 "Photo: Photo courtesy of Greg Cootsona")
A student missing the first day of class is frowned upon, but a professor missing the first day of class is inexcusable — unless, of course, they’re stranded in another country with no way out.
This was the case with 25 Chico State students, 15 Butte College students and one Chico State professor.
The group of volunteers, affiliated with the Bidwell Presbyterian Church, learned before their scheduled departure that the bridge north of where they were staying in Vicente Guerrero, Baja California, was washed out by a flash flood caused by heavy rains in the area.
Jeffrey Livingston, a Chico State professor of American history and member of the Bidwell Presbyterian Church, was playing a game of cards when he learned the bad news.
“My initial reaction was, ‘How am I going to deal with my classes?’” he said.
Livingston was not the only one concerned with how the events would effect the start of the new semester. Sophomore Stacey Graf shared a similar situation.
“I’m a pre-nursing major, so I’ve been working the past two years to apply to the program,” she said about her worries of missing the first days of classes.
Fortunately for the group, some volunteers had brought cell phones that received service in the remote area and used them to reach their families.
Livingston was also able to reach the administration and academic advising offices to alert the schools of their situation and to ask the students’ teachers not to drop them from their classes.
Livingston, Graf and 48 other volunteers departed for Vicente Guerrero on Jan. 17 for a six-day mission trip through Youth With a Mission, a non-denominational Christian outreach organization.
The group built five 200 to 300-square-foot houses for families in the area, despite the weather.
“I got so much out of the trip,” Livingston said. “I was reminded just how bad the poverty is in a place not so far away.”
The houses the families previously lived in were made out of materials such as cardboard and shipping crates, Livingston said. Although their new houses are small and basic, the families were overjoyed at having more structurally sound homes.
For Graf, the experience with the families was a fulfilling one.
“Building a house for the family we had was awesome,” she said. “Once the kids broke out of their shells, they helped us build and paint.”
Other communities nearby were not as fortunate as the families the group was helping, especially after the storms, Livingston said.
“One village was virtually washed out,” he said.
Other bridges and roads were also closed due to the weather.
The group stayed at the International Disciple Training base in Vicente Guerrero, where base members were busy putting together clothing and food packages for the village.
Despite the rain, the group’s spirits were not dampened, said Greg Cootsona, associate pastor of adult discipleship and college ministries at Bidwell Presbyterian Church.
“The students were amazing in their flexibility,” Cootsona said. “It was inspiring to see 40 students and 10 advisors build five houses for the poor. As a church-based group, we feel this is the kind of thing our faith in Jesus leads us to do.”
The group was finally able to cross the bridge and begin their journey home Wednesday, after the U.S. Consulate and local farmers created a ramp from gravel and dirt to close the gap that had been washed away.
While the rest of the trip went smoothly, the return home was sobering for the group.
“It was definitely weird coming back because where we were was definitely a different situation,” said Graf, who returned to classes Thursday. “It was good to be back in the swing of things and be back on schedule, but it’s just a big slap in the face how good we live here.”
Jennifer Leslie can be reached at
jleslie@theorion.com
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