THE CARDBOARD VILLAGE

A cardboard house in the Cardboard Village.

On the west side of Ciudad Acuña in the state of Coahila, Mexico there is a unique neighborhood. Row after row of little cardboard dwellings line dusty unpaved streets. On the street near the corner there's a faucet on a pipe about 2 feet above the ground which is the neighborhood water supply. Children are playing, women are hanging out laundry and chickens scratch around in the bare yards like any other neighborhood. It's called the cardboard village.

A nearby factory discards stacks of flattened cardboard boxes and wooden pallets. The wooden pallets when nailed over a crude framework make ideal walls for a home. And the thick sheets of cardboard make an excellent covering. Recycled corrugated tin pieces make roofs that barely keep out the rain. Many times the dirt floors in these homes show muddy footprints from recent downpours. Some families dig small trenches in the floor for drainage.

Lloyd and I visited this cardboard village to distribute Spanish New Testaments. The people were friendly and hospitable and in one home we were invited inside for a visit. There was a small campfire on the floor in the middle of the room. A tin coffee can full of water sat right on the fire, simmering and ready to make instant coffee.

Little points of daylight could be seen through nail holes in the roof. The wind rustled the dry and brittle cardboard on the outside, gradually loosening little bits that flew away. There had been recent rains that soaked the cardboard, ruining it. Throughout the little village, cardboard would have to be replaced, but there was always a supply at hand.

Sunday morning we attended the little cardboard church where we gave out more Spanish Bibles and also illustrated New Testaments. The service was lively and happy and there was freedom in the worship. Several children recited scripture verses or sang a song. Others popped up quickly to speak their favorite verse from the Bible or give a testimony.

The outward appearance of the little cardboard church seemed to have no effect on the congregation. They were proud and happy to come to church that bright and sunny Sunday morning.

Years later the little church was able to purchase concrete blocks and they actually built over the existing cardboard structure so services wouldn't be interrupted. Little by little they tore away all signs of the cardboard and wooden pallets and now they have a solid and weather proof building where they continue to worship week after week.

The cardboard homes in that neighborhood also saw improvements and now show few traces of their humble beginnings. But a few miles farther from the city there is another new neighborhood of very poor people who are beginning to build yet another cardboard village.

The cardboard church in the Cardboard Village.