and the day begins

We're sitting down for breakfast so I thought I would try to give a quick update.  Yesterday was another great day of building.  Before the build we all needed some medical care - thankfully we have 3 nurses on the team!  All this digging, even with gloves, caused quite thee blisters.  Amanda got me taped up for the day :)

Ready to dig again!

 What we are doing is digging.....a LOT of digging!  We are digging the ditches for the seed house (or starter house) for two of the families and on the house we're working on, we're digging trenches for the foundation for an addition.  The way Habitat works over here is that the family/home owner is actually responsible for the build - they have to get the materials, they work with architect and they do the building and constructions work.  They are so incredibly grateful to get the help from volunteers.  It has been so much fun to talk to the home owners - there are 4 of us Habitat volunteers working on our particular house (Me,Cory, Julia and Doug).  This house belongs to Nester and his wife Maria.  They have one little girl - Margarena and one on the way.  Luckily, Doug speaks enough spanish to help translate conversations with Nester.  Nester has realized all he has to say to get our attention is to say the word cerveza :)

A few quick pictures - here is Doug supervising Cory's work.

Nester and Margarena

Team "Nester"

We also went on a tour of the neighborhood - which are almost all Habitat houses.  It was a very emotional outing for all involved.  The home owners took such pride in their homes and had continued to keep them updated.  Many of the people who already build their homes continue to help build other homes even though they have no obligation to do so.  One woman was so moved by Habitiat when they helped build her home she now volunteers as a team leader.  We spoke with one woman, Blanca, who became very emotional as she showed us her house.  She was overwhelmed with gratitude for us being out there.  It was a Global Village team that also helped build her house 4 years ago.  We met and talked with about 7 different families and it was a moving experience for all of us.

Here is Elana (our local coordinator) and Blanca as she tells us about her house.

Okay, gotta run as the bus will be here shortly to take us to the work site.  More to follow.