a “blessing to live in the United States,” Boyd Fife said.
“They get to compare our living condition with that of an emerging Third World country,” he said. “They also utilized their skills and developed leadership skills.”
Brown said this was a great opportunity for students to be in charge of a project.
“Although there was faculty there to supervise, students did the planning and ran the project,” she said. “They planned out each day what needed to be done and the materials needed.”
Construction management students, as well as Service & Learning participants and Rural Health Scholars will be headed back to Guaymas in March. Projects include reconstructing a house that was partially destroyed by Hurricane Jimena in September, Brown said.
“There is plumbing, but the bathroom is surrounded with sheets,” she said. “There is no privacy from the neighborhood while using the bathroom.”
For more information about going with the Service Club, contact Pam Branin. For those interested in attending with the Rural Health Scholars, contact Rita Osborn. Construction management students can get more information by contacting Boyd Fife.
Brown said she is hoping to get a bigger group to go in March and can hardly wait to “make a difference.”
Be the first to comment on this article!