We started our day by watching a group of howler monkeys at
our hotel. There were a number of females
with their babies. Our group was divided
into two groups, one stayed at the hotel to finish two panels and paint all the
panels for the one house. The other
group went to the site to start to assemble the first house.
Most of us arrived on site for the first time today having
spent the last two days at the hotel assembling panels. Arriving on site always
puts this trip into perspective. We meet the family and their neighbors and
often times we see their current living situation. We realize how little these
families have but we also see how much joy they have. They are so appreciative
that we are there and quickly join us in assembling their house. Panel by panel
we unloaded the truck and panel by panel we started putting the house together.
Soon these panels started becoming walls and the walls formed rooms and by
lunch we had raised the walls of an entire house. This process is truly amazing
and requires teamwork, communication, and of course lots of laughs were had by
all as we worked in the hot sun. After a delicious lunch brought to us by the
first group back at the hotel, we quickly (well, as quick as we were able) drove
over to the second house and unloaded the panels at their house. This site was
filled with wide eyed children watching us work, a brand new baby only one week
old, and lots of chickens getting in the way. The family graciously joined in unloading the
truck including one little boy who eagerly “helped” us carry panels. We then
left this site and returned to the first house to work on the windows and roof.
We worked until the weather had other plans, suddenly down pouring rain as we
finished up. It was a great way to end a long, hot day, all huddled under an abandoned
house next door.
By: Laura Gay and Julie Schubert
