Week 3 Day 6

Week 3 is completed with another new home built for a family living in an impoverished area outside of Antigua, Guatemala. With this, the Guatemala Help Weeks 2011 have come to an end, and we can't help but feel the paradox of being content and restless at the same time. We are content that we were able to help provide 4 new, safe and dry homes for families who never had anything of the sort. But we are also restless because there is so much more to be done. Our time here was just a drop in the bucket of what needs to occur in order to eliminate the extreme poverty in which the majority of citizens of Guatemala live.

Our mission now is to spread the word about what we saw and experienced here so that perhaps more support for great organizations like From Houses to Homes may come in the future on multiple fronts.

As far as right now, St. Andrew Campus Ministry is extremely grateful for the student and parishioner volunteers that committed not only to participating in the Help Weeks, but also helped raise all the funds needed to make the trips possible.

We are grateful for all who supported our volunteers with funds, prayers and encouragement.

We are grateful for all the From Houses to Homes workers as well as Oscar and Joe who manage the whole process.

And lastly, we are grateful for a faith that calls us to action. It has helped us realize that this outreach experience is more than just altruistic. It's Eucharistic because it is rooted in relationship.

May this relationship continue to flourish and bring life in abundance!

-Fred T. Mercadante
Campus Minister

Week 3 Day 5

Hola mundo,

Today was a different type of day. Our work included making a lot of cement for the roof and floor and that was about it. Although this work didn't take a long time, it is pretty physically strenuous.

Olivia spent the end of the morning teaching Ophelia some English words that she wrote down in her journal. She was like a sponge, soaking up every word she was taught. This process continued during lunch, with her asking me words like frio (cold) and perro (dog). I really enjoyed teaching her a little bit of English since she has taught me so much Spanish this week. At lunch, Ophelia gave Olivia, Izzi, and I these notes that she wrote for us. Mine talked about how she loves her Sueno (teacher) Taylor and how she was going to miss me. It had a picture of us she drew on it and a picture of her crying because I am am going to leave. This letter made me realize what and impact we have made on this family and the impact this family has had on me in the short time we have been here. I am really going to miss these people and I will be sad to say goodbye to them tomorrow but I know that they will always remember us and I will always remember them and keep them in my prayers. As we left, I realized that I was saying "Hasta Manana"(until tomorrow) to them for the last time. It was neat to hear Ophelia yell "goodbye" to me in English, knowing that we tuaght her that today.

Afterwards, we all left to play soccer. The teams were the Guatemalans and Fred versus the rest of the Gringos. We also had some young guys join us in the middle of the game. We fought hard with Olivia scoring a goal on Sean scoring two but we still lost 5 to 3.

This week has been amazing, a completly different experience for me than last week. I will be both sad to leave the family and happy to have completed there home tomorrow. I have learned so much during this time here and I have formed some amazing friendships, but I know that these experiences will last me a lifetime and I pray that I have affected these families as much as they have me.

Adios,

Taylor Hix

Week 3 Day 4

A distinct line became evident for me today as we stood atop the ridge absorbing some stunning views. It was the stark contrast between the community that has become so familiar to us over the past few days and that of a completely different horizon. On one side of the ridgeline stood Santa Maria de Jesus, the city in which we have spent our days hauling buckets of earth and rock. On the other side stood an unfamiliar landscape of farmland characterized by wide expanses of open land and the buzzing sound of industrial agricultural machinery.

After having climbed a somewhat treacherous path, we moved along the ridgeline in search for awe inspiring vistas. As I reached the end of the trail I looked across, mesmorized at the site of wispy, moisture ridden fog moving over the opposite ridge into the lucious farmland below us. While folliwing the path of the fog, my sightline was suddenly juxtaposed with the concrete and sheet metal structures characteristic of Santa Maria de Jesus and I was reminded of the stark contrast I have seen during my stay in Guatemala. That of lucious farmland or touristy Antigua with the intense poverty of so many residents that lay silent just beyond the next ridgeline.

The sites we have seen and the voices we have heard throughout the past week have been solemn reminders to the intense poverty, that regardless of setting, lies dormant just beyond our line of sight. For me, this trip to Guatemala has been a constant reminder to realize that such conditions are not isolated to settins such as this. They are present across all worldly regions, whether it be third or first world. It is our responsibility to recoginize this fact and carry it home with us.

This week has been a week of many firsts for me, not so much in the realm of construction, but the nature of the trip itself. This is the first time I have truly dabbled in humanitarian aid. In addition to this, this is the first time I have spontaneously decided to take a trip of this calibur given 2 weeks notice. Throughout this experience I have realized a number of things. Most notably I have questioned why I have chosen to spend my time in Guatemala rather than savering my last few weeks in Clemson, SC before moving to Memphis, TN. That question for me has been answered almost unamously. I am here in order to realize a number or things. First, I am here as a student. The family we are serving are my professors. They are some of the most resilient individuals I have ever come across in my 22 years on this earth. Each day, I am amazed at the differences in the ways by which we live our lives. Here I am, most concerned about the terms of my lease for next year while these individuals are concerned with keeping alive. I cannot even begin to understand their situation. I can, however, spend every last minute here attempting to form some meaningful relationships with those around me.

