On Saturday, Dec 4th, 20 District 5340 Rotary clubs, four Rotaract clubs and La Jolla Interact Club crossed the US/Mexican border to meet with five Mexican Rotary clubs and Project Mercy personnel in a little rural community named Trebol, halfway between Tijuana and Tecate.
Over 150 Rotary-involved people met to build seven houses during that one day. Jeb Bakke, District 5340 International Chair and his committee, (Kim Muslusky, Assistant Governor Mike Fugua, Fernanda Torres) worked from both sides of the border to make the event happen. They partnered with Project Mercy, a 30 -year-old 5013c that builds small houses in Baja for homeless people.
The District 5340 International Committee raised over $52,000 during a 3-month period from local Rotarians to make the event happen. Each house had a cost of $6,800, out houses were $700. There were also six solar lamps purchased, six tables and four chairs for each house as well - all through donations from various clubs.
District 5340 provided three buses to take the volunteers across the border, lunch for all of them as well as bottled water. District 4100, thanks to Fernanda Torres and Carlos Carillo, 4100 International Chair, arranged for a special hotel rate at the Grand Hotel in Tijuana for the night for those who wanted to stay over – and a special dinner, with music and entertainment.
Both District Governors Dan Gensler and Octavio Sanchez were in attendance along with other district dignitaries. One of the goals of this event was to promote more cross-border interaction between both districts. There is now a video being made of this event.
"This project was a great opportunity for Rotarians who have never been able to participate in an international project to work hands-on in something important– less than 50 miles away from San Diego!” said Jeb Bakke. “It opens your eyes to the needs that exist in other countries”.
