Junior entrepreneurship major Neil Pereira, from St. Louis, Missouri, grew up in the Midwest with misperceptions about what life experiences are for those who live near the border. Last fall, Pereira attended a De Colores trip to San Diego that educated him about some of the injustices migrants and those living near the border face. In September, Pereira attended another De Colores trip but this time he traveled across the border to Mexico to help build homes for a community in Tijuana. “We just directly went into Mexico and interacted with a lot of community members and helped them build houses and some of them will actually live in the house. It’s super cool to experience that,” said Pereira. “It’s pretty humbling just because you see how people live who are less fortunate than you. They have a better sense of community there than in America.”
Susan Kadota is the campus minister who oversees De Colores and other global and local faith-based service opportunities. Kadota said these trips are a powerful way for students to act in solidarity. “Students are touched, yes, they are contributing their labor to make the cement that is being poured on the ground,” said Kadota. “But they look around and see they are also working alongside community members who are working to help their neighbors and improve their neighborhoods. We also go and see the Community Center where so much good is happening – counseling, high school equivalency programs, scholarships, robotics, and more. It is inspiring.”
Pereira said going on De Colores really motivated him to want to work harder on his academics and do his very best in the classroom. Pereira said one of the reasons he wanted to come to LMU was because he was drawn to LMU’s mission, the development of the whole person. De Colores helped Pereira realize he wants to create a business platform that “showcases people’s talents in their communities, no matter where they are from or how much money they have.” He will continue to work to bridge business and social justice work.
LMU has been taking students on De Colores trips for more than 35 years, helping to build around 200 homes for different communities in Mexico. Last week, Campus Ministry raised about $4,700 to help support this program by selling used bikes on campus. De Colores is also an opportunity for staff and faculty to volunteer for the weekend. For more information contact Susan Kadota.
