Guatemala Help Weeks 2010

Trip 3 Days 6, 7 & 8

2010-06-01T20:38:00.001-07:00

Well if you followed the news over the weekend, you will know that all of Guatemala has blown up and sunk into the sea. Actually, as aweful as the news reports have been concerning volcanic eruptions and flooding leaving people homeless or dead, in Antigua and the surrounding villages, things were just really wet and that's about it. Even the house that we built last week with the constant caving in dirt, held up through the storm. So I guess we were very fortunate. The only really down side for us was that the rain ruined any plans to site see over the weekend. So we just hung out, played some cards, and watched TV. As for Monday, the sun finally came out and we finished the house with a roof, a door, a window, some paint, and a fiesta. We had been listening to Guatemalan music all week from the family's stereo, but on this day, we rigged up my Ipod to the stereo and listened to some musica de los Estados Unidos - kicking off with the Commodores' "Brick House." Actually, our young adults seemed just as confused about my music selections as did the Guatemalans. The night before, we made a chocolate cake with the inscription: "Bienvenido Hogar" (Welcome Home) spelled out on top with M&M's, and we began our "house completion" celebration with the family by each having a slice. During the customary "handing over of the keys," Maria (the mother) broke down expressing her gratitude and her regret for not being able to repay us. We explained how the money to build the house came from many, many different people and we were really just the workers. Since this is the last of our Guatemala Help Weeks, we cleared our house of all unopened food and gave it to the family along with some other presents. It was a sad goodbye, as usual, but it also was just what most of us needed. After a week of bad weather and illnesses, we needed a shocking reminder of the good in which we have been participating. This realization was certainly expressed at our evening discussion.
I would like to say that this is it, but the Pacaya Volcano (at which the first two groups enjoyed climbing and roasting marshmellows over lava) covered the airport with ash and canceled our Tuesday flight home. Presented with the options of waiting until Saturday for the first available flight home or driving to El Salvador (5 hours away) to fly home from there on Thursday, we opted for El Salvador. So on Wednesday, we will add one more Central American country to our travel itinerary.
As for Guatemala: Adios Amigos! You were a great place to call my home for a month.
Thanks for reading,
Fred T. Mercadante
Campus Minister

Trip 3 Day 5

2010-05-28T15:19:00.000-07:00

Today was good. Before we went to the site we went to see the clinic being built by From Houses to Homes. It is about halfway done, and when it is finished it will provide free medical assistance, which seems to be needed very much. We also saw the school that they built. The students are taken from the poorest areas, and one of the goals is to show that even though someone is from a poor family, they can still contribute great things to society through receiving a good education. The school appears to be running very well, but it is far from finished. 2nd grade is currently the highest level, and they are adding one grade a year until 6th grade. The school is also free, but they need donations for supplies. While we were there the Guatemalans were playing around outside. One of them would lay with their back on the ground, and the rest would grab that persons limbs and throw them into the air without letting go until their limbs were fully extended. It looked painful, but I tried it and it was actually really fun.

Fred woke up sick, so we were down one person at the build site, in addition to the rest of us not feeling that great. However, our task today was just to mix up a bunch of concrete and pour it inside the house to make the floor, so it didn't take that long. Unfortunately we did have one casualty. Brittany poked her thumb open on some wire mesh and it got purple and developed a big bump. She's tough though.

We were supposed to go play soccer with the other volunteers after work. However, all of us are sick to some degree, so we didn't really feel like running around in the cold rain.

I don't know if we will be able to go to the volcano on Sunday since it erupted Wednesday night, killing a couple of people and actually shut down the airport with ash. I guess we will have to play our weekend by ear. Monday we will paint the house and put in the door, window, and roof, and Tuesday we will head back to the "U.S. and A - greatest country in the world!" (as Borat would say). Assuming that our flight doesn't get cancelled.

Ok I guess that's it,

Spencer

Trip 3 Day 4

2010-05-27T15:35:00.000-07:00

Hola from Guatemala!

Well, as Patrick was saying, Montezuma definitely got his revenge on Brittney and I. It was an unpleasant experience to say the least (both of us were sleeping next to the toilet for most of the night), but this morning I decided to go to work with the guys, and Brittney stayed here to get some more rest. The weather has not gotten any better unfortunately, although the sky did clear up just enough for us to see the tops of the volcanoes. Sometimes I forget to look up and see all the beauty that surrounds this city, and it catches me by surprise. Pictures can't do it justice!
Today our job was to finish the walls, which we did. It took five more rows, and tomorrow we will be putting down the floor. The house is looking great, and I can't wait to see the finished product! It was yet another rainy day, but Damaris, the eleven year old girl, was out there right alongside us helping in every way she could. I think she could tell that I was tired, so as I was shovelling, she picked up a shovel and helped me. It was funny that when it started to rain harder, she came outside with a Dallas Cowboys jacket on. It makes me wonder how such odd things get all the way down here to Antigua. On a sad note, Rambo, the family's dog, escaped yesterday. I had been wondering where the dog was, since he has been tied up every day we have been there, and then I finally asked why Damaris was shouting RAAAMMMBBBOOOOOO (I didn't know that was his name). I hope that Rambo comes back, but if he doesn't, another dog already showed up at their door this afternoon, so maybe it can take Rambo's place.
On our way back, Fred was throwing candy to kids on the street. Patrick and I were laughing about how strange it would be to see a man on a truck throwing candy to kids back home. We all know the general rule of thumb: Don't take anything from strangers! (especially if the strangers are wearing pink pants, =P)
Well, we will be having our meeting soon, and then it's out to eat. My first meal since the day before yesterday, hurraahh! Crossing my fingers for a bit of sunshine tomorrow =D
Buenas noches amigos!
-Lauren Tate

Trip 3 Day 3

2010-05-26T16:18:00.000-07:00

Today we woke to find that Lauren and Brittany both were up all night sick and could not go to work with us. This took us down to five workers to get the job done. We gave the women all of the appropriate medication that we had and headed off to work.

