An Amazing Experience

What an amazing experience this has been. As we sit in the airport awaiting our flights home, we have mixed emotions. We really look forward to getting home to family and friends who we miss dearly. We also miss some of the modern conveniences of the USA that we all take for granted like using water from the faucet to rinse our toothbrush and being able to flush paper in the toilet. But we also hate to be leaving the friends we have made on this trip – friends in Getsemani, friends from Habitat El Salvador, and friends from the other brigades that we spent so much time with this week. How different this is from returning home from an international vacation trip where you leave with memories of a country and its scenery, but seldom really get to know the people, and certainly don’t have the warm feeling of having contributed something other than your dollars to the place you are leaving.

To say it was hard work would be an understatement. While we may exert ourselves with exercise at home, not many of us in the US put in the kind of manual labor that we did this week. But before that frightens anyone from making this trip, what is great about a community project like this is that there is a role for everyone. The work can range from shoveling gravel and laying blocks to shuttling buckets of cement and tools, to teaching children math and English. Anyone with an open heart and giving spirit can offer something here in Getsemani.

Yesterday was a day filled with gratitude. How wonderful it feels to be thanked for an effort that you feel is really more of a gift to you. After numerous translated offers of gratitude from various members of the community and the homeowners we were working with, our friend Bruce from California said it well when he reminded the whole community of Getsemani that no, the gratitude is not due us rather that to us and that “it has been our HONOR to have the opportunity to support YOU.” It gave me chills when he said it and it does so again as I write it now.

It was our honor. These people have nothing by our standards in the USA. Most of the community has been living in mud or tin huts with no running water. The more fortunate ones have been able to find jobs as masons or security guards or as vendors in the local markets. If they are able to earn enough, they may be able to qualify for a Habitat house. They have to have some source of income as they will have a monthly mortgage payment of roughly $25 for about 15 years. Not everyone in this community can meet that standard today but they all work together in support of each other. Luis has been working on Habitat homes for 10 years as a mason and this week construction started on his home. Even the hot sun and cloudless skies could not get the grin off of his face this week.

Grins and laughter were everywhere. We never heard a person complain or a child cry this week. We heard laughter and quiet conversation. We listened to blessings and gratitude and on two separate occasions heard ourselves described as angels sent by God to help these people improve their lives. We listened to a wheelchair bound homeowner describe the feeling of having her first home in her life and watched her cry with joy as she shared her gratitude. One homeowner expressed her thanks and choked up as she said “thank you, thank you, thank you, God will repay each of you because I have nothing I can give you for changing my life”.

To have so little yet have so much happiness. This community has over 30 children who cannot attend public school because there is no room in the school and even if there was they could not afford the fees and the cost of uniforms. Yet the joy they express when given two simple days of attention and education from Natalie would overwhelm you. It overwhelmed us and Natalie. The kids hugged her like we hug our own children before they leave for an extended trip. We had a hard time getting them to let go of her. (Seeing all those hugs, I laughed and said I did not feel appropriately appreciated for my work this week so I had to get my mason Alex to share a hug with me.) Hugs are shared freely in El Salvador. They are a loving and giving people that make you feel welcome and at home. It is truly amazing that you can feel at home in a village with dusty roads, an open air thatched roof pavilion for meals and meetings, and an outdoor bathroom with no running water for us to share.

As everyone says about trips like this, we got more out of it than we gave. We are the ones who are thankful. We had an opportunity to be reminded of how blessed we are. Reminded of how it is better to give than receive. Reminded that we have too much that we don’t need and seem to crave more, yet others have less than they need to live a comfortable life or educate their children, and ask for nothing. Not once did anyone in this community ask us for money nor did they expect it. Despite the fact that what we spend taking a family to the movies could cover 2 months of their mortgage payments.

