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Holy shit! The earth is still shaking, dude.
Hang in there, calm down!
Easy, easy.
Stay back, everyone!
Let's... Help me with the fence.
An earthquake shook the nation once more. Its magnitude was 7.1.
A strong earthquake shook Mexico City.
Mexico's West Coast was also hit by--
Around 13:14, local time...
TRAGEDY AND EMERGENCY BY EARTHQUAKE IN 19-S
The priority is to rescue as many people as possible.
It's one of the worst situations the country has suffered.
Six states were ravaged by the earthquakes.
Many lost everything they had.
We've seen our citizens save each other.
Mexico's streets were flooded with heroes.
That's the huge sense of solidarity that's happening in Mexico.
The hardest bit will be rebuilding a country.
I know many people want to donate.
That's why we're setting up a GoFundMe today, Love Army Mexico.
To raise the necessary funds...
We need your help.
I'm here, outside Lionsgate.
We currently have $250,000 dollars. And I've come to propose
that we jointly add $250 more to reach half a million dollars.
However, the actor refused to answer any questions
about the 26 million pesos
that were raised by the Love Army movement he was heading.
And the houses? We can't see them!
Juanpa, why won't you grant interviews?
This will haunt him forever.
NO HOUSES AFTER A YEAR!
ALL SELFIES, NO ACTION
I was scared about the project.
So you ran out of money
and you've only built 20 houses out of 50?
You got into this mess on your own accord.
Now, get moving, and do what you said you'd do.
A lie told ten times becomes a truth.
Where's the money you got from people?
Now it was, "They stole the money!"
...to ask you about the millions you raised...
We've gotta go now!
Hashtag Juanpa. What about the donations, baby?
I have no idea what we got ourselves into. I'm a YouTuber.
Why did they trick me? They're gone.
It is a question of a certain swindle.
13:14 THE CHALLENGE OF HELPING
JUAN PABLO ZURITA CONTENT CREATOR
Well, I'm Juanpa Zurita, I'm a content creator.
Now we're ready.
Juanpa Zurita That's how I like to wear my t-shirt
WHEN YOU BREAK SOMETHING
PUCA YAWNS WHEN THE BEAT BEGINS
Juanpa Zurita lives in the social media world.
Since he got that phone, he's documented everything.
TERESA ARELLANO JUANPA'S MOTHER
FERNANDO ZURITA JUANPA'S FATHER
-3 times 6 is 12. -Can I copy it?
Later, just pay attention.
You can copy it now, guys.
The Vine community was small...
JUCA CONTENT CREATOR
...so we all knew each other.
Why is everybody afraid of love?
Jerome Jarre Thanks everyone
Love! Love!
Jérôme Jarre is a French content creator.
He started breaking the stigma of what creators could do.
On one side there's ONG's that are supposed to be non-profits
and aren't supposed to generate money.
On the other side, there's businesses, pure capitalists, just rooting for money.
The Philippines was the first mission where Jérôme and I met.
And where I was totally mesmerized by his Robin Hood-like spirit.
He was like, "Yeah, dude, let's take the money from the big brands
"and give it to those who really need it."
What I'm about to say, my friends, is not really easy.
There are 20 million people in West Africa
who no longer have water, livestock or food, and...
What if we found a plane?
What if we filled it with food and water and sent it to Somalia?
What happened?
We have a cargo flight. Sixty tons...
I don't know how he got a plane.
PAOLA ZURITA JUANPA'S SISTER
A kid... I don't know how long ago it was
but he must have been 20.
What's your name?
-Juanpa. -Juanpa?
-Salan? -Salan.
Juanpa...
That's how YouTuber Juanpa Zurita arrived in Somalia.
After raising 2.5 million dollars
in donations for the #LoveArmy project,
Juanpa arrived in Somalia to distribute water and food.
We're distributing a total of ten tons.
It's all of this you see here.
Over the last month, we've done 400 tons.
This week, we're doing together 200 tons.
In total, that's 600 tons so far.
It's 600 tons, ladies and gentlemen, thanks to the power of social media.
MEXICO - SEPTEMBER 19, 1985
After the earthquake and the fire in these buildings,
we can see there is nothing left standing.
The Seismological Service didn't disclose a duration.
We referred to duration according to what we felt.
Someone felt it for one minute or so.
TRAGIC SCENES OF GRIEF IN THE FACE OF DEATH
But that's just relying on human perception.
ONLY RUBBLE LEFT IN "NUEVO LEÓN" BUILDING
The 19th of September has been branded forever in Mexico's heart,
since that earthquake in 1985.
EUGENIO DERBEZ ACTOR AND PRODUCER
For all Mexicans, it's a day...
to remember.
In a way...
PATY CHAPOY JOURNALIST
We, Mexico City dwellers, are used to the idea
that it may happen any time.
PASCAL BELTRÁN DEL RÍO JOURNALIST
As for the connection between 1985 and 2017,
both times it happened on September 19th.
So there's this irony of having done the drill two hours earlier,
and this was no longer a drill. It was real life.
MEXICO - SEPTEMBER 19, 2017
A 7.1 earthquake in Mexico City.
A building on Alvaro Obregón fell down after the earthquake.
The buildings were moving like this.
There were cars. Their alarms and the earthquake alarm went off.
People screamed while leaving their homes. I've got goosebumps right now.
It was impressive because this was my very first big earthquake.
I was doing a photoshoot, I went up to get changed...
LUIS GERARDO MÉNDEZ ACTOR
...and then I felt the photographer's house start to move.
JUAN MANUEL PÉREZ "MUNRA" OCUILAN RESIDENT
The alarms went off when the earthquake had started.
The school was swaying.
MINERVA GARCÍA OCUILAN RESIDENT
And then it stopped doing that and went like...
LIDIA RAE OCUILAN RESIDENT
That's when we got scared.
Reliving 1985 in my head...
RAÚL MEDINA ARCHITECT
MICHEL ROJKIND ARCHITECT
I was like, "It can't be." Half the city was destroyed again.
At some point, I grabbed my phone
and started live streaming what was going on.
LUISITO COMUNICA CONTENT CREATOR
And ladies started coming out, just like in the movies.
And I said, "No way,"
and glass came down from windows, it started getting ugly.
I realized that the clouds of dust I had seen
were from collapsed buildings.
And that people had died.
I was at a café, in a meeting.
And I immediately noticed that the earthquake was still happening.
PAOLA ROJAS JOURNALIST
I rushed to the TV station.
But of course, the city was collapsing
and soon it was impossible to drive on.
At first you think it wasn't that strong, but then you see the images...
I remember I went home to try to help.
SOFÍA NIÑO DE RIVERA COMEDIAN
We thought, "What should we do?"
We thought we were more of a hindrance. Because there were too many people.
It was brutal but it was also very enlightening.
Because just like I saw all that pain,
I saw what I had never seen anywhere in the world.
Foreigners told me themselves, "We've never seen a nation like this,
"so focused on helping. Everybody is helping."
About 12 million people were affected.
This number, 12 million,
doesn't only mean they've lost their assets.
XIMENA SUÁREZ EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF FUERZA MÉXICO TRUST
It's also injured people.
Nationwide, 60,000 homes were a total write-off
and 120,000 were partially damaged.
Another sad thing we realized
was that many building projects did not comply with the law
and they collapsed during the earthquake. That's the great tragedy.
Why were they built without complying with regulations? Who approved this?
How come the person who said, "It's okay, build this," isn't in prison?
I was in the process of telling
the audience about the success in Somalia,
and I suddenly logged into my WhatsApp,
and saw all of the messages.
There had been a major natural disaster in my city.