We hopped into the truck as usual and took the twenty minute ride to the sight. Again, the skies were overcast and it looked to be a rather chilly day, by Guatemalan standards. Once at the house, we began to prepare the blocks and mix the mortar. The goal was five layers of block. First a standard layer. Then, a layer of "U" shaped block that was filled with rebar and concrete. This created a beam around the entire house, tied into the columns that run vertically at each corner and on either side of the door and window. We completed these two layers by lunch time. Just as we started to pour the concrete into the "U" block it began to pour. We rushed to get the beam complete and ran into our families current home for lunch. Maria, the mother, made black beans for the family's lunch. She offered us all some to supplement the lunches we had brought.

After lunch the rain began to settle. Unfortunately, every time we began to work, the rain poured down on us. Finally, the rain held up and we began to work. We put some rough scaffolding up, made of blocks and wood boards. We then completed two more layers of block and left the fifth row of the day to complete tomorrow.

Good news of the day, the baby, Jasmin, seems to be warming up to us. We brought her some candy and she actually smiled at us a few times.

-Patrick Daffin

Trip 3 Day 2 -- May 25

2010-05-25T15:19:00.000-07:00

Buenos dias! Brittany Mays here. Today started off a bit easier for a couple of reasons -- 1) We didn't have to be ready to go until 9 (rather than a quarter til), 2) We didn't have quite as bumpy of a truck ride to our work site, and 3) When we got to the work site there was a lot less shoveling to be done (the best part - for me anyway) =) As far as work goes, Spencer and Patrick started out sifting through the mixture that we used to make the mortar, ridding it of larger particles of trash, sticks, and mostly rocks. Then Henio (one of the Guatemalan gentlemen helping us) asked us to grab three bags of the cement mix. I already knew they were much too heavy for my weak little arms from yesterday when I tried to be a "he-woman", so I let Patricio (Patrick) and Frederico (Fred) carry them, and I took over Patrick's spot on the sifter. Fred and Patrick picked and shoveled them open and emptied them out onto the pile of sifted through mixture to make the mortar. Patrick, Spencer, Lauren and I all helped mix up the dry mixture even more by shoveling everything first into one pile, then into two separate piles, then into one big pile again. Despite feeling sore from yesterday's shoveling on top of today's, I pushed through and kept up with the rest of my coworkers. After this we formed an assembly line and carried a good many cement blocks close to the foundation of the house. When we finished moving all that was needed, each of us took our turns hammering holes into some of the blocks. Finally we were done with that and we could start building more of a foundation for the home. The three Guatemalan gentlemen (Henio, Thomas, and Cuchi) helped by placing the cement blocks in the correct spots and the rest of us, including Damaricia (the eleven year old daughter) all filled in the cracks between each block. We put in five layers of blocks today. Two or three went up before the rain, thank goodness!

We stopped for a break when the rain started pouring down and enjoyed our lunches. We had sandwiches, chips, and thanks to our stop at the supermarket yesterday, fresh fruit (apples and plums), and of course our agua pura (purified water). Oh I forgot to mention, while we were still working before lunch, Maria (the mother) and her daughters (Damaricia and Oliga) brought us some Kool-Aid to cool us down (PUN intended heehee). So yes, we ate our lunches inside the kitchen. When the five of us were done we went back outside. While some of us were eager to get back to work, the ones in charge (our Guatemalan gentlemen friends) were not so much. While they relaxed Fred, Lauren, Patrick, and Spencer all kicked around the soccer ball with Damarica. I captured this with a good many pictures on Spencer's camera, as sports are not my forte. Fred hit me clear in the head with the ball --accidentally, while I was looking through the pictures I had already taken -- which tends to happen to me rather often when the opportunity presents itself :/ haha. Soon, we were back to work, the guys making more mortar mix and everyone helping out with the last two layers of blocks for the day.