What gives them this comfort and joy in such deplorable conditions? How do they face each day not asking “why me”, or facing depression over their situation? How do they offer thanks for seemingly little as we roll in for a mere 5 days of exposure to their world? Faith. True, solid faith. Faith that is not hidden from view or shyly expressed when they look over their shoulder to make sure no doubters are watching. Faith that is painted on the streets across an entire city in painstakingly created artwork by children and adults, men and women. Faith that brings them from their homes in the middle of the night for silent, candlelit processions honoring Jesus. Faith that does not worry about being politically correct or worry about offending those with different beliefs. It was wonderful to witness.

So as I close, I say again, we were honored. We have much to be thankful for. There are so many in this world that have less than us and it may be overwhelming to think about how we can possibly make a difference. But I am reminded of the story of the little boy on the beach filled with thousands of starfish left on the sand by the receding tide. As he tossed them back into the water, a stranger asked him why he bothered, as his efforts in the face of thousands of starfish could not possibly matter. The boy tossed one more starfish in the ocean and replied “it mattered to that one”.

To our friends in Getsemani this Holy Week, it mattered.

Celebrations and Fond Farewells

It was a joyful but long day today. Short post here as it is midnight and we have an early departure tomorrow morning. We are all ready to get home to our families and friends but were sad to be leaving the Getsemani community and all of the friends we have made over the past week. We worked on our homes this morning, had a dedication celebration in the community, said long farewells to our families that we worked with this week, and headed into Ahuachapan to view the sand and flower paintings in the streets for Good Friday. (See a video of a farewell from the children - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYXnRHhxCcY ) Later in the evening we went to the wonderful small town of Ataco for more street murals and a great farewell dinner with the teams from California/Colorado, California Lutheran University, and the Habitat staff. It was a great culmination to a wonderful week that we will share more about tomorrow in a couple of final posts with our thoughts on this experience.
Tom
p.s. Well we thought we were going to bed. As soon as we posted this we heard a beautiful Good Friday procession coming from the town square. Rich and I and Carlos "the Man" from the Casa Blanca went outside and followed the procession through town for a half hour. It was amazing that hundreds of families with children were out in the town at that hour of the night. See a video at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi5SxpXm2yQ

Another rewarding day

Another great day here in Ahuachapan! As you will see from the pictures today, we had a tough day of work and a fun day of building relationships in Getsemani. We started the day with our typical breakfast of some of the freshest fruit you can imagine in our beautiful hotel courtyard under an avocado tree. A simple reminder of how blessed we are before we travel to the Getsemani community.

During the day, Natalie and Elizabeth had the opportunity to play with the kids in the community and continue their English education and help them with some coloring and arts projects. The children are loving it and are rewarding them with ample hugs.

The rest of the group had the chance to participate in the exciting task of pouring a foundation for one of the houses. We have been working on two other homes where we are raising the walls of concrete block. But today, they needed our help with a foundation pour which requires a lot of people to accomplish given the need to get all the concrete mixed and poured in the same day. Picture an old fashioned barn raising where work stops in some places so you can all work as a team on a community effort. Old fashioned is also a fitting description as they don't have concrete mixers, pump trucks, or power tools down here. We mix up a huge pile of about 1000 pounds gravel, sand, and concrete mix, turn it over multiple times under the watchful eye of our masons, form it into a giant “volcano”, and add water. The final step is the “volcano dance”. You can see this in action at www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsqQXvqw2vA. After mixing the concrete we shovel it into buckets and use a “bucket brigade” to deliver the concrete to the foundation. After working up six volcanoes of concrete, we finished the foundation. What a back breaking day. If you don’t hear from us tomorrow it was because we couldn’t get out of bed. As you will see in the photo below, Robbie had to get a little rest before we even got home. (But maybe he was just tired from showing off for his mason by doing handstands earlier in the day).

After celebrating the completion of the foundation, we had an opportunity to join in a community soccer game. The teams were made up of local guys and girls and some of the college kids from California Lutheran University joined in. We quickly witnessed that even in poorer communities, soccer is the sport in Central America and the Getsemani gang played like they knew what they were doing. It was really fun to see the spirit in the community and all the friends and family that came out to watch and cheer. While many things seem so different here, many things are quite the same.

