Today we’d like to introduce you to Melina Sergent-Mouth.
Hi Melina, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My name is Melina and I first got involved with Esperanza in 2014 as a freshman volunteer through the Newman Center at Western Washington University. I knew nothing and jumped in feet first ready to travel somewhere unknown with very little details about what I was doing as it was the center’s ideas that the less we knew details wise, the more open we would be to the opportunities when we got there. It apparently worked because I ended up falling completely in love with the organization and the work. I loved getting to work with the families, rather than building the house for them. The staff were knowledgeable and welcoming, and it was such a beautiful place. I ended up doing 3 more trips year after year, one of which I led. I also ended up studying Spanish and going into non-profit work because of Esperanza. Then in 2022, I was looking for a job and it happened that at the same time Esperanza was coming out of COVID shutdowns and looking for a Program Coordinator. Now 3.5 years later I am still here, but as the Program Director, and organizing the very same types of volunteer groups I used to be a part of. I also get to work alongside the same staff members who run the home building projects, and sometimes see family members with whom I had worked on their house over a decade ago. I have learned and grown so much over the years and it has been a real blessing getting to work for Esperanza.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
For years there has been a certain narrative in the media around issues regarding the US/MX border. This creates challenges for Esperanza, our collective organization, in that we operate in Tijuana, but the majority of all of our volunteer groups come from the US. So with issues of the border, news, and ideas around safety, it has always been and continues to be a challenge to reach out to new volunteers, groups, and schools to convince them that our programming is safe (with an impeccable safety record), our work valuable for both the volunteers and the communities with whom we serve, and worth the presumed risks.
The border and Tijuana have always been a hot topic and this can make building trust and relationships with new volunteer groups- while worth it- a long and sometimes challenging process. Because of this, over the years we have found improved ways to communicate with transparency to school administrations, parents, and group leaders to build trust and support for our mission. Even though it may be a challenge at first, these volunteers always leave having debunked stereotypes and with positive associations with the communities and our work in Tijuana.
We’ve been impressed with Esperanza International, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Esperanza International, Inc (EI) was founded in 1985 in the US as a 501(c)3 nonprofit. Together with our Mexican partners, we offer service-learning immersion trips where volunteers help strengthen cross-border relationships and community while building homes for and alongside families and their communities. In our nearly 41 years, together with volunteers, families, and communities, we have built over 1100 dignified homes.
In 1984 the idea for our organization was envisioned out of the St James Circle group by Robert Morris, Deacon Al Graff, and Fr. John Howard. We have been working with the community in Tijuana since then, but formally since 1990 when our partner organization Fundación Esperanza de Mexico AC (FEM) was founded. FEM is focused on the home building and community development within Tijuana’s neighborhoods. Together EI, FEM, and our volunteer and staff facility La Posada make up “Esperanza.” To this day, we work together to partner with communities to support families building their dream of a home with volunteers and above all, mutual trust, and we envision a world in which communities across borders work in solidarity toward a common dream of sustainable, dignified housing for all people.
What sets us apart is that the families and local community are at the heart of the work we do. The work begins and ends in the local community. With the support of Esperanza, families form savings funds communities to save for their future dignified home. Then when they’re ready, they participate alongside experienced technicians and volunteers through sweat equity on their own home and their neighbor’s homes as well. Our volunteers come to work alongside the families not for them and the families participate in the solution to their own problems. The volunteers help strengthen cross-border relationships and community while building homes and authentically engaging in the unique border culture of Tijuana, Mexico through the eyes of its own residents. We believe that the construction of dignified housing builds not only an actual physical community in Mexico but also builds a local community and one across borders which fosters mutual understanding.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
The Wind Doesn’t Need a Passport by Tyche Hendricks
Postcards from the Baja California Border by Daniel Arreola
Transnational Tortillas by Carolina Banks Muñoz
The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea
Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano
Contact Info:
- Website: https://esperanzaint.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/esperanzatj/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EsperanzaInt/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/esperanza-international_2/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@esperanzatj/playlists
