Hello! It's Laura and Dustin here. Day number four of working was busy,
hard, and fulfilling. We split into two groups again today. One group
helped unload some unused panels and wood at Oscar's house, who is the
father of a family we built a house for in 2013. Oscar is storing the
extra supplies until they are needed. It was so neat for half of our
group to visit with Oscar's family and see how his family made the house
we had built in previous years into a home. The other half of the group
headed to Brenda's site to finish up the roof and windows. We split
into teams and each had assigned jobs. I (Laura), put the screens
together. It felt good to work on a specific job and feel like an
intregal part of building this house. We were a well-oiled machine and I
think we all felt proud of our work. By the end of the work day we
finished the house (yay!) and our hotel we stayed in was all cleaned up
and looking like a group of 20 didn't just built two houses.
This evening, as we reflected on our week of building, we talked about
what we were going to take away from this trip. I so enjoyed listening
to everyone's answers as they were all different but rang true for
myself. Our group is going to take away lots of new memories, the idea
that the people of Costa Rica might have a more positive outlook on
Americans, the community we have built with each other and with the
families here, trusting others, feeling confident in our ability to
communicate with others even when we don't speak their language, and an
appreciation for what we have.
As we pulled into the hotel at the end of the day, We Are the Champions
was playing on the radio and we all just started singing from the top of
our lungs, complete with fist pumps. I think we all did feel like
champions as we just finished the two houses we came to build. We felt
proud, exhausted, and fulfilled. We are blessed to have had this
opportunity to grow as a community and spread God's love by providing
these two beautiful families with a home they can make their own.
 |
| Beginning of the day. Roof in progress. |
 |
| Brenda and Miguel |
 |
| Working on screens and windows. |
 |
| Building outside window frames. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
 | | |
| Caleb playing with wooden blocks made for him from lumber scraps from his new home. |
 |
| Finishing touches. We're almost finished with our second home! |
 |
| The happy window and screen team. Today the house was completed - windows, screens, doors, electricity and the roof! |
 |
| The finished home! Brenda and Rodrigo and their children have had a
difficult time expressing how thankful they are for the work that has
been done in God's name. |