I am young, I am ignorant, and I am belittled by the individuals that I have encountered this week. It is my hope that I will return home with the realization that no matter the level of formal eduacation I receive, that I will always be a student. I will be continually faced with opportunities to place my self in situations that will provide me with a new sense of perspective. I will be provided with an opportunity to see clearly through lifes distraction and realize the immense power of collaboration between strangers towards something greater than themselves.

Progress Notes: We have completed construction on the four walls of the house and are now moving on to the floor tomorrow!

Thanks for reading!

-Sean Murnan

Week 3 Day 3

Today continued my own personal experience in the myth of Sisyphus, carrying endless buckets of rocks and sand up a hill so steep no American would dream of building a house upon it. While the work is hard, it is certainly rewarding, as we can see continued progress on the house. An exciting benchmark is finally building walls that stand taller than yourself, a pleasant reminder that we are building something bigger than ourselves both physically and spiritually. Interaction with the children and family has been one of the most important parts of the trip, keeping us light-hearted and amused amidst all of the hard work.

My time here in Guatemala is certainly a blessing, as I had not planned on coming here again until about 2 weeks ago. I had the opportunity to attend a help week last summer and had an amazing experience. But with finishing up college and gradution and uncertainties about the future, I had not planned on attending this year. But since I didn't land that six-figure job right out of college, I jumped on the opportunity to attend this summer, paired with the flexibility and kindness of our fearless leader, Fred.

In building the house and reflecting upon what we are really doing here, I was reminded of a passage I read in Evelyn Waugh's novel "Brideshead Revisited." In the last passage of the book, the protagonist Charles kneels and prays before a tabernacle in a chapel, a culmination of his long jorney to faith. He says "I thought that the builders did not know the uses to which their work would descend. This flame... could not have been lit but for the builders. And there I found it that morning, burning new among the old stones." We will never truly know what effect this house will have upon the family. We will not be here to check in on them or experience its effect in their lives. But it is somewhat comforting to know that we cannot fully know the grace that will come from a stable shelter in the family's life, just as the builders of the chapel could not name all the souls that came to know God through their hard work in laying its stones.

For me this experience is the opportunity to take myself out of the routines of American life, and attempt to affirm that Christ can be found anywhere in the world. This week I face this test through the sacrifice of physical labor and a personal connection with the impoverished family. There is something very spiritual about a hard day's work. These Guatemalan's experience this fact every day. In their daily attempt at survival, they are faced with a more confrontational realization that what they have, or what they do, is not enough and that they need God's grace and love. Their toil is not in vain, for even amidst their destitute conditions, they do not despair. Their faces are often filled with joy and laughter one would be hard pressed to find in the wealthiest of neighborhoods in America. While most of us are able to distract ourselves with the comforts of our lifestyles, out here there exist no such comforts, and there is a more potent and direct connection to Christ.

Experiencing Guatemala is an exciting adventure, and I am glad to be able to come back and explore more. The landscape is both harsh and lush at the same time. The views are dominated by intimidating volcanoes that surround the populous valleys. One of my favorite moments of both years here is the car ride from the airport in Guatemala City to Antigua. During the trek, one is able to see all sides of Guatemala, from the shopping centers of the capital, the poverty on the outskirts, the flourishing countryside, to the charming colonial atmosphere of Antigua's cobblestone streets and Spanish Empire ruins. The country's beauty is second only to its kind people, who are thankfully known for speaking Spanish very clearly and slowly, compared to their Mexican neighbors, allowing me to brush up on my spanish. It is amazing how quickly you can learn after being immersed in the culture for even a short period of time.

So long for now, and thanks for reading

--Adam Broering

Week 3 Day 2

Day 2 for the third week began like every other day with making lunches and eating breakfast. The two hour time difference has been very nice for me. Now I'm a morning person! I've been waking up between 7-8 for the couple of days I've been here. The workers came earlier than any of us expected so there was a mad rush around 8:45 for everyone to get ready and out the door.

We were promised an easier day than the first but honestly I can't tell the difference. Day two was around the same amount of work packed into a shorter time period. We began our work day by hauling the dirt we toted up the hill inside the house. Ontop of that we "frosted" our cake with bags of portland cement. After the bags were cut and emptied we topped the whole thing off with some rocks. This pile sat... waiting for us. After all the material was carried into the house and piled we fiddled around for a few hours while waiting for the workers to finish securing the rebar.

We took lunch after the workers were finished with the rebar. Our break was very long to say the least. Finally the break was over when we began to help the workers put up the forms for pouring the concrete. Not gonna name any names, but someone dropped a hammer in a crevace behind one of the walls. A good thirty minutes of the day was spent on fishing the hammer from the abyss. Enyo finally was able to use some wire to snag the hammer.

Finally it came time to work the pile of soon to be concrete that had been staring us in the face all day. In the hour we spent mixing the pile with water we probably worked harder than we had all week. I know thats probably some of the hardest work I've done in my life. That's coming from someone who worked in an aluminum smelter around some pretty nasty stuff in some undesirable conditions. We were very good about supporting each other through all the intensity. After mixing the concrete we loaded the mix into buckets which were then handed to the workers for filling the forms. When all of the concrete was poured we were finally finished for the day.

On my way out I couldn't help but rough house with some ninos. Some how I found some energy to flip them around for a while.