We were, eventually, done for the day. Maria offered us all to pull up a stool and take a moment to rest before the truck got back to pick us up. Just before the truck arrived Damaricia started putting these teensy tiny red and white rubber bands onto Lauren's fingers like little rings. Damaricia handed me five red and white ones to take with me as well. :D Lauren and I were both thankful and appreciative for her little gift :D The truck tooted its horn and Henio yelled to us that it was time to go. This was definitely good news to hear, as most of us had been "holding it" since right after lunch, so as to not go in the family outhouse. I mean, I would have if I just couldn't hold it any longer, but given the choice, what would you pick? The ride back was bumpy, first down the dirt road with holes for drainage, then the curvy stone road, then smooth road, then bumpy again. As if going to the bathroom wasn't enough on our minds for the ride home, it started dripping rain drops, sprinkling, then POURING! My mom always says to look at the bright side of things. So, 1) we were getting dropped off directly in front of our door, 2) it wasn't 100 degrees outside and 3) we could take a shower when we got back :D

Though we are all sore, (maybe just weak little me), we are all ready to work hard again tomorrow. It feels awesome to see all the progress that is happening because of everyone working hard TOGETHER.
--Brittany Mays

Trip 3 Day 1 - May 24

2010-05-24T14:30:00.000-07:00

Buenos dias de Guatemala! Esta es su amigo Spencer. So far everything is great. We flew in on Sunday and Delta kept me entertained with Dear John (which would have been really boring if I wasn't on an airplane) and an episode of The Office, not to mention the great scenery of Hotlanta and Guatemala City when taking off and landing, respectively. My comrades (Patrick Daffin, Lauren Tate and Brittany Mays) missed almost all of this because they were fast asleep on their trays. When we touched down, Fred was there with Freddy, our driver, to take us on an exciting 45 minute drive to Antigua. The reason I say exciting is because lane changes in Guatemala are usually made with less than 3 feet of room to spare and without turn signals.

Antigua is a very historic city, being the capitol until an earthquake hit some number of centuries ago. The streets are made of rocks and traffic is pretty much incomprehensible. On a side note, I really like the vehicles here, lots of old Toyota trucks, diesels, hatchbacks and 125 cc motorcycles (with up to 4 passengers). We ate lunch at a delicious restaurant where we played "4 questions", which is basically a way to get to know each other and build community by asking intimate questions. Half of the questions directed at me were about my relationship with and recent engagement to Jacklyn Wilkinson (hi Jackie!). And of course we had to interrogate Fred about his ideal woman. Back at the house we had a small orientation and a discussion about why we decided to give so much of our time and effort to come to a third world country and build a house. We talked mostly about making a positive difference in the world, living out the Gospel through our actions and experiencing another culture. For dinner we went back downtown for pizza and Gallos, and then everyone but Fred stopped at the Monalocos (Gringo bar) on the way back.

The next day we were picked up at about 9 and went to our build site, where we met the family and started building the foundation of the house (cutting rebar, digging a trench, and mixing and pouring concrete). I guess we got an easy job because we didn't have to carry cinder blocks up any hills, and we finished this section of the build before 1. The family was very welcoming and friendly, very excited about their house and eager to help. We had lunch together, and Lauren and I tried an extremely picante type of chili pepper. Lauren went first and made the mistake of taking a big bite, so she ended up needing lots of water and bread. She said that it made her ears burn and we got some good pictures. After lunch the family showed us around their land and the 11 year old daughter (I don't know all of their names yet) told us about all of the plants they grow, although our Spanish is minimal. When we had finished visiting with the family we hopped back in the truck and got soaked by the afternoon rain on the way back. We stopped at the grocery store, which also sells motorcycles and guitars, to get food for the week, and now we are back at the house. We will be having our daily discussion soon and then going back into town for dinner!

Adios amigos!
Spencer

Trip 2 Day 8

2010-05-21T12:34:00.000-07:00

Trip 2's final day on the job was supposed to be written by Joe, but since after work every afternoon Joe goes off to build a second house by himself, he didn't have time to write this blog.

The final day's work schedule had us painting the outside and inside of the houses (both families chose red on the outside and blue on the inside) while our job foremen put on the roofs and installed the doors and windows.

As fitting first activity in the new homes, both families extended their hospitality to us by serving us a home cooked lunch inside (chicken and rice in an excellent Guatemalan specialty sauce). After lunch in the lower house, we celebrated the mother's birthday with cake and a "dreadful" (as Ruby would put it) redition of Feliz Cumpleanos. Then it was up to the upper house for the pinada. After the kids, Laura and Ruby sufficiently beat the crap (I mean candy) out of that thing, Oscar (the project coordinator) and Joe Collins (the project founder) arrived to do the final presentation and the "handing over" of the keys. Tears of joy and hugs of gratitude came from the families, and in one moment of time, all of our hard work, fundraising and preparation meetings came to fruition.

At our discussion in the evening, we each described (with the help of a symbol) what this whole experience has been like for us. A vast array of insights and recognitions summed up to one common theme: God was experienced.

Thank you Joe, Ruby, Toran, Sarah, Kelly, Patrick, Brittany, and Laura for "getting your mind made up" to participate in these weeks of service!

-Fred

For more pictures of Trip 2, go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/111134524286963924006

Trip 2 Day 7

2010-05-19T21:09:00.000-07:00

Today was a successful day once again-getting the last bit of really hard work in before the last day of painting and pinata! It started out as any other, although for some reason we were all so interested in getting to the jobsite that we forgot our lunches! That turned out to be a minor problem later, but didn't burst our bubble for the day! Our work at the higher jobsite went smoothy, and we were soon surprised with a watermelon treat! This day turned out to be a two watermelon treat day, thanks to the selflessness of the host family, and if you know me a two watermelon day=perfect happiness (hi Mom!). Although we had finished our work early, some of us still had another job to do, which was play a mini game of soccer with our kids! It was an intense thirty minutes or so, that was sometimes interrupted by various cats and dogs running across the field. I'm not sure who won or lost between the teams of Banik twins and family kids, but fun was had by all!