The earthquake knocked down this adobe house in the town of Ocuilan.
Under the rubble were 23-year-old Luis Mario and his grandmother, Victoria.
The situation is serious in several of this state's municipalities.
The most affected municipalities are towns like Malinalco, Ocuilan, Tenancingo...
The damages have hurt dozens of families.
That's why, right now, the most needed items are food and bottled water.
ZEFERINA MORALES OCUILAN RESIDENT
We went to Ocuilan and it's so sad to see knocked down walls, churches...
The slide was broken, so was the rest of the playground.
AXEL VÁZQUEZ OCUILAN RESIDENT
The school was ruined.
When I arrived, my house was knocked down. A wall had fallen to the ground.
My house was a cabin.
When I got in, the neighbor's partition walls had already fallen off.
IVONNE ÁLVAREZ OCUILAN RESIDENT
And then I heard my house had fallen down, and without any communications,
you just go insane, to be honest.
I was like, "Oh, God, rocks fell on it."
40 ROADS COLLAPSE
And to think I worked so hard for it.
MARCOS PALACIOS OCUILAN RESIDENT
I worked so hard, getting the stones to build it.
And to lose it like that...
The networks were down, there was no signal at all.
We were all cut off, frightened...
The house is made of wood, so... It lost its shape, tilted to one side.
JUAN MANUEL SILES OCUILAN RESIDENT
And the floor of the house exploded like this.
Everything was totally destroyed.
I had nothing left.
Broken cupboards, closets, it wrecked everything.
When I had calmed down, finally calmed down, they said,
"The adobe house fell down but you're not alone."
"We are here."
And, well... "Don't worry."
"Take the blankets, anything you can, and let's find shelter there."
I said, "I don't think water will hurt us, but a crumbling house definitely will."
We all stayed up, we couldn't sleep.
On the first night of the crisis, it was reported that nearly 200 people
went to the shelter in the municipal capital.
This resource was like a heaven-sent help in the midst of tragedy.
The atmosphere in town was full of despair, you went out
and you felt like...
You felt the sadness, the loneliness...
WENDY CORAL OCUILAN RESIDENT
The following days, we felt sad but then people started joining together
to lift the debris in the church or assess the damage...
01 DAY AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE
And Jérôme asked me to meet him in L.A.
Did you feel the earthquake?
LOS ANGELES - CALIFORNIA SEPTEMBER 2017
Fuck!
I felt so powerless and so stressed
given that all these people, friends, colleagues and family are there...
There wasn't much I could do.
And I remember I was talking to Jérôme and said,
"Why don't we do Love Army Mexico?"
After doing what we did in Somalia, I just could not ignore the situation.
And Jérôme didn't accept at first.
He was like, "This will take a lot of work and effort.
"You don't know what you're getting yourself into."
After climbing a mountain...
You can't climb another one right after.
You need to rest in-between.
And Jérôme had just climbed a mountain. A very high one.
And I insisted, and he accepted, under the sole condition
that he would only be involved in fundraising.
Maybe we weren't very aware of what people would make out of things we proposed.
One thing is saying,
"Look at this video I made, let's see if you laugh."
And another thing is getting yourself in more tangible stuff
that really involve and impact a lot more people.
So, all those people, I don't think
most of them are gonna make videos because... French.
I made a list of content creators, public figures, and friends.
Let's call everyone.
PAMBO SINGER
Well, I'm Pambo, I am a musician.
I write and perform songs. I'm an artist.
Functional
Juanpa called me and said, "Hey, I want to do Love Army Mexico.
"And I want to do it at the largest scale possible. I think...
"I mean, I know many Internet people,
"but not many people in the music, film or any other industries."
And to be frank, I have a lot of friends.
Oh, my God!
-What do you need? -A lot.
HANG IN THERE MEXICO!
My God.
That's it!
I'm still nervous. Okay.
I can't believe it.
Okay. Jérôme? Here we go. Five minutes?
-Yeah. -Okay.
Leave it ready, I'm gonna post it on Facebook, right now.
"I support you. I'll use my social media...
DANNA PAOLA SINGER AND ACTRESS
"...to promote it and raise the funds."
So, we have this idea to-- To create, right?
So, we have this idea to create a Love Army.
Like a bridge.
Like a bridge between them and everybody else that cares.
I had short hair, I was with Hannah at Juanpa's apartment with Jérôme.
And we talked about Love Army.
LELE PONS SINGER
We invited people to donate. And we started from there...
Hey, everyone, a round of applause for Lele, please.
Yo, yo. In seven minutes, we got 17,000 views. That's very impressive.
Mexico is rising, now it's our turn to help. Here's a little French fry.
-Okay, good. -Love Army, Mexico.
Go, go.
Go!
We're live!
We are live.
Hey, hey, Mexico. Hey, Mexico.
Now, everyone knows about the earthquake in Mexico.
And it's really one of the worst situations...
So many public figures joined in
that people no longer knew who was running Love Army.
And that's when I got...
Juanpa's phone call.
He said, "Hey, I want to do this."
I said, "I'm trying to help from here, too."
My brother is Juanpa's age.
ANA BRENDA CONTRERAS ACTRESS
And they're much more Internet-savvy, so he told me,
"Open a GoFundMe account."
He said, "You've got...
"Seven million Instagram followers."
He said, "Open it. They'll need lots of help worldwide."
26 DAYS AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE
But in spite of it all...
We were too far off from what we raised for Somalia.
I think we raised 100,000 dollars in one day.
And I remember we resorted to a new strategy.
I was contacted by Juanpa and Jérôme from Love Army.
But they bewildered me because they are too hyper.
They called and said, "We know you're raising money." And so on.
"How about we join forces?" And I said, "Yeah, great."
They went, "Great, why don't you send us what you raised?"
And I was like, "What? I mean..." I felt a lot of responsibility.
And that's how my story with Love Army began.
And then Pambo, who is like their momma, called and said, "Don't worry."
"These guys are revolutionary, one thousand percent."
Days went by, Jérôme and I were in my apartment,
fully focused on this, 24/7.
At the start, many people joined in.
And I was one of the ones who started, along with him.
And I felt a responsibility because...
Many people donated money
because I was involved in this. I mean, Lionsgate, for instance,
I told them, "You'll give me two dollars for every dollar I give."
We have currently 250,000 dollars. And I've come to propose
that we jointly add 250 more to reach half a million dollars.
They said, "Let's do it."
So that money was doubled.
JORGE YOUTUBE
-Hello? -Can you hear me?
-Jérôme here? -Yeah, I'm here too. I'm here too
The director of Google, the country manager for Google Mexico.
We wanted to be with you guys. It's great that we could add efforts.
We can get to 500K on our own,
so if you guys put the other half, that'd be amazing.
That would be amazing.
Amazing!
So, you know you guys bring in 500K, we bring in 500K as well.
And we're trying to move different pockets to see where we can make it.
That is really cool.
Wonderful, wonderful. Thank you so much
And let's talk soon. Yeah.
-See you soon. -See you soon. Goodbye.
-Goodbye. -Goodbye.
You guys helped us raise 1,374,990 dollars!
That's crazy! Half a million was donated by Google.
For the first time ever,
a company of that caliber donated to an independent cause.
50 DAYS AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE
I had no idea that this had been the easiest part of the project.
We have the money, what's next?
Juanpa's first thought was to give out the money.
Like, individually.
I don't think anyone ever knew that but it was like...
"We collected this much, let's go where the houses fell down
"and we'll hand out the money to people so that they can rebuild."
I remember that the money was raised, and I told Juanpa,
"Juanpa, what's the next step?"