This is a week of many firsts for me. I took my first flight and first trip to a foreign country. After observing the lifestyle in both Antigua and Santa Maria de Jesus I'm very surprised at the similarities between this culture and my own. I see families that love eachother, eat together, smile together (sometimes with fewer teeth) and a sencerity like I've never seen before. At first they may seem like they have nothing, but the family we are helping has much more than many families back in the states.

- Patrick Windsor

Week 3 Day 1

What's up, world?

Today was the first day for the new guys, but, since I was here last week and worked there Friday and Saturday, I knew what I was getting into. It was a more than moderately exhausting day. The work began by making mortar for the house. The process of troweling it in between the cracks of the cinder blocks would continue for most of the day. The guys alternated between working on that and carrying rocks and dirt up the horrendous hill in buckets. Several of us incorrectly hammered the U-Blocks, earning the name "Ewwwww-Blocks" for the rest of the day. We also made some concrete to fill a layer of cinder blocks and carried cinder blocks into the floor. By the end of the day, most of us were sore, tired, and hungry.


The work took up a lot of our time, but we still found time to interact with the kids. They showed us these multi-colored baby chickens that they had and loved taking pictures with us. Our lunch ritual of tossing rocks continued, and the kids joined in the tossing, as well as handing us rocks to throw. They are definitely enjoying our company. We're enjoying theirs too. I love playing around with the guys in particular. None of them are older than ten years old, and they are absolutely precious.


After such a long day, we saved our discussion for the dinner table. I completed my turn on the hot seat, and we discussed different things that we had observed during the day. Several of us mentioned all of the trash that was around the town and its use as a fuel to heat the house. Others commented on the kids coming back from the fields with bags of sticks on their backs. We will continue to look for things that help us understand their culture and lifestyle.




Today was extremely tough, but the good news is that we got a lot out of the way. Most of the rocks are now at the top of the hill, and we have made a serious dent in the dirtpile. More of the blocks are also closer to the house-site. Tomorrow cannot possibly as tough, and experts are predicting that it won't be. My neck is probably going to be a little bit sore, but I'm not in as bad shape as I would have thought, after all the work. The rest of the week is definitely doable, after getting through a Manic Monday.

Izzi Hernandez-Cruz

Week 2 Day 6 / Week 3 Day 0

If you read yesturday's post, you know that week 2's crew finished building the house to which we were assigned and now it is a home. You will also know that we got a head start on next week's house by working a couple of hours in the afternoon.

Today we went back to next week's house in order to get an even bigger head start. The issue here is that we built this family a home 2 years ago, but it was destroyed by a mudslide last year during Tropical Storm Agatha that brought so much havoc to an already impoverished area. We decided to rebuild it this year, this time much stronger, which requires a lot more work, hence the "head start."

Why not just build it out of harms way? That would make a lot of sense, but this little peice of land is the only land this family owns. It's either build it there or not at all. The week 3 crew decided unanimously that we ought be like the Lord Jesus in this weekend's Gospel and say to the family, "Do not let your hearts be troubled, in our Father's house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would we have told you that we are going to prepare a place for you."

Almost all of the From Houses to Homes workers joined us today in order to preapre the foundation, which is much more intricate, deep and labor intensive than usual. Here is where I want to say something to you readers (all 4 of you). Saturday and Sunday are the workers' day off, yet they all came to help prepare this house so that our group would be able to finish before we leave next week. Granted they are getting paid for it, but watching these young men work together, laughing, joking and and seemingly enjoying themselves, it struck me that this is not the disposition one would expect of people who have to work during the weekend (physical work at that!). If only I could find that same disposition within myself the next time I have to do extra work that is unscheduled.

It was a hard day, but building homes is why we are here, and it's the "hard" that makes it great.

-Fred

Week 2 Day 5

"What is love? Can the child within my heart rise above?...Well I've been afraid of changes 'cause I built my life around you."

These words from the song "Landslide" rang through my head this morning as we finished building our house this morning. After applying a merrigold color to the inside walls, a deep umber to the exterior, roof, window, and door, I can know say that I know what love is. As we passed the family the key to the house, likely the first key they have ever had, I felt such an overpowering emotion sweeping through the room. Our love for our new amigas of the family, the parents love for their children, and a mutual love in Christ moved me to the bones. I fought back tears as Taylor presented the key and Oscar, an employee of Houses to Homes, presented the family with a plaque. The children of this house, Marissa, Emma, Emmaline, and Jenny will never be forgotten, and they will forever hold a place in our hearts. We have helped to build a new life for this family, with something as simple as six gringos, two Guatemalan workers, a few tools, and A LOT of cement. I think I speak for all of us, when I say that they built a new life for us too. We will take with us their easygoing manner, unceasing smiles, and undying gratitude.

One of the highlights of the morning was the Coca-Cola we were each given as we painted. Sipping on Coke out of a glass bottle while we worked could not have been any more refreshing. The family later made us a wonderful lunch, a nice break from our usual American PB&J's. We enjoyed chili (basically a spicy salsa), noodles, fried chicken, cucumber salad, and tortillas as we watched kickboxing on the next door neighbor's tv. As the house finally became a home,we gave the family food and toys for their new home and they presented us with a beautiful, homemade tablecloth that we will put to good use back at St. Andrew. What seemed to be the favorite part of the day for all of the Guatemalans was the pinata we brought. Our group and the family looked on as the girls and their father took swings. However, as soon as it was cracked people (many we had never seen before) swooped into the house like it was Black Friday at Wal-Mart. Everyone, even the mother with Emmaline tied to her back, were generously shoving candy into aprons and shirts.

