Prairie grad helps build house in Mexico

Jesse Zalk, a 2012 graduate of Prairie High School, helped build a house for three orphaned siblings in Baja, Mexico over spring break.

Zalk is the son of Todd and Teri Zalk of Battle Ground, and is a starting football player for the Central Washington University Wildcats.

Zalk was among 11 CWU students and recent grads to take the trip March 25-29 to Mexico. The group was led by James Avey, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Management in CWU’s College of Business. Avey has helped build homes in Mexico in the past and he sees the trips as opportunities for students to learn outside the classroom.

“The primary principle of leadership is, ‘It’s not about you.’ To go and change someone’s life and come home $1,000 poorer, you can’t get that in a classroom,” Avey said. “Hopefully it will open their eyes and help shape them.”

The group flew from Seattle to San Diego. Then they drove a van across the border. When they arrived at the build site they were met with a small crew of Mexican builders and a blank canvas: a cement slab with anchor bolts. The rest was up to them.

The guys not only provided the labor, but they pitched in cash to pay for the house — about $7,000. The new two-bedroom house with a loft went to three siblings: Carlos, 19; Jessica, 17; and Victor, 16. Their father was killed in a house fire and their mother lost her battle with cancer last year.

Seeing the poverty in Mexico brought Zalk out of his comfort zone.

“At one point you feel like you’re really far from home, and then at another point, it’s kind of like I’m right at home because I’m just with people just like myself,” Zalk said.

The communication major said one of the many things he learned from the trip is how difficult intercultural communication can be. He also learned that he really likes authentic Mexican food; in just three days the group ate 212 tacos.