He said, "Choosing where the money will go."
Like in a shop, "What can I buy with this? How many houses can I build?"
And all of that obviously started to suggest that we had no idea...
of what we were doing.
And during November and December, we discussed an endless number
of proposals from architects and engineers...
And through the son of the cousin of a friend, we met Cha first.
Hello, I'm Carlos Zedillo Velasco.
I'm an architect.
CARLOS "CHA" ZEDILLO PIENZA SOSTENIBLE DIRECTOR
For several years, I studied architecture, yes,
but heavily oriented towards social housing.
And Cha told me, "You have the opportunity
"to build even better houses than they had in the first place."
"And if you build identical houses,
"like cubes you replicate,
"you'll hurt the community."
We also met Francesco.
Francesco told us about Ecoblocks, which sounded amazing.
He said blocks were built in communities.
That's how... he had built loads nationwide,
He knew how communities functioned.
So Francesco also sounded like a pro.
FRANCESCO PIAZZESI ÉCHALE A TU CASA CEO
My name is Francesco Piazzesi.
I'm the CEO and founder of Échale a tu casa.
What is Échale? It's an organization
that provides housing solutions
to those who aren't covered by the system.
To... like that Luis Buñuel movie title, The Forgotten.
So I was with my daughters, right?
"I got a call from Juanpa." "What?"
"Dad! No way!"
I go, "Who is Juanpa?"
"What?"
"He's one of the most important influencers in the world!"
What is an influencer?
So, I'm thinking, if anyone lost their house,
I know many architects.
Imagine someone knocks on your door and says, "Hello, I'm Alberto Callage."
"I've come to help you design and rethink your house."
And they went, "Okay, let's do it."
I asked, "Would you like us
to call up architects from all over the world?
And design and build
"different houses for all the families you want to help?"
"Yeah, sounds amazing."
We decided to get them together, and they knew each other
because they're in the same industry but they had never worked
the way they were about to work.
Building unique houses...
for unique families.
With bosses who had no idea
of what they were doing.
"But handle with care the next stage
"because managing money is always complicated."
"Be as transparent as you can because
"people will always be suspicious. So be very careful."
One of the people who helped me a lot, and I want to publicly credit him,
was Alex García.
Alex García, a film producer.
ALEX GARCÍA FILM PRODUCER
And then Eugenio said to me, "Why don't you go over it
"and tell me what you think?"
So that was my introduction to this thing called Love Army.
I had already made albums, videos.
So I didn't really think it was too far-fetched
to handle this with Juanpa,
because I think we had both done some production work.
So, what could possibly go wrong if that's all it was?
Make a budget, build a team, delegate, supervise a little,
and finish in six months.
They showed a huge lack of experience.
Like, seriously huge.
It's as if one of my kids suddenly decided to raise funds
to give out to the world.
And the next day, first thing,
IRS calls saying, "You got this much money in your account, you owe me this much."
Just for a start.
And in my view, I felt they didn't like it when I called.
Even if it was on Eugenio's behalf, they didn't like it.
"Hi, Francesco. How are you? This is Eugenio."
And I went, "Eugenio, how are you? It's a pleasure. I'm a fan of yours."
"Hey, tell me what you think about Juanpa's project."
And that's when I stopped laughing.
And I said, "Eugenio, I think it's madness. In all honesty, it is."
He went, "That's okay. Well, we'll keep going."
THE RESCUE EFFORTS ARE NONSTOP
WITHOUT COORDINATION, BUT WITH WITH A LOT OF COOPERATION
The problem we were facing was actually
that the level of destruction was huge in some places,
and we wouldn't be able to help
to restore it, and maybe we would just generate even more conflict there
because 2,000 houses had fallen down
and our building capacity was actually 50.
I had heard horror stories
from similar projects that intended to help a community
but ended up further hurting the social fabric.
Because it's often important to decide
how to allocate resources and who to help.
We built the team.
The trifecta was Pambo and me as Love Army,
Francesco took care of construction,
Cha was with the architects,
and there was a third arm, called Fundación Origen,
which was going to handle the social fabric issue.
Well, I am Mariana Baños, president of Fundación Origen.
MARIANA BAÑOS PRESIDENT OF FUNDACIÓN ORIGEN
We started in 2000.
Sadly, nearly 80% of the calls we get deal with violence.
We carry out this social fabric stage with a team in the field
that gets involved with the community, and with it,
they identify the most deprived families
that won't be able... For example,
elderly people, families with a terminally ill member,
or a single mother with several kids.
Now, let's go to the State of Mexico,
where they continue with the slow stage of reconstruction.
Ocuilan is well-known as one of the municipalities
within the Church Tour.
A total of 45 churches were damaged by the earthquake in Ocuilan.
Part of the municipality of Ocuilan is quite all right, central Ocuilan.
But as you go to the outskirts, the poverty is dire.
People live on 3,000 pesos a month.
So there is a lot lacking in every single way.
So there's a lack of food, a lack of education, employment.
And there was a level of violence... It's still there, things haven't changed.
Domestic violence...
98 DAYS AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE
Sofía, Ana Brenda, Jorge and I
drove off to start our search.
We went searching in the communities
until Sofía took us to Ocuilan.
Pambo is also a super sensitive person.
And super empathetic.
So, aside from the fact we woke her up too early,
and she slept on the way there, and on the way back...
And then she arrived with...
Ana Brenda Contreras.
and Pambo.
We all realized that in Ocuilan there were a lot of people
who needed help.
They always welcome you with so much love.
The first thing they wanted to do was feed us.
And I feel that's very Mexican.
Ocuilan was the first community we thought we could heal.
A hundred percent.
At first they started inviting...
Inviting the communities.
They drove around with loudspeakers.
We drove a Beetle and we called out,
"Love Army is inviting you to get a new house."
"Come and we'll rebuild your house. Come to this address."
No one came, no one believed us.
Say hello. Say hello now.
During that process, we also interviewed many foundations.
But to me, it was super important
to find something focused on women.
And Origen focuses on women. So the next time, Origen went
with us to Ocuilan and they established themselves there.
And slowly drew people in.
Chloe is the on-site coordinator for Love Army.
So, Chloe was the one who developed the relationship,
not just with the community but with the building effort.
I was informed that a foundation had come to repair...
I didn't even know what. The point is they repaired houses.
"But I'll ask you some questions." They asked me some things.
Beyond the houses,
we had to build a sense of community.
We had to make sure that the people who lived in Ocuilan
communicated with each other.
Because the ones to decide who would get a house
would not be us, but the community itself.
Collaborating with them, accompanying them, carrying out these psychological
and emotional care processes
so that they get the best version of each person and they get
to have a better life,
and their children can follow a different path and other choices.
I was like, is that legit or not?
What if they're tricking us?
And when I got interviewed, I informed them on the state
of my house, they asked if they could visit. I said, "Yes, it'd be a pleasure."
I talked to my wife, my children.
"There's a source of help, of support."
"I am going, I am going."
And she said, "Mom, why don't you apply?
"Because a foundation arrived in Santa María,
"and they're building houses."
I said, "No, honey, I can't be bothered." She said, "Mommy, I'll go with you."
And I applied.
Later they informed me that, yes, they would build a house for me.
"You qualify for help."
"But then..." "It's done."
"What do you mean?" "You are in the project."
That's where this...
This dream began, because it's a dream.
The hardest bit is getting to a certain place.
The hardest bit is getting the entire Échale team
functioning in a single place. Who will be the provider
and how will we be taking the additional equipment there?
Trucks, rear tractors... That took a lot of work.
Especially because the houses in Ocuilan are so spread out.
