Friday...the end of the week. The day you have been looking forward to and dreading at the same time.
For anyone who has participated in a Habitat build you know that this day will be bittersweet. For first timers it is day of emotions, for the rest it is the same. For you know that you must say goodbye to new friends. For you know by the emotion in the eyes of the families that you have participated in, what is for them, a life changing event.
It is a day that starts like the first four.
You arrive as we did. You grab your shovel, your trowel, your tamper (this is now an evil word with Team Paulie) and you get to work. You move blocks, you set them. You shovel and sweat and labor beside those whom you now call friends. And this is the crux, because some of them you will not see again. If you think about it... is really quite amazing that a group of people, who do not speak the same language can bond in the space of a week. There is something to be said for the power of working side by side towards a common goal.
For them, their reality is about money and earning for their families. But I think as they learn about us they understand that we do not have to be here...there is no reason other than we Want to be here. You can see the surprise on their faces when they learn that vacations have been taken and personal money spent for us to come and help someone we do not know.
Further to this… It seemed that the spirit of the build was contagious because as the week progressed for us we began to note additions to our build. By additions I mean the people who came to join us as we built. Shy children at the beginning of the week, brazen and joking builders by the end. Old men with knowledge in their eyes directing, lifting...teaching. As the week went on we began to to realize that this house was now a community effort.
For us, our reality is that we are here for personal reasons. I do not ask why others are here... it is not my place. I do know that whatever the reason, it becomes obsolete once you set foot on the job site. Those who have experienced a build will understand this. Those who have not...should, for understanding comes from doing.
Quote of the day....
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."
Marcel Proust
As an individual you grow so much in the days spent here, but believe it or not you can grow at home. The trick is learning how. This point, the purpose of the qoute, was driven home to us as we watched people who in all probability would not have helped build this house with us. For them the story of the Gringo´s hit home and they chose to see their landscape a little differently.
Earlier in the week I spoke of the journey, paths taken, choices made, of keeping your head up and your eyes open...
For those that choose to see... you will not be disappointed. Whether it is in El Salvador, Costa Rica, Ottawa...it does not matter.
Learn to see, understand that no matter where you go the people there have the same hopes, dreams and aspirations that you do.
See... that no matter where you live, be it a tin shack with a dirt floor or a mansion, it is love and family that make it a home.
See... the same pride you have in youselves in those around you.
See... the spirit that exists within those who have endured hardship and continue on.
We have seen in El Salvador. We have been a part of a wonderful rollercoaster of emotions, sweat, pain, joy, heat, (oh the heat) dreams...the list goes on...
Take the journey... walk the path... remember that you are the landscape... learn to see... know that your eyes are the window to your soul and it is there... by seeing that the journey begins.
Buenos noches des San Miguel
Chris
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