Spring break in Mexico, minus MTV

For the people of Medellin, Mexico, we redefined the phrase "los spring breakers." Instead of sipping on piña coladas at the trendiest five-star hotel, 10 Princeton students donned work gloves over spring break and laid hundreds of bricks to construct a kindergarten.

We traveled to the town of 4,000 as part of the Cruz Blanca Initiative (CBI), a nonprofit group of Princeton students founded seven years ago and dedicated to promoting self-sustainable development and facilitating cross-cultural exchange in the state of Veracruz.

On our first day, we approached a vacant dirt site that would become a school. I immediately questioned whether we could make a substantial difference in a single week of construction.

Most of us had never wielded a saw or laid bricks, yet we were responsible for erecting a kindergarten building so that 30 students could study and enter public primary school. The $15,000 we had raised suddenly seemed insufficient in the face of the underfunded educational system across the state.

By the time we left, the foundations were laid and four brick walls stood tall, promising a school building.

However, we still have more work to do. The project lacks $5,000 to pay for plumbing and bathroom facilities. Our group will make another fundraising push in weeks to come to achieve these funds.

"The students are more than ambassadors of good will — they are instrumental in realizing our projects every year and increasing the visibility of CBI in Mexico," said Kush Parmar '02, the founder of CBI and a yearly participant.

CBI to the rescue

We raised even more awareness in Mexico by talking with local TV and print media, who questioned us about why we were building a school over spring break instead of hitting the beaches.

While the momentary stardom was flattering, we hope the messages of educational support will have far greater impact than the newspaper clipping we will keep in our scrapbooks.

CBI chose this school-building project in Medellin to combat the larger problem of inadequate educational funding and rigid legislation across the state.

In 2003, the Veracruz government declared that children without three years of kindergarten could not enter public primary schools. While the measure most likely was implemented to encourage schooling at a young age, it harms communities like Medellin with inadequate facilities and prevents the children from entering the public school system.

The leadership of the Union of Veracruz Teachers approached CBI last year to inform us of this problem and ask for assistance. Though the union had committed to staffing a school in Medellin, the state could not promise funds before 2012.

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So CBI responded with a solid financial and personal commitment.

"It is so worth it. You can see where your money goes. You can see where your effort goes," co-leader Lucia Bonilla '06 said. "You're helping people that maybe aren't as lucky as you. For the amount of effort we put in, the return is much more amazing."

Over the past seven years, CBI has mounted six other projects in communities that have shown similar dedication.

"We always pick a community in need and one that's unified in its enthusiasm to meet that goal," co-leader Andrew Turco '07 said. "[CBI] is one of the few opportunities where you can go to a foreign community and not feel like you're just visiting the place but living with the people of the community. It's not just for show. We're supplying the funds and the plans for the construction; they really appreciate it."

Memories to Come

For us, the project's sustainability will come through our memories of the laughs, songs, dances and meals we shared with the community.

On our first morning in Medellin, local middle school girls performed traditional dances wearing beautiful, handmade dresses to welcome us. The mayor's wife attempted to teach us a few traditional steps afterwards, and we fumbled along with smiles.

We surprised the town during the closing ceremonies by choreographing a dance to the Backstreet Boys' song, "Everybody (Rock Your Body)." The kids and mayor cheered and demanded an encore, as we pulled them up to dance with us.

We ate delicious lunches cooked by mothers of children who would attend kindergarten in the fall. We played soccer with local kids and staged a group trash pickup around the soccer field, attracting attention to such a noticeable, yet disregarded eyesore.

These simple interactions meant the most to me. Although I had questioned the sustainability of a one-week community service trip before we departed, I now truly believe that the memory of the kindergarten construction, laughs and music we shared will live on in the hearts of the Princeton students and people of Medellin and inspire us in years to come.