And because of Ocuilan's terrain.
Échale a tu casa had this awesome idea
of teaching the community how to build these Ecoblocks,
which would be the raw material to build these houses.
I got to be in Ocuilan one of the first days
they were teaching people how to make these blocks.
And it was so nice to see the community rebuilding with their own hands,
and with the local soil, the blocks for their houses.
There was this full circle, sustainable vibe
in this process, so inspiring.
"Handle the block production," he said.
And I said, "With pleasure."
Dr. Francesco gave me that great opportunity.
And he said, "Munra, here you go. Work with it, make an effort."
We made up a team of local people.
And we started using the machines, we started to make the product.
DANIELA GIRALDO ARCHITECT
Then we have the house designing or co-designing process
between architects and the people from the community.
That's when I realized Juanpa was like Mick Jagger.
I mean, who is this guy?
Because we were in Ocuilan and everyone recognized him.
I was even nervous because the most amazing architects
were coming with us here.
Obviously, nobody recognized the architects.
And we'll end up doing these two parts...
And just like that...
FELIPE URIBE ARCHITECT
...the architects started treating people as though they were their clients.
They asked them exactly what they needed.
They listened to them and took notes.
PAUL CURUCHET ARCHITECT
CARLOS APARICIO MÁRQUEZ ARCHITECT
You have super professional people of an outstanding level.
TATIANA BILBAO ARCHITECT
In terms of architectural design,
they sat down with these families, notebook in hand...
SURELLA SEGU ARCHITECT
...doing sketches for their new house.
We made the model so that you can visualize the space.
ALEJANDRO ZARATE ARCHITECT
It was lovely to see these rockstars with the locals, going like,
"I think the house would be amazing
JORGE PÉREZ ARCHITECT
MIQUEL ADRIÀ ARCHITECT
"...with light coming through, stairs here and this awesome design here."
And the lady was like...
"No, I don't like it."
We never saw it as social housing but as proper homes.
Like the house of a family living to a certain standard, in a rural setting.
We always tried to stay true to the projects, to the materials.
Give them certainty and trust,
but also provide them the feeling of what a real home is.
The architect started saying how he wanted it.
DAN HUERTA ARCHITECT
Well, we both shared our ideas
I just wanted it to have windows.
Yes, I liked the project he showed me, but it didn't have any windows.
Seeing these rockstar architects being deconstructed
by the house owner's opinion was lovely because at the end of the day,
the priority was that the families were happy with their homes.
FERNANDA CANALES ARCHITECT
It wasn't the display of architectural design to look important.
It was about what worked for the family.
ROZANA MONTIEL ARCHITECT
From what I experienced, it was a co-design between the architects
and the community, and I thought it was fantastic.
181 DAYS AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE
I think the way Love Army works reflects your way of doing things.
SANTIAGO FÁBREGAS DIRECTOR
So, why is that? Why do you do things like that?
Like, you act without overthinking?
I usually focus on taking a huge first step,
without really knowing how to take the second or the third one.
And little by little, every step you take, you take it giving it 100%.
Because if you decide to get involved in something
and you think too much about that first step, you might not do it.
Six months later, we've just got the building started.
Deep down, I felt like ripping my hair out because
I obviously come from a world where everything is instant.
It's so much faster.
-He'll finish the entire house. -Leave some work for us, Mr. Marcos.
-That's it, a good crack. -Look, cool, right?
It's a family of six people who will be comfortably housed.
Are you really building this house for us? No, I mean...
I think it's a great house.
I think it was a lovely experience...
ALBERTO KALACH ARCHITECT
...to be able to get close to the locals.
And despite the limited resources,
we tried to build something with them.
Right? Something for them.
-Wow! -Oh, hell no!
Could you help me, please? I'm afraid of heights.
-Sure. How are you? -Hi.
-Hi, how are you? -Fine, and you?
It's very hard to find young people like you, who like helping others.
They only think about partying...
-Or things like... -Hey...
-Or both things. -Both things.
By June 2018, they had built...
293 DAYS AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE
...almost finished, four houses.
04 HOUSES BUILT
And I was able to see, to feel that excitement...
CHLOE CAMPERO CULTURAL MANAGER
...among the people, and that expectation of being given a house soon.
And I got to hear many stories from the community,
who talked about the experience
of meeting the architects, seeing them arrive,
seeing Juanpa arrive,
seeing "the artists," as they call them.
-Both in this story. -Long live Ocuilan.
Long live Ocuilan!
This was gonna get crazy. I knew it.
I didn't want to feel discouraged, nor did I want to discourage Juanpa.
But that was why when Juanpa said, "I'll do it!" I said, "Go for it."
Then I saw it coming and said, "This won't be that easy."
You might think that you just arrive and they're there.
All the families are waiting in an orderly line
to get the building started.
No.
No, it's a huge mess.
We didn't start off fully aware of what we were doing.
We didn't start with a clear idea
of what each of the steps would be,
for what we were about to do.
People could not see what was happening behind the scenes.
That means it took many months
to find a team, to find a community...
For the community to let us in...
And people saw none of that.
So a certain mistrust was brewing, in terms of what was happening,
and, little by little, the media, in particular, started to...
To generate news.
My name is Gustavo Adolfo Infante.
For 37 years, I've worked as a journalist,
as a reporter specialized in the showbiz world,
I basically report what happens in my country, Mexico.
GUSTAVO ADOLFO INFANTE JOURNALIST
I actually didn't know who Juanpa Zurita was.
I'd heard about him when we went to see Cirque du Soleil
and my daughter went, "Dad, it's Juanpa Zurita!"
I'd thought he was Humberto Zurita's son.
So she went and took a selfie with him.
The dude was a bit snotty, like...
Since when was Juanpa Zurita Superman,
to save 50 or 60 families?
Like, why?
JUANPA ZURITA MISSED THE DEADLINE!
EVEN THE DONORS DON'T KNOW HOW THE 1.3 MILLION WAS SPENT
It was so embarrassing because...
Many people heard of Juanpa because of that movement.
WHERE DID THE MONEY GO?
OVER A MILLION RAISED AND NOTHING DELIVERED
Then the nightmare started. My parents and siblings saw that magazine.
The entire country saw that magazine. Nobody prepares you for such a massive
media attack at 21, and I didn't know what to do.
There was Eugenio's photo, Juanpa Zurita's photo...
I thought it was understandable
that someone would raise their hand and ask, "What happened with the money?"
I met up with him, and I have a good radar for this sort of thing.
Now, you never know for sure. He might as well steal it.
If he did it, I'd beat him to a pulp.
They claimed that a light-skinned, green-eyed Whitexican brat
had stolen the money for the earthquake victims.
It was like... fuck. Why wouldn't the nation be mad?
Hearing that, of course you'll be fuming.
IN IMPUNITY!
I didn't have a single reason to believe Juanpa Zurita.
So people started asking, "Hey.
"Where is the money? Who has donated? Who has invested?"
"Are you stealing it?"
We were indeed worried about Juanpa's image.
Because you never know at which point you lose control.
Your intentions are honest
but one mistake due to ignorance can lead to,
"Oh, so you didn't know?"
"So you made a mistake and the money was misplaced?"
I couldn't afford to make mistakes. Nor could Juanpa. No one could.
Otherwise, it could all turn against us.
So I sent Juanpa Zurita a message, he didn't reply.
I sent Juanpa Zurita another message.
And I was like, "This is dodgy."
Now it turns out that Juanpa Zurita
is the Mexican government, building houses. I mean, why?
With what money?
And I spent a week or two
saying, "Juanpa Zurita won't reply to me."
