Home safe and sound

Landing Safe and Sound…

Now that we have all landed safe and sound, it brings us to a time to ponder what was…

Waking up to hot water and familiar food,
Waking up to all the modern conveniences’ one could hope for
Waking up to the knowledge that “another day, another dollar” is simply a saying to us and not a reality…..

Ten days does not seem like a long time, but it is long enough to make one appreciate all that we have even on those days at home or at work when you ask yourself “can it get any worse??”

Only on a trip like this can you experience the elation of standing on the ground where a house and family will soon be…

Only on trip like this can you experience the inexplicable and empty feeling you get from standing on the ground where a family and house once stood, not knowing that the rain and mud would forever conceal them from our view but not our thoughts…

Only on a trip like this, could you come together with 17 people with whom you had no previous contact and feel like you have a bigger family…..

Only on a trip like this could you connect with a mason over a bag of fruit, or a drink, learning from each other without even speaking the same language..

Only on a trip like this could you get the opportunity to view true emotion in a grown man’s eyes as he explains in a language you can’t even understand, the horror of watching his family and neighbours being washed 10 miles downriver at two in the morning…..

Only on a trip like this can you feel the joy in the words being spoken by a family member as they thank you for giving them their first home….

Only on a trip like this can you be barely home for ten hours and wondering where you will be going next year to experience the highs and lows you can only get in life when on a trip like this…

Thanks to all those who took a chance on the two guys building their first trip as organizers…there was no leading involved when 17 self starters, and great people get together for a common good..
Enjoy Your holidays,
Paulie

November 29 Last Day

Our last day together was spent on the beach. Mojito is now a standard term amongst the group. Some of us took a little too much sun (Camille and Tony) as evidenced by the burning red skin. Others picked up scrapes and bruises as they were tossed around by the waves. And Rahim and Ava took a spin in a dune buggy. Dave and Henry also took a spin and came back accident free.

Tomorrow we all leave at various times to return to our daily life. The team has been outstanding. A real bunch of self-starters. As team leaders Paul and I couldn´t have picked a better group. We thank all of our team members for their contribution for a very succesful trip to El Savador and we hope that we can do it again.

Tony Bennett

November 28 R and R

Well we have finally left San Vicente with mixed emotions. Our work is done and we have left many new friends. It was a rewarding week for all and we will surely miss St. Vicente and the many people whose lives we touched.

Our day was spent shopping for textiles and pottery. After all the obligatory purchases. we were on our way to Rancho Estero. Before we could get there though our bus had a flat tire. Try changing a tire in 35 degree heat. It only took 25 minutes and before you knew it we were back on our way to the beach.

The waves are incedible at Rancho Estero. We spent ours getting tossed and turned in the ocean. The weather is a welcome retreat from what we will experience once we get back to Canada. The Sangria has been oustanding and the accomodations are terrific. One more day and then we all head back to Canada on Monday. We will see you soon.

Tony Bennett

Day 5 Jhonny's blog

espero que todos disfruten estas fotos por que fueron tomadas con mucho amor. If you want to read this go to google translation.

Day 5 November 27 Build is finished

Another successful build for our volunteers. The appreciation of the families was genuine. I believe many on our team have had a memorable experience. We hope it has been evrything they had expected, it certainly was for Paul and I. We are seriously considering another El salvador build nrext year.

After the build finished at lunch we had our closing ceremony with the families. Each of our team members was given a team picture and certificate from Habitat. After that many of us visited an orphanage. There were about 100 kids each living in a house with a mom. The houses were bigger than the typical Habitat house and were well equipped to provide a comfortable lifestyle for the kids.

We also visited a Habitat site that had homes that were started by Joe McGuire's team. They were looking great and had a mountain view of St. Vicente.

Tomorrow we leave for the ocean. Everyone is looking forward to a couple of days of R & R.

Day 5 Nov 27th

Friday... a bitter sweet day for those on any Habitat Build. You have spent five days of blood, sweat (lots of sweat) and probably tears. You have used muscles that you have forgotten. Your feet ache to be free of your boots. Your head hurts, your skin burns (sorry honey sunscreen is sometimes forgotten) and maybe... even in the hardest of hearts... you begin again to understand. In reality this understanding started on day one and has grown over the week.

This day all teams worked til noon laying brick and mixing motar and then went to the San Vincente Habitat office for a closing ceremony. We had lunch as a team (the first time all week) and were joined by the families of those we built for and the mason and their helpers as well. It was a wonderful, emotional experience. I cannot stress enough the joy and gratitude expressed by the families and masons. They were so grateful that our team came here to help them.

After the ceremony the majority of the team went to a local orphanage and played Duck duck goose and capture the flag.(Tony will blog on this later)
Five others went to the closest build site and continued to build in preparation for the mass build that begins next week.

We came here to El Salvador as individuals. Thanks to Tony and Paul we will leave as a team. We will leave better for our experience, better for the meeting of new people, the sharing of our cultures.

One last thought...
There are many of us who go through life thinking how can I be the best I can be... and you excel. You do everything you can to make yours and those you love better.
I challenge this...I challenge all who read this to think outside the box, your comfort zone. I know travelling to a foreign country is an extreme for many. Start small, start local.

I spoke earlier of understanding. I am one whose is closed. The things that I think and feel are not always shared. I will share this...this country is filled with HARD working, good, honest people who have touched me. Children smile and greet you everywhere. Your eyes are always met when greeted on the street. Everyone takes great pride in their appearance. There is pride in every home, effort in every job. They don´t need pity because they don´t pity themselves. They live with tragedy everyday and get up and move on.
If anything what they need you will give them with caring.


Chris

Day 4 November 26

Another typical sunny 35 degree day in St. Vicente. All three teams had very productive days and are looking forward to having a big finish tomorrow. The true brick laying skills were evident today from many team members. We had an El Salvadorian turkey dinner tonight with all the fixings. It was terrific.

Tomorrow is the last build day as we will be having our closing ceremonies at 12:00. The remainder of the afternoon will be spent visiting a local orphanage where we drop of donated items. A couple more people have experienced some stomach discomfort, I think we are up to five casualties but all seem to be recovering well.

The only mishap today was a lost plastic ball. Tony kicked a little guy's ball onto a roof that was not accessable. All was not lost as the little guy had received one of Chris's soccer balls a day earlier and Tony paid him a dollar for his loss.

Bill made friends teaching English today, looks like he has a new career, Barry and Gerry may be staying an extra week as their masonary skills were on full display. And Jeff continues to be the most lubricated man in El Salvador as he has already gone through three tubes of sunscreen.

John Lindsay is still eating, Rahim has turned out to be an excellent translator, Ron and Jane hooked up again on the build site, Sasha got hit with the dreaded stomach ailment in the afternoon after Dave had spent the night hugging the toilet. Jillian was welcomed back to her team after spending a day with her dad Henry on Wednesday. Paul continues to lead his team in the tighest of working conditions and was the recipient of an El Salvadorian machete which was small for Paul's liking.

Our translator Jhonny went home early tonight to rest for our last day. Till tomorrow.

Tony Bennett