Locals experience cultural crossing at Mexico border

For some teens, the border between California and Mexico is a thin one, yet the transition makes the countries appear worlds apart.

Far from their comfort zones, the student volunteers in the Yuba Sutter Mexico Mission crossed into the United States' southern neighbor Sunday and were instantly met with a view of the lifestyle they will be reaching out to this week.

"It was a really big change really fast," said Kimi Enneking, 16. "At the same time it was exactly what I expected and totally different."

Hours later, the Granite Bay teen was still in shock that she was no longer in the United States. But some aspects were startlingly familiar, she said, such as a man selling magazines and some teenage boys rolling by on skateboards.

"They're still just like us, except we live there and they live here," Enneking said.

But the living conditions and houses themselves were very different.

"They kind of looked like they were going to break down," said Rajdeep Hira.

One home that was made of walls and a pile of rocks tugged at the 16-year-old's heartstrings.

"When you see it up front it kind of makes you think," she said. "People in Mexico don't even have the things you complain about."

That is one reason, Steven Howard, 17, returned for his second mission this year. He said the trip, coordinated by St. Andrew Presbyterian Church and Amor Ministries, is a life-changing experience.

"You see how people live down here and they are happy," Howard said. "It makes you appreciate what you've got."

The students' eyes were filled with excitement as they traveled the first few miles beyond the border. Their chatter was nonstop as they debated the similarities and differences between Mexico and the cities they call home.

Teens with cameras pressed themselves to the windows to capture what they saw.

Along the roadside, mothers stood with babies in their arms, trying to sell blankets or gum. One man strolled up and down lines of cars that were trying to cross back into the United States and offered them car washes.

The scene was just what trip coordinator John Buckland had told the teens it would be the evening before. He said the challenge for the students would be to channel their compassion into energy to complete their goal for the week — providing four homeless Mexican families with a permanent house to live in.

Little has changed since Howard's first crossover with the mission trip last year but it's still a bit of a shock to see the poverty, he said.

"It kind of hits me here," he said, knocking his fist over his heart. "It makes me want to do something about it."

Hira, who has never been more than four hours from the Yuba-Sutter area, was experiencing the same reaction. The emotions surprised her, because she was only coming on the trip for class credit.

"I didn't even want to come, in fact," she said. "But now, it's like you could change someone's life."