"Juanpa Zurita is probably stealing the money."
It's so easy to say, "'I'll go help the victims,"
while you steal the money.
As days went by,
surprise, surprise, things were getting more real.
To the point that reality
had become, "They stole the money!"
We took the opportunity to ask him about the millions
that he raised for the victims of the recent earthquake.
Let's see his reaction.
I wanted to ask you about the millions you raised.
We've gotta go now! Thanks!
THE "LOVE ARMY" MOVEMENT RAISED 26 MILLION PESOS
You're such an idiot, Juan Pablo! What did you leave, bro?
Obviously, we all had the mission
to corner Juanpa Zurita, every time we saw him,
and bombard him with questions.
Where is the money? What about transparency?
And Zurita kept beating around the bush.
I'm unsure if he was ignorant or wanted to surprise us.
Maybe he was unprepared to answer
or he was simply arrogant and wouldn't talk.
Any of those options were plausible.
So that made us even more suspicious.
Here's a hashtag reaction. "Juanpa, what about the donations, baby?"
The hard part was that people started questioning me.
I don't mean strangers, but people close to me.
So, I was home one day and Eugenio called me,
asking what was going on.
I mean, "Where's the money?"
ALMOST A YEAR HAS PASSED AND NOT A SINGLE HOUSE HAS BEEN DELIVERED!
That call was so tough for me.
It wasn't because it was Eugenio who called.
However, what was going on outside?
INHABITABLE HOUSES
What was the extent of the pressure that made him doubt
what we were doing?
I was very scared about the project.
I was afraid people would stop believing in it.
It's like we couldn't see the...
They kept doing meetings but we didn't see the start of...
And there was always someone wondering if the houses would be built at all.
And that's when you start doubting.
Journalists caused the greatest impact.
They were looking for something that tarnished Juanpa's reputation.
Just imagine this kid's dimwittedness
and lack of intelligence.
"Grupo Imagen is grilling me about the money, so I ban them."
He's not very bright.
Am I gonna lose sleep over that?
Dude, if I'm helping my country, why are you guys trying to drag me down?
The Mexican media is so sensationalist.
And they end up damaging a whole project or anything you're doing, or...
It's just a huge blow.
The truth is, I didn't know what to say.
I mean, I didn't know what to say, at that moment,
I had a lot of information about issues I was not an expert on,
and I was afraid of giving out the wrong information.
Often, when you've got bad press,
you might deny accusations once, but when you do it two, three more times,
it's annoying for you as a public figure.
But the biggest lies are created through repetition.
A lie told ten times becomes a truth.
Well, look, good actions will always be questioned.
By anyone.
Because a good action reveals
that other people could also do it but they are unwilling to.
But on top of that, there is an element
that will invariably follow a good action,
and it's called envy.
Juanpa, why won't you grant interviews?
We were all morons, him in particular.
He was the leader and never thought of this.
If you're the captain of a ship,
people will want to see how you stay afloat, you know?
Yes, he was naïve. That's a good, subtle way to describe his behavior.
It is what it is. It's risky playing with fire. Totally playing with fire.
But it's also a massive double-edged sword.
Just like the public opinion may be,
"How nice, he's helping people. What a nice boy. Of course."
The public opinion may also lean towards,
"Unprofessional, inept, crook."
This 60-year-old man went viral on social media with this photo
that Juanpa Zurita posted himself as a symbol of hope,
with the launch of Love Army Mexico.
-What did Juanpa and Love Army give you? -Nothing.
The people who helped were from the government.
If you received help from the government, you could rebuild your house with it.
But this was for people who hadn't received any support.
So...
We couldn't rebuild that man's house.
But he was the poster child of our project,
and Juan Pablo had plastered his face all over the place.
The whole time, there's been one problem after another...
I don't know how they did it, but my phone rang 24 hours a day.
"So, tell me, how much money has Juanpa given you?"
"It's not enough for the project, right?"
We realized the progress was slow. We realized everything was delayed.
And I remember this time at Pambo's place
when she and I were researching the cost per square meter of social housing.
I told him, "You got into this mess on your own accord."
"Now, get moving."
"And there won't be any more photos, but you'll have to work for three years
"to do what you said you'd do."
540 DAYS AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE
15 HOUSES BUILT
So the architects design, sketch the house,
what the house will look like for this specific family.
What foundations are there in order to build the house?
And then, what framework is needed
for the house that the architects designed in order to build it?
It is stupid
to think that a house meant for the mountain
is built the same way as a house by the river.
Houses...
Can't be the same
in different settings.
That's the big problem of social housing.
They sometimes didn't get that things were meant to be done one way
but then they changed their minds.
The project, on paper, is stunning.
That's what I loved visually,
what made me fall in love with these houses,
with their wooden doors and windows.
So warm, so lovely.
Well, I fell out of love when the first bout of rain came.
Every morning, I got calls, WhatsApps, videos
of water pouring down from the ceiling.
getting through the windows.
The problem here is the weather.
The water is dripping down the walls.
-And there are huge puddles. -Yes.
The rain has intensified in the region, so we must strengthen
the waterproofing in all houses and make sure this never happens again.
MARCH 2020 THREE YEARS AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE
25 HOUSES BUILT
And to top it all off, we have a pandemic.
Today marks the national day of social distancing
as a measure to curtail the spread of Covid-19 in our country.
Covid caught us all off-guard.
It happened overnight.
And we had to apply a whole series of protocols,
a series of care measures
and the pace became a lot slower.
So Francesco suddenly calls me and says
that he needs... Like, when will the next transfer take place?
And I was like, "What transfer?"
You've already got the money. Your money.
He said, "No, I've run out of money.
"In fact, you owe me.
"So if it was ten pesos,
"you owe me three extra pesos because that's what we've spent."
And I said, "Francesco, but we've just built half the houses.
"How come you've spent all that money?
"That was the money for all the houses.
"Why only tell me this once the money's run out and I owe you?"
So Juanpa and I discussed at length what we ought to do
because the thought of carrying on building with money
that we apparently owed, made us even consider
that we had to stop everything.
-In the worst case scenario. This is it. -Okay.
This doesn't include the adjustment nor any of the points
we're negotiating with Francesco. I mean...
Yes, the so-called difference.
-We don't know that for sure. -Okay.
JUANPA, PAMBO - LOVE ARMY MEXICO CHLOE CAMPERO - CULTURAL MANAGER
-Hi. -Chloe, how are you?
Fine, and you?
We will be facing, overall, some critical months.
Everybody's income has, right now,
dwindled throughout all levels and positions.
We're very worried about the situation in Ocuilan.
We don't want to leave them unsupported.
"Manuel, they're fooling you."
I said, "Why are they fooling me?"
"Because they left."
I said, "No, this is not over."
A supporting foundation just left, that's all.
They were helping us.
"But the project continues." "I don't think so."
The tourist centers came to a standstill.
Commercial activities stopped, too.
That's what Ocuilan's inhabitants live on.
Without knowing much of this business,
my common sense would tell me
that when you've spent half the budget but haven't finished half the houses,
you'd call and say, "Hey, we're having this problem."
But that was never discussed.
They just said, "We spent the money but only built half the houses.
"And now I need you to double that amount."
That was a terrifying moment, I mean...
We couldn't control delays because each time it was like,
"Okay, take some more time."
But we were the ones picking up the pieces.
From what I hear,
don't you have a site supervisor? That guy?
And Juan Pablo goes, "What's that?"
You don't know site supervisors existed. So, what do they do?
They supervise building sites!
Pambo and I looked at each other like, "Why hadn't we heard about those?
"Juanpa, allow me to introduce to you...