Later a more intense, and much longer game was played on the fields between the building crew members and volunteer workers. It seemed to go much better without us, so Joe and I went and investigated the old cemetery that was right next to the soccer field. It was so interesting to see the care and attention that was given to to each family's departed loved ones in , and in such a loving manner. It definitely was a neat experience!

Later we got the chance to come home early and beat the rain. We all took that opportunity, after a group reflection, to take a last minute shopping trip to the market. Thankfully, we all stayed dry enough during the sudden massive rainstorm to make it to a yummy dinner of pizza!

I know we are all looking forward to, as well as saddened by the thought of our last day on the jobsite tomorrow morning. It's going to be a great day for everyone-complete with painting, door keys, and pinatas!!
-----Sarah Grubb

Trip 2 Day 6

2010-05-18T21:01:00.000-07:00

Here we are, over the hill with more than half of the work finished for the second Guatemala help week. Today the project was in full swing. We raised both houses by several rows of block, filling in the cracks while the Guatemalan crew leaders leveled and plumbed each row. Fred, Ruby, Kelly, and I got a good workout shoveling sand into wheelbarrows and barging up the narrow path to prepare the next batch of concrete. We finally finished carrying all the concrete blocks up as well. I thought I was being impressive by carrying three or four blocks at a time until we saw an older man about half of my size walking up the steep road carrying six concrete blocks on his back as we were leaving.

By lunch, most of us were ready for a break, but not our crew leaders. Lunchtime gave them a diversion: climbing up a tree with a long bamboo shoot to knock down fruits. They were like children chasing each other around the tree and chasing after the fruits as they fell. The fruits, with a hard peel and similar in appearance to a pomegranate, were called "sapote," with a taste described as "somewhere between a papaya and a pineapple." Only in Guatemala.

Progress has not only been measured in how many blocks we lay on the house, but also how many smiles we create on the childrens' faces and how well we work with each other. Everyone in the family is getting involved in the new house; Helen and Louis Jose, the children, were climbing around with us on the scaffolding after they returned from school. The parents once again helped us to carry blocks and mix cement, and even Louis Jose, as shy as he is, jumped in to fill cracks beside us.

The highlight of my day was double-teaming the wheelbarrows of sand along with Israel, the father of the family. I was afraid that I would tip over one of the wheelbarrows by accident, but Israel knotted a rope to the front of the wheelbarrow to add his strength to the task. Although we can hardly say two words to each other and often resorted to hand motions, we both succeeded in doing what needed to be done. Despite our differences, everyone at the work site is happy to see the progress of the two homes we are raising together. Almost there!

-Patrick Fuller

Trip 2 Day 5

2010-05-17T20:17:00.001-07:00

Gifts -

We always share food with our families...and it is a small gift that keeps us from feeling guilty while we eat. (they often don't have lunch). However today they shared with us. Nothing tastes

better than a fresh, cold watermelon after hours of hot, hard work...and the family give us gernerous helpings before sharing smaller piecies among each other.

After a weekend away, the families seemed glad to see us again. They were warmer and the children interacted with us more. Ruby has been trying to get Jose, a shy boy on her site to talk to her...and had a full converstation with him today. Something most of us are unable to do becuase of our poor the Spanish skills.
Ruby and the rest of the crew really turned it on today at the cave-in site. They have picked up the pase and caught up with schedule.

While they were working hard and getting the last layer of bricks done, we up at the other site were given another gift. The women of the family taught us about their textile skills. Mary, one of the younger daughters offered to make us each braclets. We each picked out our colors and then she later taught us how to make them.
Her mom then got out her loom and allowed the American girls to experience weaving...and explain how its done...and how long it takes (the bigger pieces sometimes take 3 months).

All in all - it was a wonderful day in San Antonio with our families and we didn't even get that wet driving back in the rain:)

We are all very excited to get back tomorrow!

-Toran Gordinier

Trip 2 Day 4

2010-05-16T20:25:00.001-07:00

Hello family and friends!
I hope this finds everyone back in the states doing well as today was another great day in Guatemala! After filling our stomachs with pancakes, eggs, and fruit for breakfast, our group headed off to mass at the cathedral in Parque Central. The church was really beautiful and elaborately decorated with many statues. Although I had no idea what the priest was saying, it was very easy to tell what was happening. It was really cool to see how similar yet different the churches are in Guatemala in comparison to ours back home.
After mass we came back to the house and ate some lunch. Although a few people chose to stay back and shop a little in Antigua, most of us went to the Pacaya volcano. After an hour-long crazy, winding, and bumpy ride we finally arrived at our destination. Immediately upon our arrival little children started running towards our van begging us to buy their walking sticks. I had never seen anything like this before, but it is really opening my eyes to the reality of the world. I know that after this experience I will have learned so much and have so much more to offer the world.
After quite a long and steep hike we reached our destination near the top of the volcano. Watching the lava flow down the volcano was an incredible and unforgettable experience. We roasted marshmallows over the burning stones and could get as close to the lava as we wanted to.
It was definitely a cool once in a lifetime experience that neither words nor pictures can describe. After the drive back and showers we ended up eating at some really good pizza restaurant.
I would like to thank everyone for all of the support and encouragement – without you I would not be taking part in this life-changing experience. I cannot wait to see the final products and the smiling faces once we are complete! I am truly grateful to be given the opportunity to do this!
Thanks and God Bless,
Kelly Bickle

Trip 2 Day 3

2010-05-15T19:44:00.001-07:00

Let the adventure begin!