After the celebration was over, we bid farewell to the family and started on our next house. In typical fashion we headed over in the back of a truck. Fred pointed to the mountain face and where the family's house used to be, and once again, "Landslide" played in my head. The family's house was built by St. Andrew a few years back but was destroyed recently in a landslide. As Stevie Nicks sings, "Maybe the landslide will bring you down." We would be re-building it but more securely. This would be time-comsuming, but the biggest monster we had to face was it's strategic placing on the side of a mountain. As we carried buckets of rocks and dirt to the house site it felt like a climb of a 90 degree angle. The children were really helpful and were eager to do as much as they could to assist. However, as the rumble of the storm clouds got closer and signalled the end of the work day, we looked like the living dead. We certainly will have our work cut out for us for the rest of the days. But maybe if we take our love, and take it down, climb a moutain, and turn around, we will see the reflection of all the love we have encountered in past few days. After all, that is what's it all about.

Viva la Vida,

Olivia

Week 2 Day 4

Que pasa mundo?
Today we started out at 9 o'clock sans Patrick whose still wasn't feeling well. Instead of going directly to work, we first visited a school that From Houses to Homes funds. The idea behind this school is to provide a quality education that is free for kids pre-K through 6th grade. We got to see the younger kids playing and creating and the older kids having formalized lessons. Some of the kids sang us "No more monkeys jumping on the bed" and "Skidamerinkydinkydoo" in English. These kids we so happy and seemingly so willing to learn. I was really amazed and proud to see the work that From Houses to Homes has done with this school.

Then it was off to work for the day. We spent the morning mixing the cement for the roof and the floor. This was a strenous job but did not last all that long. Then we passed along the buckets for JuanJose to fill in the roof and the floor. This took a lot of buckets and a lot of team work but ultimately didn't take too much time.

At lunch Olivia and I played with the girls. Maritsa sat with me as I ate and talked to me about her school day which I enjoyed. Then, after we ate, we continued to take more and more pictures. The girls love posing for the pictures and seeing themselves in the camera after.
During the lunch break, Fred started what he called the "Guatemalan Olympics." All of the events centered around the baby, whether it was throwing something at the baby or catapulting the baby. The guys seemed to have a lot of fun with these events.
After lunch I did more bonding with the girls than physical work. The guys helped remove and sewage pipe and lay a porch in front of the house. The girls taught us a patty-cake game that I somehow consistantly lost (I have a feeling Maritsa always proclaimed herself winner no matter what).
After the porch was done, we ended our work day and headed out to play soccer with another crew. The teams were all of the volunteers versus the four From Houses to Homes workers. We had fun and I actually played ok but we still lost 4 to 2. We declared Fred M.V.P. for having some great saves.

Then we went to the grocery store and picked out some gifts to give to the girls tomorrow. This was fun but made me sad to think that tomorrow is our last day with these families. I have formed some friendships with these girls and I will be sad to see them go tomorrow but I am grateful for the time I got to spend with them and for the entire experience of this trip thus far.

Hasta luego,
Taylor "I was sick before I got here" Hix

Week 2 Day 3

Hola,

We spent most of today filling in gaps between bricks, trying to figure out the best way to get the mortar to stay, which we did with varying levels of success. I personally got frustrated on more than one occasion when the mortar would not stay, and it appeared that I was dropping more mortar down to the ground than I was getting in between the concrete bricks. As you can see to the left, Fred was always there to critique our work. It was needed, though, because his checks keep us from building a a house that will fall down within a week.

First, however, I should note that I missed part of the morning. I had a slight detour to the hospital this morning, because my body decided it missed having an ear infection. Luckily they were efficient and I got my prescription relatively quickly after the doctor told me (through the lady from From Houses to Homes that translated for me) that I had an ear infection again. The one benefit was that I got to ride on the little vehicles with one seat for the driver and a cushioned bench in the back. It was a comfortable ride considering the roads are bumpy.

Now that you've heard about me, it's back to the group. We had our fair share of fun on the worksite today, especially with the kids. We also found out more ways to entertain ourselves with the baby doll, which mainly involved putting it in the concrete mortar without someone knowing. I would never have guessed that something so simple as a doll would provide that much fun.

When we got back, we had a more serious discussion. Fred read us the Gospel from this past Sunday, which involves robbers sneaking over the fence into the sheep pen, the sheep ignoring those people, and Jesus saying that the only way people can get through the gate is through him. We identified ways that our work connected with the Gospel, including:
-The workers as our sheperds, guiding us through the work we needed to do
-The workers accepted us as the dumb sheep (we don't know much about building a house) and were patient
-That we were ideally trying to do good, honest work and not trying to cut corners
-The little girls followed us out after we left from work, showing the connection we've formed with them

The girls also took the opportunity to teach the little girls various phrases, particularly "What's up, brah." If these girls ever make it to the United States, they're going to know very random phrases that might get a looks from some people.

Dinner was pizza, where we almost finished three larges, falling just shy with 2 1/2 pizza left when we were done. We might've been better off with some smaller pizzas...

