When a group of St. Genevieve eighth graders and their parents from Panorama City went to Pedregal, Mexico, April 22 to construct a home for a young family in need, many lives were changed.

Those of the grateful homeowners and their two small children, certainly. And so, too, the lives of the 22 students who labored alongside classmates and Baja neighbors.

"It was a breathtaking experience," said Robert Sandoval, 13, who learned to use an electric saw to cut wood at the house site. Though he had visited Tijuana before, he had never been to such an impoverished place as Pedregal where makeshift homes made of plywood and cardboard cling to dusty hillsides and barefoot children play with simple toys.

"They were so grateful for the house we were building," said Sandoval about the family of four --- including two boys, ages 5 years and 10 months --- who would receive keys to their new home at the end of the day. "It changed my thinking about how I deal with things every day. Now, I buy only things I need."

When fellow classmate, Christopher Navarro, 13, first arrived in Pedregal, he was saddened by the poverty but struck by the inventiveness of the local children who played outside in the heat and dust.

"I was impressed how they came up with ideas and would make a game. They were happy. Everyone helped," said Navarro, who carried plywood, painted walls and hammered shingles. Reflecting on how the experience changed him, Navarro commented, "Now I understand we should be glad for what we have."

Classmate Terence Abaca, 13, said the trip opened his eyes. "I saw what they didn't have and I learned not to take for granted what I have," said Abaca, who helped tote plywood and also hammered shingles. "I really had fun and I'd do it again."

"Of course I would do it again," said Cassie Martin, 13, who wielded a hammer for the first time affixing roof shingles. She said she felt "really good" helping out. "I made a difference in a family's life."

Mark Mariano, 13, said the trip was a good team-builder that strengthened bonds among the students. "It taught me how to work with others better," said Mariano. He added it dawned on him, on the way home from Mexico, that "I realized I just made 20 new friends all in one day."

St. Joseph of Carondelet Sister Teresa Lynch, principal of St. Genevieve, said she has noticed a difference among the students who participated.

"I've seen they're more open to each other. There's a sense of more community and pride. You can see them now with people they didn't used to hang out with," said Sister Lynch. She hopes to do a house build next year in conjunction with students from neighboring St. Genevieve High School.

Norma Anulat, homeroom teacher for one of the two eighth grades in the double-grade elementary school, said the participating students learned a lot about life. "They had an actual experience of helping the poor," said Anulat. "They're now looking at things with a different perspective --- more appreciatively."

Though only the eighth graders were able to go on the trip, the entire student body donated funds toward the $6,000 needed to pay for the materials for the one-day house-build coordinated through the non-profit organization, Corazon. Kindergartner Ian Foster even donated his birthday money to buy eating utensils, which were used to set the table for the family's first dinner in their new home.

Asked why he wanted to spend his birthday money to help strangers, Foster replied: "God told me to do it because I wanted to help all of the people who are poor."