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