President's Message
Celebrating 7 Years of Humanitarian Work in Mexico
Our featured destination this year is the beautiful, tropical, port city of Veracruz. Many different travel packages are available to meet the needs of those wishing to participate with us. Please check our website, ffhe.org, for a full description of the projects and activities.
It’s hard to believe it has been seven years since our first expedition to Bermejillo, Mexico. Five of us participated in this initial expedition. We even paid the way for some of the participants to go so we could make sure the idea of taking people to Mexico for humanitarian work could be successful. During this first week, we were able to dig a septic tank and pour a cement floor for a bathroom. We lived with the Castañeda family and experienced the love and support of our newfound Latino friends.
From this humble beginning seven years ago, we have spread our humanitarian work and friendships to many different areas: Ensenada, Casas Grandes, Gomez Palacio, Zihuatanejo, Monterrey, Torreón, La Misión, and Roma Texas, Mexico. Last year, hundreds of participants helped with many different projects including: building homes, bathrooms for schools, pouring cement floors for many individual families, working on government buildings, and helping at orphanages and senior citizen centers. We provided hundreds of pounds of donated items for the poor in impoverished areas. We also participated in teaching education classes to Church and government organizations, individual families, and groups within different communities. These classes varied from first aid, hygiene and newborn training, English and music classes to paper airplanes, jewelry making, and firesides. We provided medical assistance at a free clinic in La Misión.
Safety in Mexico a Top Priority
We are aware of the safety concerns being expressed regarding Mexico. We are in continual contact with Government and Church authorities from Mexico. Our humanitarian destinations have been carefully selected with safety concerns as the top priority.
Veracruz, Mexico - New 2009 Destination
This year promises to be as outstanding as last year. Because of difficult economic times, trips are organized to be as affordable as possible. Veracruz is our featured destination because of its beauty, safety, and humanitarian needs. We have developed a close partnership with the government in both the state and city of Veracruz, as well as with LDS Church and community leaders. This will allow us to reach out to those in need of our help.
We are grateful to those who have participated with us over the past seven years. Thank you for your love and support. Please join us this year in celebrating the opportunity to strengthen individuals and families through love and service!
Kendon Eakett
President and Founder
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2009 Expedition Schedule
Ensenada, Mexico - March 13- 20
American Heritage Spanish Class
Veracruz, Mexico - May 4-11
Young Single Adults
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Veracruz, Mexico - June 9-16
Medical Trip
[ FULL ]
Veracruz, Mexico - July 14- 21
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Veracruz, Mexico - August 11-18
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2009 Expedition Highlight
Veracruz, Mexico - May 4-11
Expedition Focus
Young Single Adults
Humanitarian Projects
Orphanage
Senior Citizen Center
Community and LDS Church Families
Veracruz Background
Music, culture, beaches, adventure. Veracruz has a familiar ring to everyone, without them even realizing it. For example, Veracruz is the home of the international hit “La Bamba,” and where some of the events of “5 de mayo” took place. Located on the east coast of Mexico, running along the Gulf, Veracruz is one of Mexico’s most beautiful and oldest states. The city of Veracruz was the very first colonial settlement, established by Hernan Cortez when he arrived in 1519, a city which quickly became New Spain’s main port. Today it is Mexico’s second largest port. It is so beautiful that many have referred to this city as Mexico’s “Kauai.” It holds the oldest still-standing Catholic chapel on the American continent.
Tentative Fun activities
Whitewater rafting
Zip-lining
Veracruz LDS Temple Excursion
Veracruz Museum of Anthropology
Shopping in Veracruz City
Accommodations
We will be staying at the Beachfront Villa Palmiras Hotel and Spa, 10 minutes away from Veracruz.
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The Brown Family
Meeting Goal of Serving in Mexico as a Family 2008 Ensenada Expedition
Although members of our family had been on humanitarian expeditions with FFHE in the past, it had been our goal to one day take our entire family on an expedition. We were finally able to do this in August of 2008 when we traveled with FFHE to Ensenada, Mexico.
As usual, work for this trip began months before our actual departure. We wanted to take first-aid supplies and to teach the people in Ensenada how to use them. Our family worked with members of our local community to raise funds and collect supplies for us to take to Ensenada. Women in our church helped sew multipurpose bags that would hold the first-aid supplies. We started with a goal of making 25 bags and ended up making over 100 with all the donated material. The women in Mexico were excited to receive these bags filled with first-aid supplies. We also made some small picture books to go to the children at church in Mexico from the children at church in Utah. The children in Utah added their own drawings to these books. Young women in our area helped to assemble the books.
While in Mexico we stayed at the Door of Faith Orphanage. We loved playing and interacting with the children there. The children were always excited to play or just be held; anytime we walked down to the orphanage, children would run up to us, arms outstretched, and say, “Amiga, Amiga.” One morning we pulled out some beads that another member of our expeditions had brought from home. Although it was crazy, the kids LOVED the beads. One day we were also assigned to paint the kitchen and one of the boys’ dorms. Even our 6-year-old pitched in to help paint the blue stairs.
Our family also had a great opportunity to work closely with a family in Ensenada. We helped them build walls for a new room added on to their house. Our two older daughters spent a whole day with other members of the expedition moving sand and mixing cement, and then the rest of our family came to finish building the walls the next day. It was fun to see our 6-year-old interacting with their daughter and to see our other daughters play Go Fish with their sons.The two fathers worked together to finish the walls even when no one else could help because the walls were too high.
Even though we went to Mexico to help the people there, we feel like we came away having gained so much more than we gave. It was'nt an easy vacation by any means, but we learned about working hard and laughing together. When asked what her favorite part of the trip was, our 14-year-old daughter will say it was the day they moved bucket after bucket of sand down the stairs. She claims she still has the bruises to show for that day. We came to realize that we don’t need lots of “stuff” to be happy. We also came to realize that sometimes we need to slow down and enjoy the little things in life like holding a child, spending time together, helping one another, and laughing together.
We loved our trip with FFHE to Ensenada. We miss the children we got to know and wonder how the family we helped is doing. Now that we've rested up, we’re ready to go again.
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