Table of Content
Join From Houses to Homes as they offer volunteers the chance to build homes for poor citizens in Guatemala. By the end of the week, it felt like time had gone by in a matter of hours. I had already been there for almost a week, but it felt much less. The last day was Friday, and since we were nearly finished we thought we would have a party in honor of the family. We brought balloons and a piñata filled with all kinds of candy. Like my grandparents, cousin, and I walked in we were greeted by the founder, Joe Collins.
The courtyard, with its old overgrown stone walls which we soon found out to be beautiful in the morning, was spooky, and confusing in the night. Stand up for animal welfare and work as a volunteer in this wonderful animal sanctuary in Bolivia. Your final payment will be agreed with South America Inside during the application process. Common solutions are either via bank transfer or a cash payment at the project site. If you are intending to volunteer in Guatemala you should seek medical advice before starting your social journey.
Fees
Harvesting fields, gathering firewood, nursing the newest baby and hauling laundry to the creek is the rural Guatemalan version of a workout. It is an honor to engage with these women in securing their housing. Our part feels like a small thing in light of the big issues they face.
Building a house without a concrete mixer, heavy excavation equipment, proper tools or even gloves is a job that is not for the faint of heart. Most men living in the rural villages would claim that they have “construction experience.” So now, do I. A typical house is made of cornstalk walls, a dirt floor and a scrap material roof. This volunteer project takes place on the amzing Easter Island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
000 unique stories in Guatemala
This is a unique location to get involved in climate and environmental protection while learning about the local culture and the mystic history that surrounds this island. In this wonderful project you work very close with the local as the farm operates as a community center where especially women and children can learn and persoanlly grow. In addition to the sustainable production of fruit and vegetables and the care of the animals, the ecological Farm serves as a community center.
After 10 years and close to 300 students and over 50 homes, the trips get better and better each year. Not only are we making a difference for the people of Guatemala, but the trips have greatly impacted the students, many of which have returned with their families to build again”. On a Saturday afternoon in February, Israel Vaíl, a forty-eight-year-old father of two, was cleaning up a construction site in his yard, on the outskirts of a town called Cajolá.
Constru Casa: building homes in Guatemala
One of my young friends on the trip had returned for her second time. She had brought gifts for some young children that she had fallen in love with the trip before. We scheduled a day for her and I to visit their home and deliver the goodies. As the driver took us there, my heart pounded. There were children of all ages watching, waving, or following us.
Being American isn’t about what we give tangibly or intangibly; it’s about what we have the privilege to share. Being America isn’t about bequeathing our values to an underprivileged, ‘backwards’ culture. It’s about sharing something sweet and something powerful. I hope I didn't completely change the pictured boy's life.
However, I'm glad he got to share the human experience with an American. It was my privilege to learn the warmth, humility, and hospitality of the Guatemalan culture. I brought home with me a box made of hundred-year-old wood with a picture of a sloth on the front. Being American, I’m afforded the privilege to meet and experience the cultures of almost every nation in the world. Being American, it’s our duty to share the human experience in as compassionate a way as we can. Therefore, I hope every person that meets an American receives something sweet and something powerful, and I hope that the American acknowledges what they received in return.
My grandparents had worked to build a house here before, so they knew a lot of the people there and were glad to see them again. The next morning was a Saturday and we did various sorts of activities like hiking and touring the city. The weekend was a blast but by Monday we were ready to get to work. They work hard, they are outdoors the majority of the day and questioning their place in the social fabric of Guatemala is not something that occurs to them.
Well, it is better than liveable, thanks to BF’s relentless efforts to always fix stuff, move furniture around and try to optimize things. As long as the roof stopped leaking and the house was reasonably clean, that was enough for me. We put such effort into fitting the first plastic protection on top of the thatched roof for example, that I didn’t feel like upgrading to the transparent roof in months. Now that it is all fixed, I am happy the house looks much better, but really, I don’t feel like doing much on it until the other room is finished. So BF is working for two, with the handyman and I am focusing on developing the 90 acre piece of land that came with the house.
We got rid of most of the fencing, in exchange for keeping the barb wire, a few guys did it for free, and we now have a lot of wood that can be used for the works on the big room. We also sold the cattle scale that was on the land for $1300, and bought a boat motor and a few pieces of furniture that weren’t included in the house price for the same money. From the first day of scraping walls to the final day when they hand over the keys, building the home together is a once in a lifetime experience. “Every year I take over 30 high school students from Atlanta to build homes in Guatemala.
There also were many kids here as well, whether they were cousins of the family or friends. We were going about 60 mph up the hill, and the wind was really picking up. Luckily, I didn’t fall but I came pretty close. I also met the others who came to build a house.
In addition to a hospitable accommodation, you will receive three meals a day at the family’s home. You stay in a single room, while the bathroom can be private or shared with other family members. The tasks range from balancing the ground, erecting the walls, to constructing the roof. Furthermore, things to be done are transporting building materials and tools, screwing together the metals, trimming or cutting cement blocks, etc.
Thank you Mr CBB, happy new year to you as well. The city is about 20 miles away and we have a very thirsty car that uses about $20 of gas so we go at most once a week. The nearby village has basic shops with eggs, beans, flour… and the drinking water gets delivered to our door.
No comments:
Post a Comment