Hope everyone reading this is doing well.

Takc care,
Patrick (I lost my name tag on the way to work and then got an ear infection) Lyons

Week 2 Day 2

What's up, world?

So today was a fairly awesome day. I was still sore from yesterday, but eggs for breakfast hit the spot. Unfortunately, I messed up the handshake with Juan Jose (I just did the handshake and forgot the fist pound. I left him hanging. Sad story). Everyone at the house was glad to see us. We were filling in cracks between cinder blocks for most of the morning. I think I'm actually decent at it. We spent the afternoon filling more cracks, filling a layer with cement, and setting up the scaffolding for tomorrow's work.

For us, the interaction with the family and workers provided the most joy during the day. Olivia, Taylor, and Nate spent much of our lunch break joking around with the girls, who began referring to the girls as "amigas". Fred was having an awesome time setting up pictures for the nude baby doll which had been drawn on, and everyone found that so funny. The girls were also picking out which guys were their "novios," or boyfriends, identifying us by our shirts. Once Fred was done, some of the workers started taking some pictures with the baby doll too. Once our work was done, we hung out with the girls and the workers waiting for our ride. We shared candy and kicked a soccer ball around with them. The kids are absolutely adorable, and, although initially shy, they're now getting along with us greatly. I still don't interact with them as much as some of the other people, so I'm going to need to fix that. They're so joyful and happy, so I'm sure it'll be a fun time. I get along much better with the workers. Fernando said that we'd be playing soccer on Thursday after work, and I'm more than moderately excited for that.

Once we left the site, we came back and cleaned up. Our group then met back up and put Patrick on the hot seat. We talked about what we had witnessed at the work site. Several of us commented on the kids' happiness, while others mentioned the conditions that the family lived in. Fred then asked us about what spiritual message we noticed from our work. Most of our comments focused on the relationships of the people. Our evening ended with dinner at an Irish pub, which had an awesome mix of music. We recognized a lot of the songs, including "Centerfold," "All Summer Long," "I Love Rock and Roll," and "Black and Yellow." The food was pretty good too, but I'm the only one who cleaned the plate, finishing my steak sandwich and fries. Nate also showed us why experience matters. He told us so.

Tomorrow should be a good day. I'm excited to hang out with the workers and kids again. The work isn't terribly pleasant, but today I'm not nearly as sore as yesterday. We have to be up at 7:30 again tomorrow. That's just under 10 hours away now. It's 9:30 now, but I'm already tired. I'll just write in my journal and catch up on some stuff from home.

Izzi "Can You Dump It?" Hernandez-Cruz

Week 2 Day 1

Hola from Antigua,

Out with the old and in with the new... Toro Loco, Sarah, Lorena, Kelly, Patrík, and Katí left this morning cerca de 6:00 a.m. (making far too much noise two hours before the new crew had to wake up to go to work). I hope you all made it home safely. I already miss you guys, but I’m also looking forward to living and working with another group of wonderful people this week. The week two crew consists of Taylor (I was sick before I got here) Hicks, Patrick (I lost my name tag on the way to work)Lyons, Olivia (not Olswick) Elswick, and Izzy (can you dump it?) Hernandez-Cruz. Of course Fred and I are here again, también.

So, we woke up this morning and made peanut butter and Nutela sandwiches (best I’ve ever had) because we were out of jelly. Taylor was not feeling well and so stayed home. Don’t worry, she is feeling better now, and will be ready to work mañana. We took a bumpy back-of-the-pickup-truck ride up the side of a mountain where Patrick lost the name tag he had received all of fifteen minutes ago. Of course Olivia’s name tag was wrong, as if we weren’t having enough trouble learning people’s names to begin with. We ended up in a small town called Santa María de Jesús,

This week we are constructing a house for a family of six: Mom, Dad, and four girls. I only remember the names of two daughters, Marissa (Maritza) and Jenny (Yenny), the ones that were not so shy. Marissa and one of the other daughters were at school until lunch time. I think they are around seven or eight years-old. Jenny is five, I believe, and the last niña is just a baby. Mom carried her around all day. Dad worked very hard with us all day, but did not talk much.

We started out the work-day dumping sand, sand, and more sand. For some reason, “Izzy can you dump it?” became the quote of the day. The sand was used to make concrete, which would later be used to fill the foundation of the house. First, though, we had to dig a trench around the outside of the house. As Patrick Lyons put it, “We had muscles that hurt, which we never knew we had.” After laying the foundation, we had a short lesson and exercise in mortar application. We laid one row of concrete blocks, and that was it.

Now, before we get ready for day two, I would like to leave you hanging by a cliff. In some ways, the people of Guatemala are more mature than the people living in the United States, despite their lack of education, money, and technology. We can and will learn so much from these people. We have already seen so many amazing sights in one day. These are some of the things that stood out to us:

• How quickly people have to grow up here, and the effect that has on a person’s appearance and attitude.
• How close together people live, and despite their limited options, the grace and happiness with which they share everything.
• How small the people are here, which probably results in part from a lack of nutrition as children.
• How happy the children can be living with nothing.


