Super Build 2007

Rotarians do a lot more with their hands than writing checks!

A report from Board Member (and Service Dynamo) Karen Whisenhunt

Rotarians and guests from the Las Vegas Rotary Club had an unbelievable experience this past weekend working on a "hands on" project in Mexico. Partnered with the Corazon Group, a non-profit organization out of California, approximately 180 volunteers from District 5300 went to Tecate, Mexico on Saturday, May 12th to participate in Super Build 2007.

Our day began on Saturday morning at 6:00 am. After a brief orientation we caravanned to the Mexican border. Fortunately, the border crossing was uneventful and the caravan continued their drive through the narrow streets and windy hills of Mexico until we arrived at the job sites. With only the concrete slab poured, building began at 9:00 am. When the first wall went up, the crowd of volunteers stopped, cheered, took pictures and then got back to work.

The family for the new house provided us with a lovely Mexican lunch of rice and beans. After lunch the painters stumbled over each other to paint the house inside and out while the builders shingled the roof. By 3:00 pm, six hours later, the house was done. According to the representative from Corazon, it was the second fastest house they had ever seen built, an amazing accomplishment. At the end of the day we had a small ceremony and handed over the keys to the emotional but grateful family. The young couple, ages 20 and 21, have two small children, 18 months and 3 months old. Their dream was to own their own home and thanks to the kindness, generosity and hard work of the Rotary volunteers, their dream has come true. The physically tired and emotionally drained volunteers headed back to their hotels for an evening celebration dinner before heading home the next day.

In one day, our District built 3 homes and 1 Day School Center. We financed 8 Mexican children's High School education. We helped 3 families take pride in their own Community. Finally we added a little evidence towards dispelling the myth that "Rotarians just write checks".

Rotarians and guests who participated from our club were:

• Bill and Charles Cantrell
• Kevin Keefe and BobbieJo Kinsey
• Tom Krob
• Ned and Marilyn Phillips
• Connie Sanders
• Tom and Karen Whisenhunt
• Jimmy Onoszko (Jimmy's lovely bride Carlyn also joined us for the weekend but was unable to come to the build site.)

Thank you to the Las Vegas Rotarians and guests who made the Super Build 2007 a huge success and thank you to all our members for your financial support.

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Click here to view PowerPoint Web Show (note photos are large)