With the first few days of working on the houses complete, the weekend is here finally here, which meant a time for adventure and exploration! At the worksite on Friday, we learned of a place nearby Antigua where we could zipline and ride horses.

This morning after a good breakfast of cereal and milk five of us decided to set out at 9 to journey to the central square where we were told to meet the truck to take us to the location where the activities took place. Upon making it to the square we searched for the truck and with no luck, decided to use the language skills of our fluent group member, Ruby, to ask a local what and where we were to look for a our mode of transportation to the place where our adventure lay. As it turns out our journey to ziplining and horseback riding would not occur unless we used the mode of transportation God gave us to get there, our feet, since the truck stopped arriving at the central square a while back.

So the troupers we are decided to hit the pebbled streets of Antigua by foot to get to our destination. Following the directions of many random Guatemalans and police along the way using Ruby’s language skills, we managed to get an over amount of exercise by walking to the edge of the city and taking many left, straight, and right turns over and over again to arrive an hour and a half later after stopping at a local market at San Felipe Finca Filadelfia Hotel.

As the excitement of finally arriving setting in at the entrance gate, we rode to the information desk to collect our reward for our travels and another adventure not involving our feet and walking to begin. In our native language we learned of the activities we could fill our time with we decided as a group to enjoy a tour of the growing and processing of Guatemala’s finest export, coffee.

In a mere two hours the five of us became coffee experts, discussing the information we learned about the favored morning beverage over a free cup of the finest joe to end the tour. On a coffee high and the enjoyment of getting to rest our legs on the trip back with a ride in a Mercedes safari looking 12 seater, we headed back home to see what the rest of the crew had been up during the day.

Embracing the idea of a weekend, the rest of the group slept in and upon waking up made a gourmet breakfast followed by some early shopping. Lunch consisted of some delicious bagels at a restaurant on the square, then back to bargaining and bartering with the local vendors on the street, market, and where ever else the local Guatemalans could sell and bombard “non-natives” with their handmade goods.

After a full day of walking, bartering, and shopping, we all managed to come together to make and eat a delicious homemade meal of rice, chicken, guacamole, and fresh pineapple. With a great day of adventure complete, the day was finished with a movie and preparation for the fun filled Sunday to come.

-Laura Banik

Trip 2 Day 2

2010-05-14T20:25:00.000-07:00

Dia numero dos! (day number 2) Today we returned to our now familiar incline on the beautiful hill in San Antonio. It was wonderful to get to see our families again, and all the workers that we are working with. We began working on hammering holes into the "bloques" and sooner than we knew, the cement was poured and it was lunch time. It was really amazing to see all the work that is put into the houses and how it brings people together. Its fun to see the kids and their smiles, it really makes the day go by easier. We were able to get to know our families more, the mother was conversing more, and alhtough some of the kids are shy, they are warming up to us. I think it is only fair to mention that although we had a rough start on one of the houses, God was good to us today and we made much progress on the house. We started making the layers of blocks which first had to be carried to the area we were working. We were all doing our part to bring the blocks up to house, the mother was very impressive wheelbarelling blocks, she is strong. We had a chance to talk to the neighbors a little as well. One can feel the sense of community that there is among the people in the village. Its great because that just means there are a whole lot more kids to come out! After getting off of work, a trip to the "super mercado" to purchase groceries was necessary. We walked in there looking dirty and tired. We then had to carry the groceries all the way home which is a good walk away (at least 15 min). Here was another opportunity to see teamwork. It was nice to see people offering to help one another despite the fact that they were already carrying bags. We are learning so many things! We learn about each other, about a culture, about people, and about ourselves. We may wake up sore in the mornings, but there are always smiling faces at the breakfast table, when they guys pick us up to go to the work site, when we arrive at our houses, and at the end of the day when we are covered in dirt and concrete. These smiles are sincere and they reflect the internal joy that we all feel at being able to have the blessing to work on these houses. "Gracias a Dios" thanks be to God!
-Ruby Contreras

