Arriving in Tijuana

Everything Robert Fulgham needed to know, he learned in kindergarten.

Everything I thought I needed to know about Tijuana I learned from the Kingston Trio. But it's been 55 years since Mexico banned the playing of Tijuana Jail,  and things have changed a bit.

Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about the city that shares a 15-mile border with San Diego,  (Wikipedia admits a shortage of citations to support the listing.)

There are a lot of poor people in Tijuana. At the same time, TJ is considered to be a global city, an important node in the world’s economic system.  It’s a major industrial metropolis and one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in Mexico. In the past decade alone, Tijuana surpassed Minneapolis-Saint Paul, to become  the medical device manufacture capital of the North American continent. It has become  a cultural mecca, and a perhaps a bit of a melting pot.

Tijuana has become the largest manufacturer of medical devices in North America.

Tijuana has a large Asian population as well as Italian, French, Spanish, Lebanese, Argentinians, Cubans and Guatemalans, along with a transitory population that includes deported individuals and the thousands who come every year seeking jobs and an improved educational system. Included in the influx are squatters who are living on land illegally, but who benefit from a cultural ethic of tolerance and “reluctant acceptance” of the situation.

Tijuana has drawn tourists since 1880 and is the most visited border city in the world, with 50 million individuals crossing the border each year. During the 1920’s, it was a place where Californians escaped Prohibition. Rita Hayworth was discovered there. The Caesar Salad was invented there (at Hotel Caesar’s).

In 1940 the population was nearly 22,000; in 1950, more than 65,000. In 2010, 1.3 million. At this writing the population is estimated by some sources at about 1.6 million or more. By 2030, following current growth rates, it could become the second largest city in Mexico. It grows by about 80,000 each year, and 7.5 acres each day. As the suburbs expand, residents are moving out of urban areas to escape crime. The physical expansion of the town is not being matched by an expansion of city services.

The high poverty level in Tijuana is attributed to the city's "magnet status" for people who have come from the poorer south of the nation and citizens from other nations seeking to escape from extreme poverty. As older and existing squatters are brought into the city services, more marginal areas become occupied by squatters.

It was into this mecca to the impoverished that 26 of us descended Saturday to set up the 2014  operation to build a home for a poor family. We gathered at San Diego airport shortly after noon and drove two vans to Posada Esperanza, a descendant organization of the Esperanza Foundation of Mexico (Esperanza ="hope"). The posada is the home of the one-minute shower and the Endless Army of Sugar Ants. Fortunately, the ants go after the food, and not the sleepers in the dormitory rooms.

Sugar ants swarm after salsa

The one-minute shower involves saving water by wetting yourself for 15 seconds; shutting off the water and lathering up; and then rinsing for 45 seconds. The smart volunteers wait their turn, improving their chances for a hot shower.

Showers are well lit but short on water.

Except for the water shortage, the posada is quite homey. There is a day room and a nice patio where we listened to music, ate a nice meal and celebrated Jan Kline's birthday. (Jan is a former board chair of  Experanza International and the Seattle contingent's go-to person.) But it wasn't always commodious. In past years, Jan recalled, volunteers were in a facility that was dark and dangerous, with visions of vermin haunting the volunteers at night; they would lodge in California and come intoTijuana each day until Bob Morris, a founding member of Esperanza, bought the land and made the more comfortable facility possible.

Four will share a dorm room that can accommodate eight.

The air temperature was in the 100s a few days ago, but on this Saturday it was somewhere in the 70s Fahrenhart,and quite pleasant. The ride in drew exclamations from members of our contingent who noted new supermarkets that had replaced old familiar hangouts. At the posada there were hugs all around as Seattleites met old friends, including one woman who gained her own home a year ago through this program. Volunteers claimed beds, frequently choosing the lower bunks for sleeping and the upper bunks for organizing their personal items. Then the Ohio State College students showed up, all but one here for the first time. This was a social move-in day, with a dinner, music, a little dancing, and the birthday celebration.

Jan cuts her birthday cake next to a Tecate piñata.

Tomorrow, Sunday, it's more re-establishing old connections, perhaps visiting old work sites to see how the new homes are faring, and preparing for Monday, when the work begins.

Love
Robert

Note: This blog is independent of any organization; errors, omissions, exaggerations and misinterpretations are solely the responsibility of the author.