News — tijuana

Last Memorial Day the Team at Inspired Emotion jumped on board to serve in Mexico with the Ranch Church.  We packed the Inspired Van with people and started the trek to Tijuana and Rosarito.

Check out the video of the trip to get a feel of what it was all about.

We headed down thursday after work to San Diego picking up two more people in Westlake and Studio City to complete the team.  We stayed in a hotel next to the border and woke up early the next morning to cross into Mexico.

Day 1 was great!  We headed to Vista Del Valle to help stucco a church and drove around the area to visit some individuals that were truly in need.  Vista Del Valle is a new up and coming town outside of Tijuana.  I guess the government had a modern day land grab so people could build there shacks on their own small plot of land.  The area is growing fast so it was time to build a bigger church.  Visiting some of these people in need was truly heartbreaking.  One guy was shot in the neck and as a result was paralyzed basically from the neck down.  He was stuck in a room with a broken down wheel chair and not much to do.  We told him we would find a wheel chair and some sort of music player.  He was stoked.

Part of our team was in charge of stucco, another couple guys build an awning on a house with a new born, and the rest of us helped out at the local feeding program.  This was fun because after the kids ate we got to play with them and have some hula hoop competitions.  After a long day we headed off to Rosarito to our compound and later to Manuals for some unbelievable tacos.

Day 2 was spent at a local orphanage where the Ranch Church has been key in helping and sustaining.  The kids were great!  Right when we got there we immediately got involved with some playground basketball and soccer.  Our team loved this.  Soon after we loaded the kids up in the vans and headed to the park in central Tijuana.

This park was super cool, it had a zoo, go carts, carnival type rides, climbing walls, and other fun.  A guy selling cotton candy just happen to be walking by when we entered so we bought each of the 40+ kids one.  The cotton candy guy must have though he won the lottery.

We each took two kids and had a blast running around the park (literally running).  We were told the last time the kids got to go there was over two years ago so they were fired up!  An unbelievable lunch of bbq pizzas was served, then some more fun before taking the kids back and saying our goodbyes.

It's amazing how close you can get with a kid you hangout with for just one day.  These kids are truly special and actually really well behaved.  The director of the orphanage is the perfect guy for the job.  The kids love him and he is the role model they need.  Our mission is to inspire individuals to take action in their lives and be positive role models for others.  This man is living the Inspired Emotion mission.

So I hope our experience and video can inspire you to get involved next time.  

"We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone."

-Ronald Reagan