Trip 2 Day 1

2010-05-13T19:54:00.001-07:00

HOLA HOLA HOLA!!!
The first official work day of Trip 2 got underway today and what a great way to start the trip! The day was filled from start to finish with lots of hard work, good efforts, and teamwork. After a delicious breakfast spread, the group was ready to take on the day’s challenges…we just weren’t quite sure what those challenges would actually entail. Nonetheless, we excitedly loaded into the trucks around 9:00am and headed out to the sites.
Because we have such a large group, our team will be building two houses during our time spent in Guatemala. The two houses to be built are side by side and are located just outside of San Antonio. One family has four children and the other has six children. Both families are very hardworking, nice, and friendly people. It was such a pleasure to get to know the families and interact with the children. Although there may be language barriers, smiles are a universal language; and therefore, we manage just fine. Just keep smiling!
The construction for the house of the family of six children went pretty smoothly. The trench was dug. Wire was laid. Cement was mixed and poured. It sounds simple when it is summed up in three short sentences, but the work that went into the building was far from easy. Heaving shovel after shovel of dirt and passing bucket after bucket of cement turned out to be a bit more tiring than expected.
The second house presented a few more “little” challenges. The main problem was that dirt continued to slide down the side of the mountain the house was being built alongside. After tearing down the family’s current kitchen and removing a tree in hopes of solving the problem, the landslide still did not let up. Before lunch, progress was not looking good as dirt continued to fall down into the area that had already been excavated. During lunch, a plan was created to try and fix the issue. With an idea in mind, the group went forth and worked hard throughout the afternoon. Buckets and wheelbarrows of dirt had to be carted from the worksite because so much dirt was sliding into the area. Numerous trips were made to move the never-ending dirt. The trips carrying the dirt (aka the “buckets of fun”) lasted for a good two hours before the group was able to begin digging the trench for the foundation of the house. The cement was not able to be laid to harden overnight, but the day turned out to be quite successful considering the challenges we were presented. We pray tonight that the avalanche does not fall.
Lower back pain…sore shoulders…blistered hands...tired, tired bodies. Although physically we may be exhausted, the day was so rewarding. These experiences really give us an outlook as to how our efforts will be making a difference. We send a huge thanks to all those that supported us. We look forward to see what is in store for tomorrow!
Adios Amigos!
-Brittany Banik

Trip 1 Day 8

2010-05-12T15:32:00.000-07:00

Trip 1's last day did not start out very well. In the morning, we learned from Patrick that he had been up all night puking and was not feeling up to going to work. Of course this was disappointing for Patrick who really wanted to be a part of the final day's festivities. Nonetheless, as Patrick went back to bed, we climbed in the back of Oscar's pick-up truck one last time and headed to San Antonio Aguas Calliente. The morning was pretty uneventful. We painted while Chici and Mini-me put on the roof and installed the door and window. But mostly the the tranquility of the morning's work was due to the fact that Tree Man and I seperated from the group for about an hour to go help another group paint their house because they were down a few workers. Whenever Tree Man and PJ are seperated, it gets pretty quiet due to the lack of their constant bickering. Of course, when we returned, the volume turned up when in typical guy fashion, colorful criticism of each other's painting ability rang out through the valley. Verbal jarring aside, the inside and outside briskly entered the world of color, the roof was fixed to the house and the door and window were put in place - A new home! While we waited for Oscar (the project manager) and Joe (the founder of the From Houses to Homes non-profit org.) to arrive in order to conduct the "handing over of the keys" ceremony, we had our own little party with a pinada that oddly looked a lot like Adam. When the fellows arrived and explained to the family how this all was made possible and how this whole project works, we handed over the keys, exchanged hugs of gratitude, said our last good-byes and headed home. There is no doubt that we are going to miss:

Vilma, clearly a wonderful mother raising respecful and joy-filled children

Carlos & Cristian, energetic young boys with enthusiam and great potential

Michel & Ingri, beautiful young girls with intelligence and charisma

And Justin, the happy baby who is a main source of joy for the whole family.

Six men spending ten days together, building a house for a single mother and her five children, ripping in to each other (as men tend to do) resulting in so many laugh out loud moments that I can't even count them, having sincere discussions about faith, God and religion (as men tend never to do), enjoying a culture, a city, an experience and each other's company - I loved every minute of it! Great job Trip 1!

Shalom,

Fred T. Mercadante

Campus Minister

Trip 1 Days 5, 6, 7

2010-05-10T21:12:00.000-07:00

Greetings Everyone,

Today concluded our 7th day in Guatemala and our 5th day of work.

Saturday resulted in a day of rest after a long night in the German restraunt with workers and friends. We all decided it was a good chance to really walk around and see Antigua. The real experience was seen in the market place. Filled with anything from fruit, live animals, and even what seemed to be full clothing outlets, it was clearly a site to see.

Sunday we journied up to Piqua, the volcano. The walk up the mountain was tiresome, but the conclusion was well worth it. Roasting marshmellows over free flowing lava is clearly a once in a lifetime thing. The surreal experience is something only available in a small number of sites around the world, or so it would seem. It felt as if we could clearly walk out into the lava without restriction. After our trip back down the valcano, which we all made a race out of, we stopped in a small restraunt at the base where Fred played a few songs on the guitar while we all enjoyed a cold drink. The highlight of the day was clearly Fred's Adam Sandler impression, spot on as expected.

Today was our shortest day of work, but it still seemed to be equally as tiring. We were tasked with creating enough concrete to cover the floor of the house. This was started with 51 buckets of sand, around 20 buckets of rocks, and a lot of water. The most rewarding part was seeing the family put their hand prints and names on the front step of the house. After watching us work all week on their house, they have marked the house as their own. We enjoyed a nice lunch with Chiki, Abel, and the family and then we were off to play some soccer with the others from the other work sites. We broke up into teams of 3, the first team to score stayed on and the loser rotated off. It was a great time; both Carlos and Cristian played as well.

