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-