When I arrived in Mexico this week, I knew little about the vision and goals of the project and consequently, I had no idea of what to expect. Amor Ministries is a Christian group based out of San Diego, California that was formed 30 years ago in order to serve impoverished people by constructing houses. With some local contacts in Puerto Morelos, they have acquired some property for a Christian university and language school. Higher education for pastors is difficult to come by in Latin America so Amor feels very strongly about the need for this seminary school. Above: Team meeting on the site.
Our mission for the week was relatively simple: Work with Amor to understand their vision, develop a program and then provide a concept for a campus design. Simple, right? Mas o menos. Now let's throw in some fun ingredients: We have a team made up of 13 people that have never met each other, we are working on a limited time frame, and we have a whole new set of standards and codes to figure out (Mexico). Needless to say, it was an eventful trip full of unanticipated changes and barriers. We started with a site visit trip on Sunday to see the property and make some initial assessment. The land itself is really interesting--full of all sorts of plant and animal life that I've never seen before. Team members kept asking me to indentify certain plants (obviously, I'm a landscape architect, so I should know, right?). With approximately 10,000 species of plant life in the tropics, I was feeling a bit out of my element.Above: Pondering drainage issues...
Our project team of EMI volunteers was quite a diverse group, both in displine and personality. Our members included a wastewater engineer, civil engineer, architects, structural engineer, mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, and one very handsome landscape architect intern. You can imagine the dynamics of the group just from the range of disciplines. Additionally, I think we had every region of the US represented in our team ( from Alaska to North Carolina). The diversity factor spawns both unique challanges and powerful blessings.Above: The EMI team hard at work.
Our living quarters for the week were really quite nice. It was something between a house and a hostel, and it was affectionaly named the ''Taj Majal.'' We were treated to home-cooked, Mexican food each day---picante! Working spaces were mainly limited to the outside ''palapa'' or another small upstairs room. While the surrounding neighborhood was rather peaceful during the day, night was a whole different ballgame. Apparently the community was celebrating its 37th aniversary--which is a ten day celebration. It was literally a zoo at night: loudspeaker sound effects, music, & fireworks. The nearby parties frenquently lasted until 5:00 in the morning. Pure gringo torture. Above: Confernce Room / office / dining room
There were times during the week in which I thought that we might not complete our objectives. Programming and masterplanning are typically challanges that take weeks to sort through--we had to do it in 2 or 3 days. I had plenty of doubts. However, I had no reason to worry. God had called us to this project, to these people, and to this purpose: To love God and love people. The work of designing the campus was merely a way of serving, not the ultimate purpose for us being in Mexico. It took the possibility of failure out of the equation, and we were free to live and work with great hope. Above: One of several Presentations
Friday afternoon rolled around and we presented a concept for a campus masterplan and the phase 1 building. While not complete or definite, the concept stands as a foundation to build upon. Amor Ministries was very excited about the concepts and the future of the campus. Despite the challanges and uncertainties we were able to produce some quality work. It's amazing to see how God brought every awkward piece together form something great--it is a testiment to His sovereignty and grace. Above: As for many things in Mexico: no explanation.
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