Today also marked another great day in history, Fred's birthday. Fred being a nacho connoiseure and all, we thought it was appropriate to go to Mono Loco where the nachos are "as big as your head" as they say. We enjoyed a nice dinner together then called it a night.

~Michael Tremoulis

Trip 1 Day 4

2010-05-08T15:32:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!

Friday marks the fourth day of work on the house, which is getting much closer to completion. We finally heard the dreaded phrase "Mas Blocks" for the last time from our fearless leader, Chici, as we carried up the last of the pile of blocks. Instead of doing an assembly line as we had been doing in the past, we decided to just start individually carrying as many blocks at a time as we could. Of course, after Chici managed to carry five blocks, our strongest
Michael T., whom the children have begun to call "Hombre Arbor" had to carry up six. Friday was the first day that the kids ate lunch with us, which was really cool. After a long day of work, we had finished the final layers on the house, and began to fill in the floor. As usual, Oscar drove us back to the villa, and we made plans to meet up with all of the workers at seven at Fred's favorite German restaurant for dinner. We met up for our daily disussion, which is becoming more in depth and open as we get to know each other better. At the restaurant, our friends showed up a little late, but they all came out to join us. In total, six workers from Houses to Homes came out to meet us, including Chici and Able, as well as our driver, Oscar. After dining on some delicious German sausage and a few rounds of "Das Boot", we headed home for the night.

-Michael LaDue

Trip 1 Day 3

2010-05-06T21:21:00.000-07:00

Hello family and friends!

Today was our third day at the site and it proved to be another hard day of work.

We continued hauling more concrete blocks up the hill which makes everyone exhausted, but we pressed on. It was amazing to see the family helping out with carrying the blocks with us. Christian who is 12yrs old was carrying 2 heavy blocks on his back up to the site. Today we added five more layers of the blocks to the house and it is starting to look more and more complete every day. It is a constant process of making mixes of mortar and cement and applying it to each level and filling in the concrete blocks. Not exactly exciting to read about, I understand, but it is exciting for us to see this family's future house coming together. You can see some examples in the pictures.
After coming home and taking some not-so-hot showers, we all went out along with our site leaders Fernando (Chicki) and Abel. We went to a delicious restaurant downtown where there was a pan flute band playing some traditional sounding Central American music. We had a great time and polished off plenty litres of Gallo, the Guatemalan's beer of choice.
The country of Guatemala is beautiful and extremely mountainous. Two enormous volcanoes dominate the landscape. All the streets of Antigua are paved with cobblestones which makes for a bumpy ride in the back of the truck every day on the ride to and from the site. Well we are about to head off to the site this morning so I better run. Thanks for stopping by to see our progress in Guatemala.
--Adam Broering

Trip 1 Day 2

2010-05-05T20:29:00.000-07:00

Patrick wanted me to start off by saying after we got home from a long days work yesterday. We sat down and had our discussion time, where we got to see how God worked throughout our day. We all had some great insight on how the day affected each one of us, and how important our work is. We then went out to eat at an irish pub in Antigua, where we had a very nice waitress who showed us the ropes. Now we know every spot to hit in Antigua.

The second day began with another early start. We got up at 8am to make lunches, eat breakfast, and get ready for the day. Oscar (our driver) picked us up at around 9:15 and we hopped in the back of the truck to enjoy the nice ride down to San Antonio. We started off our work by carrying at least another 150 cylinder blocks up a very steep mountain probably around a 100 meters. This is definently the most strenious part of our work. We formed an assembly line up the path and just passed blocks from person to person for at least an hour or two. We have at least another 100 blocks to bring up the hill tomorrow, ahh!! But you can't complain because the blocks are already at least half way up the path from the road. And the Mother and her children must walk all the way up this steep path at least a few times a day. Its crazy how the mother carries her new born baby (Justin) everywhere she goes, including up the path. Not only does she carry her new born up the path, she carries gallons of water and any other supplies she needs. It really just makes you realize, young able bodies like us carrying a few blocks up a hill once a year is nothing. Watching the children and mother move up the path so easily makes you truly appreciate hard work.

So after we did get the main hard part done, we began actually building the house!! We laid five layers of cynder blocks, while of course making morter to apply between all blocks. It was hard work but more tedious than anything. So the rest of the days work just consisted of creating the base of the house. It is exciting though to see a flat area on a mountain side turn from dirt to something resembling a house. The kids, Carlos, Michelle, Christian, and Engra (may be wrong on the last name) were around a lot more today which was much more exciting. We actually got to spend some time with the kids today, and enjoy a little futbol and monkey in the middle. It is just amazing how happy these kids are, it truly gives you shivers. Also they were more than willing to help, they never got in the way, and knew exactly what to do at the right times. It was nothing short of amazing to see God working in these kids.

With all that being said, our discussion after our long hard day, really reflected God's work for these kids and this family. Our discussion was basically based on how we are trying to Love like Jesus loved. The discussion did take many different branches but one of the main topics was based on the idea of Jesus' love and miracles. We talked about how although it doesn't feel like we are creating a miracle here, it may seem that way to this family. This is a displaced family with nothing to look forward to and all of a sudden a group of strangers come in and work extremely hard to build them a real home. A house that has some sort of insulation and isn't made of dirt floors and bamboo walls. Putting yourself in their shoes really does make it seem like it could be a miracle in the making. So far this has been an extremely humbling experience that really makes you appreciate what you have. We are also so blessed to have such a good group of workers and a welcoming, appreciative family.

