Today has been a pretty incredible day. My feet hurt. And my arms are a little sore. And my hair…what a mess. But how it got that way was totally worth it. Oh, was it worth it.
We (the entire Families Helping Families organization) all got together at the construction site bright and early in the morning. There was nothing except for piles and piles of cinder blocks and two cement foundations. Our goal for this week? To build two houses—for two families that need a home.
As we were driving to the construction site, we passed shack after shack—small RV’s converted into a house, pieces of wood nailed together with a scrap metal roof, homes missing an entire wall. I knew that the people we were building a house for would really need it. Somehow, that made the project seem so much more special. For all of us volunteers, this project could be seen as just a week of our time. For these families, it’s home. And it it’s going to be home long after this week, home long after we all return to the states, and home even long after I become absorbed once again in a life full of credit hours, church, and friends. That’s pretty incredible to me—and it’s also incredible to me that there were families from Arizona, Utah, Missouri, and who knows where else—all so excited to come spend their break here to build these homes.
We began by moving the piles of cinder blocks onto the foundations for the houses. We formed long chains and just passed blocks from one person to the next to the next. It was tiring, but I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. Everybody was just so happy to be there and so friendly. Even the ten-year-old kids stood in line to help pass cinder blocks.
After we’d finished getting the blocks into the houses, we all got a lesson on how to lay them. And lay them we did. I was absolutely clueless, but thankfully, there were enough people who knew what they were doing and somehow the beginning of the shape of a house began to appear. I got the hang of it after a while. Now I’m actually decent at slapping mortar on cinder blocks. I was able to talk to and meet quite a few people.
Then I got the chance to practice some Spanish with a Mexican man who was standing near me. We talked about all the basic stuff at first…and then he started to tell me a bit about his family. I told him a bit about my life in Utah and he told me that his dream was to someday go to Salt Lake City and attend general conference. He introduced me to his son and later on to his wife. It was so cool getting to speak Spanish again. Then one of the men around us asked if he was excited about this house we were building for him. I had had no idea that we were building this house for this man—I was so amazed. The Mexican didn’t understand the question because it had been in English, so I translated the question and he told us that yes, he was excited. But most of all, he said he was happy for his wife.
Later on throughout the day, I heard that this man had helped on many other houses for other families. I was so excited that we were finally helping him to get a house of his own. As I was laying block with his son, his son expressed his gratitude for the work we were doing. They were truly incredible, humble people. I got to talk quite a bit with the family because even though my Spanish isn’t that great, there aren’t a whole lot of people in our group who speak Spanish at all. It was AWESOME speaking Spanish again, but even more than that, it was just plain fun. They all had a great sense of humor and were extremely patient.
We went to a taco stand for lunch and I got to speak a little more Spanish with the owners of the stand. I hadn’t realized how much I missed that since coming home from Guadalajara. It’s a challenge, but I love it. I also hadn’t realized how much I’d missed the food.
We worked on the houses till the sun began to set. I looked back on what we’d done and I was thrilled. It wasn’t just a cement slab anymore. The walls were past my head in some spots and I could see doors, windows, electric outlets—it was becoming a house. I was so happy.
We drove home, exhausted and filthy. There was a beautiful sunset over the ocean…it was gorgeous. We showered. I’m clean and totally content. I can honestly say I’m really excited to start work tomorrow.
12/31/2010
We did it. We built two houses and finished an addition to another house. It was a humbling experience and one that I hope I won't ever forget. The electricity, plumbing, and stucco-ing should be finished in the upcoming months and the families should be able to move into the houses around March. I wish you all could see what kind of living conditions so many people here have. The family for whom we built the addition had half of their living quarters under the shelter of a tree. I'm so glad I had the chance to come back to Mexico and participate in this project and I'm glad that the Boyles were kind enough to let me come with them.
Here's some pictures!
First day of work. We started out with cement slab foundations. We started out by moving piles and piles of cinder blocks--our arms and shoulders sure felt that by the next day. We also started putting up the walls. By the time the sun went down, we were over half-way done with the walls of both houses.
First day of work. We started out with cement slab foundations. We started out by moving piles and piles of cinder blocks--our arms and shoulders sure felt that by the next day. We also started putting up the walls. By the time the sun went down, we were over half-way done with the walls of both houses.
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| the house beginning to take shape. |
Second day of work. We were able to finish up all the walls. It was super windy that day and the grit got into everything. Hair, eyes, clothes, eyelid creases--everything.
Third day of work. A third of the groupd group began to put the roofs on the houses. Another third finished roofing the addition. Our group transported lumber and picked up some of the mess from construction. We went to the house that we were adding the addition to and helped them to clean up their place a bit. We took all the trash to the dump. We got back in time for lunch--shrimp and fish tacos. Delicious. Then it began to rain, so everybody just had to go home.
Fourth and last day of work. We helped to finish roof the houses--we tarred and nailed away--really messy work, but it was fun at the same time. We also framed the inside of the house. It really looked like an honest-to-goodness house. We picked up, reorganized the shed, and took one last good look at what we'd been able to do. Our part of the deal was finished!
Pretty cool, huh.
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| The Boyles and I next to one of the finished walls. |
Third day of work. A third of the groupd group began to put the roofs on the houses. Another third finished roofing the addition. Our group transported lumber and picked up some of the mess from construction. We went to the house that we were adding the addition to and helped them to clean up their place a bit. We took all the trash to the dump. We got back in time for lunch--shrimp and fish tacos. Delicious. Then it began to rain, so everybody just had to go home.
Fourth and last day of work. We helped to finish roof the houses--we tarred and nailed away--really messy work, but it was fun at the same time. We also framed the inside of the house. It really looked like an honest-to-goodness house. We picked up, reorganized the shed, and took one last good look at what we'd been able to do. Our part of the deal was finished!
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| Roofing away. |
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| One of the almost-finished houses. |
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