-Nathan (Granolabar) Curd

Trip 1 Day 5

Last day of work. Let's quickly recap the week. Day one, we laid the foundation which consisted of a lot of digging and was by far the hardest on everyone's back. Day two and day three we built the four walls, using mortar to paste the cinder blocks together. We started day four by visiting a school in our village, and then proceeded to create the concrete slope for the roof and lay the cement for the concrete floor. Which brings us to today. Today we painted the houses, while the workers secured the metal roof. Both families chose orange and blue for the inside and outside, although each the opposite. So obviously throughout the week we learned a lot of good skills. We learned how to mix cement and how to set some mortar. We also picked up a little bit of Spanish along the way and we learned that if you are 6'1" you are considered a giant among Guatemalans.

But what did we really learn this week? Well, first of all we learned that there are some great people left in this world. Joe Collins is the founder of From Houses to Homes

(the organization that we are working through) and is doing great things for the people here. Not only have they built 429 houses, but they also provide a health clinic for all of these families and are working with the schools to educate the kids.

We have seen the intense poverty which exists in the world. People living in corn stock shacks, where the roof leaks when it rains and the dirt floors fill with puddles of mud. We have seen empty eyes that possess little hope and people that walk miles to collect water which only runs a couple of hours every few days.

But it is through this darkness that we see light. We worked alongside the families throughout the week. We learned their names and they learned ours. We broke through the language barrier and began to truly understand each other. We learned each other’s personalities, what they liked to do for fun, and what they didn't really like. We laughed with each other and lost a lot of sweat together. We fell in love with these families. Even with the poverty that surrounds them, I have never seen such pure smiles and loving families. I will always remember these people and carry this experience with me throughout my life. So as you look at these two pictures, the two families standing with their new houses (which are smaller than most of our living rooms), please take a second to appreciate everything that you have and pray for our safe return home. Buenes noches.

-Patrick-

Trip 1 Day 4

Hello family and friends!

I hope that everyone is doing well back home! Today was a really cool day in Guatemala for the crew and I. It was different due to the fact that the workload was much less than the previous three days. The extra time allowed us to learn more about many different aspects of our work in Guatemala.

After some breakfast (during which we jammed to a Latin workout DVD enclosed in our healthy cereal box) and a quick trip to the supermercado for water jugs, we were on our way to Santa Maria de Jesus. Instead of taking the usual route to our worksite, Tomas pulled in and stopped the work truck at an unfamiliar location. Henio motioned for us to follow him as he walked down the road to one of the open doors. Inside the building I immediately saw the other crew along with Joe (the founder of From Houses to Homes) and Oscar (Joe’s right-hand man). The sound of children playing and the plethora of colorings hung on the walls made me realize that this was the school that From Houses to Homes had built.

The director of the school showed us around the building and allowed us to observe the classrooms full of teachers and their students. The highlight of my day was when one of the classes sang a couple of songs for us. The school is absolutely beautiful! I was blown away by the resources and supplies that the school has at their disposal (as a matter of fact, Joe was delivering a donated iPad to the school). Just outside the block wall was the poverty of Guatemala, but in school these kids are given the opportunity to be children. The environment that the school provides allows the children to be carefree, imaginative, and engaged in their learning. After the tour of the school, Joe spoke to us about the education and healthcare aspects of FHTH that I had never been aware of. In addition to building new homes, this organization works with the families to subsidize school registration fees for the children and to provide quality healthcare to the families through its newly opened clinic. After our visit to the school I appreciate FHTH even more. These little villages in Guatemala have hope due to Joe’s compassion and hard work to make his mission a success.

As mentioned earlier, our workday today was very simple. We poured concrete to make a slant for the roof and also poured the concrete floors and front step to the house. During one of our breaks we had the opportunity to visit a family up the hill that Fred had built a home for two years ago. Unfortunately that house had been damaged by a landslide and a bare piece of land was all that we could see. Fred discussed with Henio the possibility of rebuilding that house in two weeks with a larger crew and more workdays to reinforce the new home so that it is never damaged again.

During lunch we were able to connect more with the neighbor children by playing a little game of soccer. Soccer is not exactly my forte, but I really enjoyed myself simply because the smiles on their faces were so genuine and their laughs were so contagious. I am really excited to give them a real soccer ball tomorrow so that they can have that joy everyday and think of us crazy gringos from time to time.

I want to thank everyone back home for their support of our mission here in Guatemala. We have so many stories to tell you and this blog is just a glimpse of what Guatemala is really about. It is so much more than just building a home and I am incredibly grateful to be given the opportunity to serve our brothers and sisters here in Guatemala.

Thank you and God Bless,

Kelly

p.s; In my defense on my 21st I was unavailable for comment due to the fact that I was not at our house. Other than that I was good to go. No worries.

