As the parent of teenagers I found myself in frequent discussions with my children about why spending $120 on a pair of sneakers or $400 on a bag simply because of the name attached to them might be a problem. I felt that too often I was more responsible than they were for making sure their homework was completed. I felt they were constantly asking us to buy them things that were frivolous. I was becoming frustrated that their priorities were not where they should be. How could I help them see what was really important in life, appreciate what they have, give them a wider world-view and help them take full advantage of the opportunities we enjoy in this country? Then the perfect solution came to me - we would take a family vacation! But this wasn't going to be just any family vacation; this was going to be something totally different. We weren't going to play in the ocean, visit any famous amusement parks, or stay in comfortable hotel rooms. No, instead we were going to go shovel gravel, mix concrete, and haul bricks in the hot desert sun. Sounds great, doesn't it? Actually, we all agree this was our best family vacation ever and we can't wait to do it again.

We are the Gutierrez family of Green Valley Ranch, this April our family traveled to central Mexico with a group called Family to Family Humanitarian Expeditions (FFHE). While there our primary assignment was to help several families who were living in the third-world conditions frequently found in Mexico and throughout the world.These families lived in shacks with dirt floors and no plumbing. For one family we provided an "extreme home makeover" by building them a home with a foundation, concrete floor and brick walls. The entire home for three, including a 16-year old daughter, was only slightly larger than the bedroom of my own teenage daughter, yet the family was so grateful to finally have a solid home without a dirt floor. Seeing the difference we would make for this family motivated us to work hard for several days in difficult conditions, and we actually enjoyed doing it. We enjoyed it more than anything we had done before because we knew we were making a significant, lasting difference in someone's life.

In addition, this service project was particularly personal to our family because as a young boy my husband lived in a home just like this one, a small one-room building with a dirt floor. We were able to give our children a connection to our family history by working on this project. This was also an opportunity for my husband to give back to his community now that he hasprogressed in his life.

While in Mexico we did not stay in a hotel, rather we stayed with local families who volunteered to take us in. This created further learning opportunities and new understandings of the world. The families we stayed with were so gracious and worked so hard to keep us fed and comfortable, provided us with local entertainment opportunities, and interacted with us on such a personal level.We felt they were serving us as much, if not more, than we were serving others. This was so humbling since their giving was done from such meager circumstances.

In the evenings we were responsible for presenting educational workshops to the local community including classes in English, music, reading, and fun classes like crafts and dance. The community was excited to interact with us and they learned some useful skills in the process. In return they helped us with Spanish language, taught us some local dances and gave us the opportunity to experience the local culture on a more personal level.

There are humanitarian vacations available throughout the world as well as domestically. We traveled without incident with our three children ages 17, 15 and 5. Our group helped prepare us for the unique aspects of traveling into a third-world country and helped us to navigate while we were there. A brief internet search for "humanitarian vacations" demonstrates the wide-range of opportunities available.

Our children were surprised to learn that approximately 80% of the world lives in conditions that are economically more disadvantaged than the United States. To see what that difference actually looks like is enlightening in itself. I cannot describe all the ways that this vacation positively impacted our family. I would encourage everyone to take the opportunity to travel on at least one humanitarian vacation in their lifetime. It is an experience that will change your view of life while helping to change the world.