FERNANDO ZURITA JUANPA'S BROTHER
"...a company and a man whose actual specialty is
"supervising building processes."
MIKEL MUÑOZ CONSTRUCTION SUPERVISOR. INGENOR
I'm Mikel Muñoz.
I'm the CEO of Ingenor Mexico.
It's an architecture, engineering and project management company.
Obviously, Mikel's first question was,
"Okay, but... what does your contract say?"
And we were like, "We don't have a contract!"
"But we shook hands and we're all great buddies!"
JUANPA, PAMBO - LOVE ARMY MEXICO MIKEL MUÑOZ - SUPERVISOR
-Pambito! -Hello, you hear me?
-Yes. -Okay.
The gist of the report is the analysis of each house.
Price by price. Measurement by measurement of all the houses.
The general conclusion about all the houses,
you'll see in a moment...
Échale's price is above
the current market value.
So, basically, they're priced above other building companies.
That's when I felt afraid, you know?
Because the thought of not finishing the project crossed my mind.
I thought we'd never finish because we wouldn't have enough resources.
And Mikel told us
that we had to thoroughly audit
Échale's work.
And that's how it started.
And we stopped the construction.
We stopped it.
JUANPA, PAMBO - LOVE ARMY MEXICO CARLOS ZEDILLO - PIENZA SOSTENIBLE
Wow, that's a double call.
Hiya.
-Hi. -Hey, what's the deal?
Out of need, and in order to review
Échale a tu casa's work, we stopped the project.
You're modifying the project again, Pambo.
And that makes me very nervous.
Especially at the stage we're at, you know?
I have already hired people,
it's done, and we have many new projects that have been cut back.
"The money won't be enough." "We won't finish on time."
"We're behind schedule."
"It's Cha's fault. It's the architects' fault."
It's a difficult project.
It's a slow project.
The 49 houses weren't built in a flash.
That's obviously impossible.
We built them in blocks.
IVÁN RAMÍREZ - MIKEL MUÑOZ - FRANCESCO PIAZZESI
We feel, and I don't mean to offend,
that you're looking for details
that generate cost overruns on our end.
Your starting point is weak, it's clear you didn't understand what I told you.
If we'd done what you're saying,
the difference wouldn't be 20, but 40 percent.
You should tell us what you believe to be the causes
of that great discrepancy,
because that's what's confusing the team.
I mean, right now, I'm a bit frightened to hear
that it's 25 percent.
Because we've been losing money
throughout the year while you have been making money.
And Carlos, we haven't mentioned the money we've put into this.
-Let's get this straight. -Okay.
That's why we must check this.
I'm just saying I wasn't aware of this, Francesco.
I just... I understand you.
But we must check because this stands out.
Horrible arguments ensued,
particularly between Francesco and Cha.
And it started to look like there was
no possible solution because every time we had a meeting,
one would blame the other, and vice versa.
The supervisors arrived, with a social housing assessment sheet.
The houses were supposed to cost "X" amount.
The average square meter cost was "X" amount.
And they had the averages, the same ones from 25 years ago.
It's not that they're wrong.
It's just that they don't quite apply here.
So that sparked an argument.
The other day, you didn't tell us the truth either, Francesco.
Are you calling me a liar?
If you are, this conversation ends right now.
Well, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to call you a liar,
and don't be so sensitive.
We either respect each other, or right now,
we end all conversations,
all negotiations,
and fend for yourselves.
The houses are there
and you're arriving after the fact.
The houses are finished.
You guys are doing a forensic audit.
Francesco, remember it took you over a year to send us
the budgets for the houses,
even though Pambo requested them.
We have an admin issue here.
You said we called you a liar, we'd never do such a thing.
I know you're making sacrifices, just like everyone else in this project.
But we just have to focus
on finding a way to stop the delays
and we can firmly progress
in order to complete the project.
Those conversations were tense.
Because, on the other hand, I said,
"This architect helped me, will I tell them their house won't be built?"
There were times when...
I nearly called Juanpa and said, "You know what? We're out."
We're severely delayed.
I have the press and the public breathing down my neck.
And then, in private, you tell me it will take longer?
I'm screwed.
Juanpa was crucified by the media.
They took him off the cross later.
But he was crucified for a long while, right?
Why? Why?
The worry and anxiety levels increased
when we saw Juanpa in that state,
how secretive he was about the issue.
He wouldn't quite let us in.
I don't think he was even aware himself back then,
of how things were playing out.
And that worried me three times more.
I thought, "Something's terribly wrong, something's worrying him too much,
overwhelming him.
His silence wasn't a sign of avoidance.
I think his silence was due to these blockages
present in the project.
Juanpa learned that the world isn't all peaches and cream.
Social networks have widened the gaps and divisions in society.
This isn't just a Mexican issue.
But in journalism, we have indeed reached a point
where clashing statements
are highlighted and prioritized.
Often to the detriment of actual facts.
In a society where there is little debate,
where there is no debate with arguments
but instead resorts to disqualification...
LOURDES MORALES ACCOUNTABILITY NETWORK COORDINATOR
...where there isn't a culture of choosing quality information,
I don't think any of this truly serves democratization,
but rather the opposite.
"That thieving rat, Juanpa Zurita, has been found out,
"yet keeps boasting about building?"
"At that rate, he'll deliver the houses in 50 years."
"YouTuber Juanpa Zurita promised to build 50 houses for the victims
"of September 19 but he's only built four."
Another one says, "What are they waiting for? Put him in prison."
What's happening here is,
the media starts the domino effect
of disinformation.
It's terribly difficult because
they don't know who I am,
nor when I started this mission, nor how long I've been here.
And the only thing they take as given
is that headline.
"Juanpa says that the Love Army project too big for him to handle."
"Juanpa couldn't do it." Right? "He didn't complete it." "Juanpa didn't finish."
... don't forget he did this with donations.
Did he steal another 25 million pesos?
On the drawing board, you say, "I'm gonna help."
I raise funds, I use them. Everyone's happy.
Including yourself. Right?
At what fucking point of that plan
do you think, "The whole country will hate me"?
Just like that.
This will haunt Juanpa forever.
And when he's 70 years old,
and he posts a photo saying, "Remember Love Army?"
A 70-year-old hater will come out of the woodwork
and say, "But you stole the money." These people never stop.
People won't let things go.
And they won't research either.
Because today's trend is to read the headline and rage.
-How are you? -Fine.
-Everything okay? -Yes.
-Everything cool? -Yes.
-100%? -Yes.
-Beauty all round? -Yes.
-Smoking hot? -Yes.
That's it!
Which one's your room?
Look, it's all the way there, where the builder is.
I love watching Spider-Man movies.
Go on, jump like Tarzan.
Hang on!
JUANPA, PAMBO - LOVE ARMY MIKEL MUÑÓZ - SUPERVISOR
Introduce the access code, followed by the pound key.
The indirect costs are messed up.
And listen up.
Now they're telling us the indirect costs
don't amount to 25% but 33%.
What?
That's outrageous, they're contradicting themselves.
To make the long story short, he spent it all.
Now, what he's proposing, if we want to finish the houses,
is to use a cheaper block.
So, the only way out...
Well, I told him he had accept covering this extra cost.
Things get very complicated because we can't progress.
You have paid nearly seven times more in indirect costs.
Indirect costs are closely linked with the completion time.
That's the problem.
Every month you're paying for staff,
equipment, a truck...
As a client who hired this service,
the least I would expect is to be told,
"You know what? This month we'll build just one house.
"So I'll reduce my staff to build one house
"because that is the cost of building one."