Today is Maundy Thursday and we were invited to join a local church for their service this evening. It was very interesting as the entire service was in Spanish but Enrique and Dennis tried to keep us tuned in to what was being said. As it turns out, our group was invited to sit on the front row and they called us up individually and introduced us by name on the stage (the service was held in an old classical theater with a stage and opera pit). Unbeknownst to us, we were the subject of the sermon. The message was one of thanks to our team for coming from so far away to help the poor in their community. But it evolved into using us as examples for the congregation and challenging them to get inspired to help the poor by joining in the project in Getsemani. Enrique was even called back up to the stage to share more information about our upcoming youth trip to Getsemani in June. What a great feeling it was to not only be thanked for our efforts but to know that perhaps those efforts may influence others to consider how they can help in their own community.

The evening concluded with us walking out into the streets and seeing a parade of candlelight coming our way. The pageantry continues through Holy Week and this evening a silent procession walked through town leading a float carried on the shoulders of men dressed as Roman soldiers, depicting Jesus being led away in chains. While many of us have seen religious pageantry around Christmas holidays, it is really interesting to see the same level of excitement and attention being paid to Easter and Holy week here in El Salvador – and not an Easter Bunny in sight :)

What a great job

Many times I tell people I have the best job at the church and this week is definitely one of those weeks. The first great part of my week is that I am traveling with wonderful people whose faith is growing before my eyes. And how cool is it that I get to be part of it? And secondly, I get to visit and share my days with the joyful Salvadoran people. The genuine smiles on their faces and hugs is priceless. Thank you for reading our blog. We love and miss everyone! Off to Maundy Thursday service.
Elizabeth

p.s. Below are a few additional photos from yesterday. As mentioned we saw a beautiful pageant reenacting the Last Supper and afterward walked to the town square where we joined some of the Habitat staff for our favorite late night treat - ice cream.

The work, the village and the people

Day 3 is in the books and they keep getting better and better. It was a hot one but well worth it. We rolled up to Getsemani in our van and out in the distance, there were a few billows of what we thought was smoke coming out of the side of the mountain. It turned out to be a few billows of steam coming out of vents on the side of a volcano. It was very neat.

We had an opportunity to visit a family who will be moving into their new home next week. Seeing the home they currently live in that is made from mud bricks really makes you appreciate the impact that our efforts can have on a family. A solid, sturdy dry home with running water and electricity can be a significant improvement for many of these families. To see a short video of us meeting the new owner, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5_eZea4-k4&

Our group split up and went to our designated houses and picked up where we left off yesterday. The relationships are getting closer and the laughter is getting louder. Even with the language barrier most of us are dealing with, it isn’t hindering the friendships being made one bit. It is wonderful to see and extraordinary to experience. A few Salvadorian volunteers had their last day today and it was surprisingly disappointing.

We had another brigade join the Getsimani project today. This brigade consisted of about 25 middle schoolers from Ahuachapán that arrived to help build for this unfortunate community. It is really good to see that the local community is also helping with the Habitat El Salvador vision.

Just thought I would tell you that I am blogging in the courtyard of our hotel and an avocado the size of an eggplant just fell out of the avocado tree and scared the tar out of me. This place is beautiful.

It was really hot today but nothing some fresh papaya or watermelon couldn’t quench. Lunch was great also as usual. The afternoon is when it gets a little tough. Rich had some help though this afternoon. His two friends kept pulling him away from work and drawing pictures for him. They kept calling him until he would come. “Richard!, Richard!” (pronounced R-ee-chard) He came back today with a nice portrait of himself with his shovel.

After cleaning up and laughing at stories about the day, we had dinner at the hotel and headed out to the town square for our usual ice cream fix. While we were out, we came across a pageant that was being performed in front of the church. It was “The Last Supper”. It was very symbolic not needing a translator for this pageant. The world seemed a little smaller.

Rich