Project Mercy

I’m going to forgo the usual “it’s been a long time since last I’ve written” self flagellation and get right to the point this time! 

Recently I was lucky enough to be a part of a volunteer group that travelled to Mexico and joined up with an outfit called “Project Mercy” to help build a home for a homeless single mother of two in the shanty towns or “colonias” east of Tijuana.  I had never been to that part of Mexico and was amazed to see how third-world that area really is.  Pot-holed roads took us through dusty and dry foothills to a vast “community” of lean-to shacks and rudimentary dwellings for the poorest of the poor.  Project Mercy(www.projectmercy.net), is a non-profit group based out of San Diego that provides basic shelter for families in need in this particular part of the world.  These brightly colored small houses(kinda like a larger, more glorified storage shed) with their cement foundation, roof and loft are a welcome luxury when compared to the normal living conditions in these parts.  Families must put in “sweat equity” in the community, building other homes for their neighbors, to be eligible for one of their own. 

On this particular day we were building a home for a single mother of an eight year old boy and a three year old girl.  Her husband had been murdered two years ago and they had been crammed into another Project Mercy house owned by her mother.  Our crew of about 20-30 arrived early in the morning where only the slab of concrete had been laid.  With some great leadership(much of it from my pal and fellow actor Rick Hall) we were able to frame, side, roof and paint the house all by late afternoon.  We even had a splinter group finish another house up the road! I was so amazed at the volunteers who gave up a Saturday(getting up at 3am no less!) and worked their tails off all the while with a smile on their face and a spring in their step.  We had school teachers, retired truck drivers, ministers, architects and writers all swinging hammers and cutting wood.  There’s something very special about a group of strangers coming together to do some good.

It was nearing sunset as we drove over the border and I was as tired as I’ve been in a long time.  Sunburned and with dirt and grime in every nook and cranny of my body, I sat slumped in the front seat of a minivan.  But as I remembered the look on the face of the mother when we handed her the keys to her very own house, and the smiles on her two small children I swear it felt like we were floating back to Los Angeles. 

It’s easy these days to get caught up in all the negative things that hover around us like flies: politics, religious differences, environmental crises, wars to name just a few.  I know that I, for one, can get bogged down by that negativity and retreat inward to escape.  I focus only on my needs and what I have to do to carry on.  Let me tell you something you probably already know and hopefully have experienced for yourself–helping those in need is the elixir for that particular ailment!  I’m looking forward to finding that next way to give back and I sure hope you’ll do the same. 
Peace,
DP

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