I don't want to hear, "I've got the staff to build all 50,
"and I'll charge you for the lot during all of these months."
So, Mikel, why do you think that he, as a professional in this industry,
did not follow procedure?
-Because there's no contract. -Right.
That's the problem.
He doesn't have a contractual relationship with you.
I understand there are variations in some areas,
but this is... without meaning disrespect, he's scammed us. You know?
When you lack leverage,
then...
You can't restrict Échale's
payment.
And you start losing control.
We had no means to put pressure on Échale.
And that led us
to a very complex situation.
The Love Army personnel in the field amounts to 89 people
and at the building site, 15.
But pay attention to the trucks.
Because there are 572 paid trips but only 120 for your building site.
And we can go on.
So this is a measured project.
The client pays any amount they spend.
This supervision is the Inquisition.
"I'm coming here to pounce on you."
And all supervisions are like that.
Why? Because they have to do their job.
No supervisor comes in and says,
"It's an audit."
No audit will ever conclude,
"Everything's perfect."
They wouldn't believe the auditor. "What is this about? This is weird."
The rebuilding issue
has a level of complexity
that none of us, who've been involved, got to see from the start.
Your initial vision, when you start on something,
and the final result,
will be entirely different.
If you don't attain a good level of coordination
between production and construction...
In short, avoid idle periods.
That costs money, and that's exactly what there was not enough of.
Money.
This became a 24/7 job
for the entire Échale team.
There were days when...
When we were crying, like,
"Please, make it stop."
Especially in the middle stage, when you say,
"The houses aren't finished. Why are we working so slowly?"
"Why haven't we started on this house yet?"
What is taking a toll on us
is that a project we should have completed in 12 months
remains unfinished 30 months down the line.
Who is in charge of carrying out that project?
We are, Pambo,
but we didn't have the basic tools
at the time
to work on 20 houses at the same time.
So, Love Army asks us for a made-to-measure suit, yes?
Our presence is needed 24/7, yes?
They like the suit.
This suit is unique, there's none like it
in the whole world.
Please, I beg you.
Don't say any other construction company could have done this.
Because it's not true. So, please,
where is all of this heading?
-I... Francesco. -No, Francesco...
-No, wait, I'm not asking that. -I want...
You should have told me that from the start,
not after things took a bad turn.
At the end of the day,
the strongest point of this project was also its greatest weakness.
Weakness, in terms of its high complexity.
We had 50 projects here.
All of them different.
And it's great but, to put it bluntly, it's also a clusterfuck.
It's a huge problem.
I propose
to carry out a supervision
on how the construction was developed, like I said.
Every single logbook, every single change,
every single invoice, and we might all be surprised
at the fact that we put in more money than was budgeted.
Why? To comply with project specifications.
I don't want to argue any further.
We've reached an agreement, let's give it our all.
JULY 2020 THREE YEARS AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE 28 HOUSES BUILT
First of July, 2020. We have 19 houses yet to build.
Ten are already approved and we agreed to change materials
to make them cheaper.
We also agreed we wouldn't touch the outer appearance,
but nine houses had changed.
JUANPA, PAMBO - MIKEL MUÑÓZ, SUPERVISOR FRANCESCO PIAZZESI, CEO ÉCHALE A TU CASA
Francesco?
Hi, how are you, Juanpa?
The changes are all but what we agreed.
I mean, the houses are...
Entirely different. What's the confusion?
Like, it's so weird we agree on something,
something else comes up, and we waste more time.
We didn't adjust... We didn't modify the projects.
We simply made the necessary immediate adjustments.
You've removed one floor in some houses, so you've changed the project.
We redesign the blueprints again. We stop construction again...
And we start over again.
So this was an issue we had
to polish over and over again
until all of us were on the same page.
It's not that we were always right.
Not at all.
Part of the project was completed like that
but it's actually urgent to finish the homes.
Let's forget about certain products
and let's move on to industrializing
and building more efficiently,
from the financial point of view.
Francesco has spent the money and says
that in order to finish, he'll use normal blocks,
that Ecoblocks cost more, and that's bullshit.
It's his fault, not ours.
If you're in Ocuilan and see the Love Army houses,
they glow.
Their Ecoblocks stand out.
And I didn't want any differences between them.
Well, not me, nor Pambo, nor anyone wanted
to see any differences
between houses.
And we still needed a specific amount of money.
There's an issue I wanted to discuss.
If you want to use Ecoblocks, you must act today.
-Today? -Indeed.
-Okay. -Before we sign everything.
So, prepare a lovely speech
and call Francesco to see...
I'll call him now, then.
-Without us, no? -Just me and him.
JUANPA, LOVE ARMY MEXICO FRANCESCO PIAZZESI, CEO ÉCHALE A TU CASA
-Hello? -Hi, Francesco, how are you?
Hi, Juanpa, how are you?
After our call, I finally understood
that these last houses won't have your blocks.
If I were in your place,
I would do anything,
on behalf of Échale,
to use your blocks.
Let me see what we can do
so that our blocks are there.
What I propose to you,
from gentleman to gentleman,
is that...
If there's any increase in our budget,
I can promise you
to pay half with my own money
and you guys pay half, too.
That's what I can offer.
Let me see, let me talk
to the team, to production and everything.
And let's find a way to achieve this.
JUANPA, LOVE ARMY MEXICO FRANCESCO PIAZZESI, CEO ÉCHALE A TU CASA
-Hello? -Hi, Francesco, how are you?
Hi, Juanpa, how are you?
Talk to me.
Hey, we've been looking into this.
We have a few points to discuss.
-Okay. -One. We need...
We need one more month to do this.
And we do need the money upfront.
This is a foundation and the foundation doesn't have money.
Yes, that money would come from you, as Francesco.
And from me, as Juanpa.
Not from Love Army or Échale.
Okay, then. You know what?
Give me, literally, 20 minutes,
and I'll make the necessary calls to make this decision right now,
and not waste any more time, okay?
Sure. I'm right here.
Great, I'll call you back. Bye.
-Hello? -I've just spoken to Francesco.
This is the closure we needed.
-And... -We'll do this, Juanpa!
And we'll do this!
Okay, I'll call this gentleman, who is now my ally.
Life does take really wild turns. Okay, later!
Great!
Francesco. Close the deal.
-What's up, Juanpa? -What's up?
So, look. I've spoken to the whole team
and we decided we would build the houses
entirely out of Ecoblocks.
That would complete the project.
It's important that these houses
resemble the others as much as possible
to finish it all off.
We perfectly understand why
you need one more month.
Well, just so you know.
Green light, let's go full blast.
And let's give it our all.
-Our all! -Yes.
Perfect, of course. It will be a pleasure.
-Okay, bye. -Deal.
-See ya. -Bye.
You don't know how long I've been waiting for this.
It feels good to be in control and to know exactly
everything that's going on in all areas, architecture,
building company, supervision...
Everything. Now, this is it.
Let's build this.
Let's finish!
APRIL 2021 37 HOUSES BUILT
After the heavy criticism endured by Love Army Mexico,
we went to Ocuilan to see, remember?
That's why I called TVyNovelas magazine
so that we obtained photographic evidence
of Juanpa Zurita's dishonesty and theft.
Well, let's secure this story, right?
I've been a journalist for 34 years
and whenever I've made a mistake,
I show up, face the music and say, "You know what?
"I screwed up, I fucked up."
And he was kind enough to...
Prove to me, with supporting evidence, that I was mistaken.
I hit him hard several times, and he never complained.
He is not very familiar with traditional media.
Social media is his natural habitat.
And he had the emotional intelligence to avoid confrontation
with an old wolf with a crooked fang who has seen it all in the business.