Trip 1 Day 3

On the world seeming so small
I am starting this blog a bit late tonight because we just returned to the house about half an hour ago after walking my friend, Blair, back to her hostel on Avenida 7 ( the hostel was named Uggi Wuggi II…or something weird like that). Blair works with me at Core, the outdoor program at Clemson, and just happened to be passing through Antigua after finishing her studies in Costa Rica, where she has been living with a host family since January. We all went out to dinner around 7:30 at the only Irish pub here in Antigua called Riley’s. It was the strangest thing, eating my vegetarian curry at an Irish pub in Antigua, Guatemala while a Guatemalan local played Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze” on his acoustic guitar. The culture of this city never ceases to fascinate me, and in case you would like to know, the curry was absolutely delicious. After dinner, Fred took off back to the house as he usually does, and a few of us stayed out to show Blair around Antigua since she leaves tomorrow morning for the Copan ruins in Honduras. By showing her the town, we basically took her to Mono Loco, which turned out to be lame, and then bummed around the city which was pretty dead for the most part. It was alright though, and we still had some good conversation as we walked her back to her hostel.
Work today was the same as yesterday, filling in the cracks of the concrete blocks with mortar, over and over, but the finished result is a beautiful sight for our tired selves. Tomorrow all we have left to do is finish a layer of block on the back of the house to create a slant for the roof, and then we pour the floor so that it can dry overnight. Friday consists of painting, putting in the window and door, I believe, and then celebrating with the family by sharing a meal with them inside their new home and handing over their new key. I cannot wait to see all of their faces!
We arrived to the work site this morning with a few things for the kids, like some beanie babies that Patrick had brought from home and some lollipops that Toran and Sarah bought at the supermercado yesterday. The first beanie baby that Sarah attempted to give to the smallest boy, whose name, surprisingly, is Brian (maybe Bryan?) was turned down with shyness. He buried his head into his mother’s chest, but after a bit of her coaxing, he decided to take it and ended up actually seeming to like it. Two of the other boys came up, Julio David and the little boy we all affectionately call “pee pee pants” (he is seriously always peeing in his pants), and we gave them each a beanie baby which they liked. Finally, we had one pink teddy bear beanie baby left, and the littlest girl tiptoed up to us with a curious look on her face, wondering if we had a regalo (present) for her. Sarah grabbed the pink teddy bear out of the bag, and the second she showed it to the little girl, her face completely lit up, and she stretched out her little arms to grab it. She snatched the bear quickly to her chest with a smile, and I don’t think she let go of it for the entire day.
After we had finished four rows of block around 12 in the afternoon, we took yet another long lunch break that allowed Toran, Sarah, Nathan, and I to venture off into town again. We had been given rosaries this morning to hand out to our kids and also to any other kids in town that may want them. We all felt a bit awkward just walking up to kids and handing them rosaries, so none of us had given any out. At one point, I was watching some kids play soccer, and one boy came up to me after seeing the rosaries dangling from my wrists and asked “cuantas cuestas?” (how much do those cost?, basically), and I told him that they were free and he could take whichever he wanted. He took one quickly from my hands, leaving me with only three left, and when his friends saw the boy’s rosary, they basically flipped out and all ran over to me, taking the rest of the rosaries like I was giving away money or cake or something. Many other kids in the area began to notice, and they ran up to Toran and Sarah and Nathan, grabbing rosaries until we had none left. I don’t know if they really love rosaries, or if they just really love getting free stuff from gringos, but I’m glad we got rid of them, and I hope they serve some purpose in those kids’ lives.
On our sojourn into town, we also went back to the bakery and got two more cinnamon rolls that were even more delicious than yesterday, and Toran and Sarah decided to go to the local bank to exchange some of their American money into Quetzales. Banks around here are always heavily guarded by at least one or two policemen with shotguns strapped to their chests, and this policemen looked at me suspiciously as I drank my Agua Pura, leaned up against the wall inside the bank as I waited for them to exchange their money. I suppose I should have felt safe due to his presence, but I couldn’t help but be a tiny bit nervous about the fact that this stern man next to me was carrying a pistol right on his hip, ready to aim and shoot. I was relieved when we walked back out into the street, where Toran and Sarah proceeded to spend their newly acquired Quetzales at a fried chicken place across the street.
Our work was finished around 4 pm, which I believe is a new record for our group which has consistently finished after the other group each day. We actually had some time to relax a bit after taking our showers back here at the house, and although my shower has been a bit faulty with the hot water and often leaves me with a head full of shampoo and ice cold water pouring out of the shower head, I had a hard time justifying my paltry complaint. Running water is a commodity that we take for granted, especially running water that is instantly scalding hot at the turn of a handle. Julia, the mother of the family we are building for, is always carrying her smallest child on her back, and I saw her walk off to town today with large empty jugs. She has to walk about a quarter of a mile, maybe a bit more, to fill these jugs with water and heft them back to her home, with a baby on her back. Most of the mothers of Santa Maria de Jesus must also do their laundry at the local washing place. There are no washers or dryers, and there is no one to help these busy mothers since their husbands are generally off working. They are silent heroines, scrounging up meals for their children, clothing them, and making sure that their children get to school in order to learn what little these schools have to offer them. Multiple times today, Julia was off in a corner breastfeeding her baby while I know that she was probably going hungry.
In our group discussion tonight, we talked about the gospel. Although I am not the most religious person in the world, and I’m definitely not one to bring up the gospel in a blog like this, I was intrigued by what was brought up pertaining to the reading from Luke. Fred told us that once, he asked his religious ed group what they thought was the most important part of mass. Most kids answered with the typical responses of, “the Eucharist” or other things along those lines, while one kid, who was considered to be the class clown, stood up and said that “when it’s over” is the most important part. They laughed, but he said that he was serious. When mass is over, we say, “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.” Fred said he had never thought of it that way. If we all go to mass and then that’s it, we do nothing about what we have just heard, and we do nothing to apply the readings to our daily lives, then what is the point? It is all about action, and I found that I agreed completely with Katy when she said that she feels her faith most when she is doing service projects, such as these.
Without serving and without giving pieces of ourselves to others, what are we doing? We can’t just go to mass, say prayers, and hope that everything will turn out okay for these people. We can’t throw Bibles in their faces or tell them to be “saved.” What people need, especially these people we are serving in Guatemala, is actual, tangible help. They need food, cleaner water, plumbing, and dry houses to live in. I guess what I am trying to say is that, although prayer is great, we are called to do more than just pray for people and donate money to some basket that will eventually, we hope, aid some good cause. We can all go out and physically touch other peoples’ lives, and it doesn’t even have to be through something as drastic as building a house. People need love, they need to be smiled at, or hugged, or told that they are doing a good job. It is through this simple human contact that we can make some of the most lasting difference, and like I said in my last blog, when we leave on Friday, although I will never see this beautiful family again, I know that the connection we have made with them will last for their entire lives and also for mine.
So to wrap up this post for the night, I will end with relating back to the title. The world really is small, in so many ways. Not only did I meet a friend from Clemson and also a girl, Catherine, from UNC, but I realized that the connection of human affection, a simple touch, hug, or a smile (as cheesy as it does sound) makes everything seem so similar. We all have the same basic needs, and these needs surpass the boundaries of countries and languages. Now, with the tune of Disney’s “It’s a Small World After All,” I am going to get some rest.
Buenas,
Lauren

