Ending the school year with a bang, the Pepperdine Rotaract Club spent the weekend of March 30-April 1 in San Felipe, Mexico with a heart for service. The group of 30 Pepperdine students and faculty members, under the direction of Rotaract’s International Service Chairperson Nicole Bowden, crossed the border with supplies for painting and repairing a multipurpose building in one of the city’s community centers.
“The most interesting part of the project,” reported Rotaract member Chris Bowman, “was figuring out how to make the fifty different colors of donated paint into two uniform colors, let alone make it aesthetically pleasing.”
In the end the group was successful in concocting enough of a mint green color to cover the exterior of the building with a salmon colored interior.
During their stay, Rotaract members also had the opportunity to explore the city and interact with some of the local children. While the local boys engaged themselves in soccer matches against the university students, the girls were eager to help prepare bags of dried rice and beans that were later distributed to the community.
“The kids were shy at first,” said member C.J. Clavero, “but after they warmed up to us you could see some of the students painting while giving the kids piggy-back rides. I feel like we really bonded with the kids and with each other on this trip.”
This has been a dynamic first three months for Pepperdine’s Rotaract Club under the leadership of student president Seth Haye and Malibu Rotary International. At the core of the group’s focus is service. The Mexico project marked the eighth completed service project this semester and there are three more scheduled before the close of the school year.