A veteran, such as myself.
I don't know what people imagined.
How come these damaging news stories just popped up overnight?
These stories, claiming nothing was being built.
Well, so one day, we met up very early.
I found out that Juanpa, obviously joined forces
with other organizations
that contributed, depending on their specializations.
Hiya.
I'll say it once more, what a great project here in Ocuilan, Juanpa.
Look, at one point, I did lose the...
-The faith? -Yes, yes. I said,
-"No, no way." -I understand.
But when I saw it, my Mom said,
"They're coming to start building..."
I said, "No, I can't believe it!"
-I was so excited. -That's it.
Thanks to you, guys, this is a dream come true.
Well, here's proof
that the house was actually built.
It's got everything, water, electricity, everything.
A good action pushes you forward.
Always.
We must emulate good deeds.
And what this project achieved
was something fantastic.
Look, you can come and eat delicious food.
Give me your blessing with it.
NOVEMBER 2021 47 HOUSES BUILT
-One, two, three! -One, two, three!
Hell, yeah!
When we left, I told Juanpa
that I was relieved to see the way people looked at him.
I said, "Congratulations, dude."
Because those who matter,
those who'd be upset if you'd broken your promise,
they love you, dude.
There's more.
Here, thanks for trusting us.
It's so beautiful, so beautiful.
Bravo!
Thank you, honestly. This is great. Now, even the bathroom has running water.
I'm so happy to know that Juanpa achieved the goal.
This boy has outdone himself.
Helping everyone around here.
-See? -I can't believe it!
Hey, are we men or are we clowns?
I'm a clown.
They're human. They breathe.
-Ready! -That's it!
Bravo!
They gave us their trust.
This makes me feel so proud, and...
I loved to prove everyone wrong.
-Thanks a lot. -No, thank you.
Because without you, I'd still be homeless.
That's it!
I mean, to be inspired by my little brother...
I look back and say, "How did you put up with that?"
Learning from someone who has lived fewer years than me...
That's a really lovely thing.
One, two, three!
We did it!
I always say that we'll always be grateful to those angels
that God sent us in due time
to help us, shelter us, cuddle us,
and give us a little bit of what they do.
May God bless them.
The first thing I noticed in the living room
was the photo of Juan Pablo and the team... No, I was like,
"I can't believe it."
Look, Juan Manuel made this.
THANKS LOVE ARMY MEXICO
-It's cute. -Juan Manuel made this one.
A lovely friendship was born.
And these things helped me become stronger.
This house is not only mine, it's everyone's.
Everyone who lives here.
I grew up here and will stay here forever.
I'd like to have a son and a daughter.
Anahí, Anahí!
What about you? Your turn.
Three!
-I don't know what to say. -Bravo!
-Three! -Yes!
Let's focus on what we can do.
And never forget what we haven't done yet.
And let's create a culture of help and support in Mexico,
without suspicion.
That's it!
Thank you.
I wish this beautiful side wouldn't only come out after tragedies.
I wish it was more normalized.
In all architecture schools,
you hear about social architecture.
Well, we applied it here. We finished all of the houses.
All participants received their reward.
They all acquired skills.
If there's anything we have a satisfaction for, here at Échale,
is that we can go back to all of the houses we've built
and we are lovingly welcomed,
with this great warmth typical of our Mexican families.
And if you're visiting over five homes,
fast for a couple of days because you'll be offered
all sorts of food.
A kind bunch emerged,
open to meet with other people,
to converse with them,
to learn from others,
to grow, as they say, that sort of thing.
They taught us to work as a team.
As for the group we're part of,
I'm deeply grateful to them.
The people of Ocuilan decided to commercialize
all of their skills and talents.
They have their own brand, which they market.
They have different products, like... They even make mezcal.
And something I really liked, and which I noticed,
is how these women got involved.
With new projects,
we have many goals to achieve.
Remember when we didn't believe in ourselves?
And now, well...
They got us started, and now they may go.
-Yeah, Francesco! -They're Christmas presents.
Well done!
Come on!
Does anyone have an extra plate?
There are some here. Do you want one?
It's too small.
Here's one, who wants one?
Cheers, team. Really.
-On an empty stomach? -What a journey!
-Cheers! -Cheers!
They're already tipsy.
Cheers!
We spent three years and two months regularly traveling to Ocuilan.
And there's this bittersweet feeling.
It's beautiful to have finished and it's beautiful that...
that it's over, but...
It does make me truly feel...
Proud...
to see...
what we achieved.
Back then,
Juanpa was like waves crashing against rocks all the time.
And there's something very chaotic about that,
but that energy of his is also impressive.
And if that energy is well-directed, it's capable of achieving powerful things,
and it can produce important changes.
I think that's the beauty of it.
Not expecting anything in return for what we did.
The exchange already happened.
We gained maturity,
and knowing we helped these families.
That's it, that's what we received in return.
Sometimes I don't know when to stop.
I want to keep bringing them stuff, doing projects in Ocuilan.
And sometimes I don't know when to let that go,
when to stop visiting them.
You form a very special family
in a project like this.
It fills me with pride, but also with sadness and nostalgia.
It's one of the most beautiful things I've experienced.
-Good morning. -Good morning.
I still remember looking at your pictures with the little...
with the little solar panels, and I was like, "This guy is nuts."
"This guy is absolutely nuts, I want to join him."
Trust is a word that suits you very well because...
because you value so much trust in your friendships and...
It is hilarious considering the context of this movie.
Yes, because nobody trusts what happened with the money.
If you go in a weird situation with a friend,
I know you'd fly to the other side of the world just to clear things up.
That's probably why now this movie is gonna clear things up.
Hopefully.
Hopefully, hopefully, Papa.
Thank you for those words. I take them, I cherish them a lot.
You know, you were just very...
Oh, my God. I can't speak, bro.
-Then don't speak. -You were so important...
in so many ways.
Because...
You had a massive influence on, like,
who I am today, you know?
-I was very lucky to find you, you know. -So am I.
And I was very lucky that we bonded.
You know, like, creatively, storytelling-wise, and value-wise.
You... I was not expecting this right now.
Me neither bro.
This was not part of the plan.
On our side, I think we always wanted to do our part.
-To do our little part. -Yeah.
And sometimes the value is there.
After 4 years of work, in Ocuilan Love Army achieved:
47 houses co-designed with the beneficiary families.
2,800 square meters of construction work.
520 jobs created during the project.
350 people with a new home.
Thanks to the 6,696 donors
And the hundreds of thousands who made this possible.
The funds of the 3 houses that couldn't be built were used to develop Ocuilan.
It's still possible to help the families by buying their local products.
In memory of: Julia Rea
Genoveva Hernández Colin, Alberta Lares Hernández
and those affected by the earthquake at 13:14, 2017.
"Do what is right because it is right." Immanuel Kant
Now, we'll carry out a drill.
An earthquake drill.
We must be prepared.
And for that, we have three rules.
Don't run, don't push, don't yell.
Let's go out. Let's move quickly.
Let's move quickly, faster.
Faster, kids, we gotta move faster.
Go on.
-Good afternoon, children. -Good afternoon.
The drill we're performing is very important,
here, at our school,
in order to be prepared in case there's a natural disaster.
So we must be prepared
here, at our school,
and by following your teachers' instructions,
we will practice
the habit of keeping calm and not pushing.
Where do we keep our hands?
-On our heads. -On your heads.
Keep your hands on your heads.
On the nape, just in case
something may fall on...
On us, right?
If anyone stays in the classroom
during an earthquake...
Translated by Patricia Flores Figueroa
Creative Supervisor