Trip 1 Day 2

Happy Mother's Day...Again!

Mother's Day is always on May 10th in Guatemala, and as most things in Catholic Central America, holidays have a more religious twist down here. Mother's Day is more about a celebration and thanks giving for the Virgin Mother, Mary icons, and religious events predominated the day's celebrations. We took a long lunch today (Nathan, Sarah, Lauren and myself)...and walked around Santa Maria de Jesus. The central square was full of venders and colorful Mayans. I even tried some delicous street food.

For Sarah and I, returning to Santa Maria de Jesus was very enjoyable and our second day of working was even more fun than yesterday. We had built a couple of houses here two years ago on the outskirts of town, but now have an urban building experience. Our family has two young boys and a slew of cousins. We spend most of our time lifting blocks and buckets of morter mix, but when ever we sit down we are pounced upon by the children. While in the middle of town, there are agricultural pastures, planted fields and grazing horses scattered on the steeper hillsides in town. As usual, the poorer families live on steep hillsides with poor farming land. To support the family, the father takes work in Antigua (30mintues away) and doesn't seem to be home by the time we leave at 5pm.

Speaking of being at the job site until 5pm; if anyone has read prior blogs, they would relize that the work used to be different in prior years. For many reasons, the work load has been condensed and we now build a whole house from digging a footer and pouring a foundation to putting on a roof and painting in just 5 days. Now its not a big house, but its still a LOT OF WORK. We used to work at a more leisurely pase, taking 6 or 7 days; the new condensed work load has left us all very sore and tired...we'll check in with you again tomorrow.

Toran.

Trip 1 Day 1

Well, Kelly Bickle was supposed to do this first post but wouldn't you know it, it happens to be her twentyfirst birthday. In other words, tonight's dinner transformed into a kareoke jamboree and Kelly is currently not available for comment. Of course, everyone else really wanted to come back to the house after dinner, but they felt obligated to keep Kelly company as she paints the town. So I have landed blog duty tonight.

As for today, all would agree that it was great. Since there are 8 of us and we are building two houses this week, we were really hoping that we could have two builds right next to each other as we have had in the past. Didn't work out that way this year, so we divided into two crews of four and went to different sites. Both of our crews are working for families in the village of San Marie de Jesus, however, we are on opposite sides of town. From what the other group reported earlier tonight, I can tell you that they have already fallen in love with their family, especially the two children who are 2 years old and 5 years old. From what they described, they spent more time playing with the kids than anything else (explains why they returned to the house 2 hours after us).

Our crew had a similar experience. We are a building a house for a family of 6. The father, Guiermo works as a farm hand for others, and work is slow. He was not needed for farm work today so he spent the day working with us. We learned that when he does work, he makes about $4.00 per day. We never met the wife/mother. She is doing her part to support the family by working as a chef assistant in Antigua. There are four daughters. Two we did not meet because they (teenagers) also support the family by working as farm hands (of course, they make much less than the men in this culture). We did meet 12 year old Anna and 10 year old Blanca. They were shy at first, but as the day went on and we needed their help, they warmed up and were even really exited to contribute.

The work was basic: square off the dimentions, dig a trench, lay the foundation with cement. Sounds easy enough, but it took us until 4:00 PM to complete. The best part was working with the family. Guiermo and the kids worked with us almost the whole time, and even the neighboring kids helped out (assuming they are also relatives). One little girl in particular, Jasmine, was a riot. At one point she was yelling at the workers, "Ariba muchachos, ariba!"

Overall, a very good day. Our discusion this evening asked us to name all the things we noticed (with our eyes and with our ears). No running water, no electricity, dirt floors, $4.00 per day, 2 beds for 6 people, Nathan's encounter with easily offended volunteers from Denmark, and children helping in the work and loving it were just a few of the observations today. What more might strike us tomorrow? Find out in the next blog!

Peace,

Fred