I just can not wait to see the final product, hand over the keys, and see those everlasting smiles on the faces of the kids and the Mother.

Other then the long hard days of work, we just got some dinner at a local cafe and took it easy tonight. We are all pretty exhausted.

God Bless,

PJ Walerko

Trip 1 Day 1

2010-05-04T20:26:00.000-07:00

Day ONE of Trip One is now in the books! We have successfully completed the foundation for the house that we are constructing! However, before I get into what we did today, I would like to briefly describe our tedious journey to Antigua.

Myself and several other Guatemala bound students decided we would leave Clemson at around 2:30 in the morning, Sunday morning. Our plane was scheduled to leave at 7:30 and we wanted to give ourselves plenty of time to check in. After meeting up and driving 2 and a half hours, at 2:30 in the morning, with 5 guys in a small car, in pouring rain, we finally made it to the airport, joined up with our last conrade, and made it though all security without causing any big scenes. We flew from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale, sat around for a little, then flew down to Guatemala City. It was approximately a 2 hour drive from Guatemala City to Antigua, where we are staying while we are down here. To sum it up, it was a lot of traveling with more or less no sleep, so we were pretty exhausted. That all changed however when we opened the door to the villa that we are staying in!

Upon arriving at our new home for the week, I was pretty surprised to see the 2 security guarded gates we had to go through. I participated in this trip last year and there were no guarded gates then. Upon opening the door to our new home, I was in complete disbelief at what we were expected to live in! There is a very nice courtyard inside the outer wall with a fountain, a laundry room, a very pretty foyer, and the door to the house. Inside the house we found, individual bedrooms for every person, some of the biggest and most luxurious beds I have ever seen, a full blown living room, dining room, and kitchen, plus a room with a fountain in it. Not to mention, we have OUR OWN POOL AND HOT TUB! Lets just say it's one of the nicest places I have EVER stayed, and I have been to some nice places! And as far as security goes, in order to get into our place, one would have to get through 2 guarded gates, barbed wire around the entire top of the house, and 2 locked doors. If this isn't secure, I don't know what is!

I know what your thinking; this is a mission trip. We should not be living in luxury. According to Fred, when you look at how much it would cost to rent hotel rooms for everyone that we are sending down there (20 total) it was much cheaper to split the cost of a villa for a month. Not a bad move Fred!

The rest of Monday was composed of getting supplies from the super market for lunches for ourselves and the family we were going to help, eating, and then much needed sleep! Since we were tired, hungry, and in no mood to wait, we decided to hit up the local McDonald's for lunch, which is the most beautiful McDonald's you will ever see. We had diner at a fine little restaurant that had mostly Mexican and American food. All in all, not a bad day.

The next day, Tuesday, we woke up at 8, made some lunches, and waited for the From Houses to Home people to pick us up. They came around 9:15, took us to their office, then we were San Antonio something (real name to come later) bound. We ended up pulling over on the side of some road and and following our foremen from Houses to Homes up some steep path though all these huts. Most of the huts were made out of a combination of bamboo, other sticks, and steel sheeting. After a long and arduous climb, we finally made it to the family's place that we were there to help. It turns out the the family is comprised of a single mother with either 4 or 5 kids (kids were always coming and going) living in a bamboo house which was comprised of 2 rooms. In one room, there was 2 beds right next to one another, and the second room looked to be more or less for eating. The bed room was obviously the larger of the two rooms, and even it looked to be no bigger than 12 ft by 10 ft.

The story of the family is just about as rough as the house they were living in. The woman used to be married, however her husband turned out to be abusive to her and her kids, so they had him thrown in jail. He is now in jail for 5 years. In order for From Houses to Homes to build a house from her, she had to have her papers, identifying that the land belonged to her. Since she lived at her husband's house, she was forced to move and buy her own property so that she would be eligible to receive help. So, this single woman, with no job and no money, bought her own land, built a house on it, and takes care of her children there. By the way, the youngest one is just a new born! And to top it all off, I have never seen people so happy and eager to help. It really makes you think about how much we have and yet, how unhappy we can sometimes be.

As far as today's work goes, today was foundation day. We started by helping our two foremen cut rebar, put up strings, and make sure everything else was ready to go. We then proceeded to dig, sometimes as much as 3 to 4 feet down, to be able to pour concrete and set up a sturdy foundation. The problem turned out to be the soil. Since we were literally on the side of a mountain, the only flat ground was cut out of the mountainside. As we attempted to dig next to this big wall of dirt, the extremely loose soil continuously rained down into our hole, sometimes in large landslides. I felt like I dug that thing out 10 times over by the time we were done, but we made it. After we dug out the trench, we made concrete on the ground using gallon buckets and our eyes to determine how much sand, gravel, cement, and water to add. We then poured the gravel and let it set. Before calling it a day, we carried 100 cinder blocks up the hill to the location. Not exactly my idea of a cool down, but we will need them tomorrow. Tomorrow we will start building the walls. I can't wait until it starts to look like a house!

- Patrick Needham