Battling sun, illness and exhaustion, 274 students traveled to Tijuana, Mexico, during spring break for the annual Piedmont Community Church Mexico Trip, where they built houses for poor families.

For eight weeks, Rev. Scott Kail, who has served as the church’s Pastor to Students for twelve years prepared for the trip by holding three meetings for adults and leaders, followed by five straight weeks of Sunday night meetings with the whole group.

The church partners with Amor Ministries, an organization based out of San Diego, to determine which families will receive a new home. The families apply through Mexican pastors, who make the decision, Kail said.

“You get to build a bond with this family that you don’t speak the same language with, but you speak body language, and you really become one big family,” senior Bryan Ford said.

Inevitably, along with the poverty comes poor sanitary conditions. This year, 40 to 50 students caught a three to four hour stomach illness, Kail said.

In the past, illness has had limited to no effect during the first part of the week, Ford said.

“The bug just spreads like wildfire,” Ford said. “The last night, everyone’s going to the toilets and whatnot. In the past two years, I’ve always gotten it on the bus ride back, so I’ll be throwing up on the bus, and it’ll be absolutely terrible.”

To prevent the spread of disease, the church encourages students to use hand sanitizer and to wash their hands, but beyond a certain point, it becomes unavoidable.

“You’re sleeping six to eight in a tent in close quarters, so if somebody has a bug, it’s going to go around,” Kail said.

While the church does what it can, between the contaminated water and close environment, combined with a weakened immune system after a long and exhausting trip, the nature of the trip is a catalyst for illness, Ford said.

“It’s a very unsanitary trip,” Ford said. “There are porta-potties 50 feet away from where you eat and sleep, and there are open pits surrounded by the porta-potty. People do their business and then go eat or high-five or hug someone.”

Despite the expected illness on the final nights, freshman Lane Bentley found the experience enriching.

“Now that I’ve gone, I’ve seen what it does for a family and how it makes them feel,” Bentley said. “For the next three years, I’m looking to go, have a good time and talk to more people and just try to be friendly.”

While the event is organized through the church, it is not strictly Christian.

“Whatever faith you adhere to is not a criteria at all to go,” Kail said. “There’s a whole spectrum of faith backgrounds and beliefs with the adults and students that go on the trip.”

Ford says the trip is soul-cleansing and is about more than just religion.

“Scott does preach stuff from the Bible,” Ford said, “but he makes it so that it’s not just about Jesus and God, but it’s really about faith and love and helping other people out.”

At the campfires and debriefs, students and leaders have an opportunity to share their thoughts from the week.

“The kids are all over the map in terms of their own spirituality or what they believe, what their faith is and what they don’t, but they’re all very welcoming and accommodating for everyone’s personal beliefs,” Kail said.

Over the past 20 years, attendees have helped build over 300 houses in Mexico.

“That’s 300 families whose lives are completely different. I just feel like we’ve created a legacy that PHS gets to participate in — kids seem to love it,” Kail said. “I truly enjoy doing it and feel it’s one of the best things that we offer in town for our students.”