Interactors build homes for Mexico's poor

Interactors build homes for Mexico's poor

The Interact Club of La Jolla High School, California, USA, is making a difference by helping to build new homes for some of the poorest residents of Tijuana, Mexico.

Interactors and the sponsor Rotary Club of La Jolla have collaborated with Project Mercy, a San Diego-based nonprofit that brings groups to Mexico for a day to build simple single-family houses.

"This is a unique opportunity for the students to understand the incredible difference they can make in communities in need," says Rotarian Calvin Mann, the La Jolla club's youth service committee chair. "It's a universally good experience."

Through Project Mercy, Interactors have built 11 homes for families in the last three years. A group of about 15 to 20 Interactors, parents,and Rotarians can build a home in one day. Interactors raise $3,500 per home through school fundraising activities and Rotarian contributions.

Project Mercy works with communities to identify needy families, many of whom live in flimsy shacks with dirt floors and tarp roofs. The organization hires local construction workers to pour concrete foundations, then brings in volunteers to build the homes.

The project is just one of five stories highlighted on the new Interact promotional DVD, Interact: Make a Difference,designed to inspire young people to join Interact and to motivate Rotarians to sponsor a club in their community.
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Watch the video

http://www.rotary.org/en/StudentsAndYouth/YouthPrograms/Interact/Pages/\
ridefault.aspx .

In the series, Interactors and Rotarians explain the effect Interact has had on their lives and how the program is making a difference in their communities and around the world. The four remaining stories will be posted on the RI website in the coming months.

The videos also will be available on RI's YouTube channel so club members can embed them on their own social networking pages, sharing the Interact message with a broader audience.