Day 4: House Blessings, Cries and Goodbyes

We started today off with the usual early, early morning wake up call.  After our hearty breakfast of beans, eggs, pancakes and fruit, (mom would be proud of my diet) we headed off to a community that we worked on in the past and see how the families are doing.  It was amazing to see the thankfulness, joy and gratitude that the families gave us  as soon as they saw us.  Some of the children jumped up and down and could not wait to greet us as soon as we were in eyesight.  Building houses doesn't just save a family from homelessness.  It creates hopes and dreams for the families.  Seeing the houses and the adjustments they made to them to make them more homey impacted my life because I realized we weren't just building houses,  they were for a specific family that has their own unique personality.  It's easy to forget why you are doing something once the work is hard and fatigue settles.      The house I visited had three children and their parents.  The girl wanted to be a nurse and the older brother wanted to be a truck driver.  The youngest brother just enjoyed playing with his sister and brother without a care in the world.  The home that people built for them in the past allowed the mother to raise her children without as many worries giving them the opportunity to dream of their futures. The children have the ability to focus on their dreams and achieve them.

Later we headed off the the houses to finish the job with a blessing.  After the houses were blessed the families thanked us with tears and kind words.  It's amazing how much a person can say without words.  This whole week, we could barely understand anything they were communicating but somehow we shared a bond and that bond was hard to leave.  After hugs and tears we left the families.  The girls would do their typical "AWWWSS" every time a child would hug someone, look at someone, or even breathe.  I guess it's adorable.  Andrew had an especially touching goodbye but I'll leave that to him to talk about.

This week has been a blessing not only to the families we helped, but also to us from the families.

Greetings From Groupo De Caca!!!

We usually clog but today we shall blog! Yup you guessed it, we are El Groupo de Caca (slash the latrine team). Our first day of poop duty was not quite as glorious as most others, and it wasn't just because we were building a latrine. Our group, as well as house three, did not have an opportunity to really get to know the family we were building for. The only member of the family that was present was the dad, off and on, and two neighbor kids. One of the little pieces of information we were able to learn about them, was that the boy's name is Carlos and he is 15. Our group also had a translator, which was very nice because of our not so wonderful Spanish speaking abilities. Although this was helpful, it made it harder for us to connect with Amilcar, who was the one who actually knew what he was doing, unlike the rest of us.

However, today the caca smelled a little better (interpret as you will)! :) This morning, during a little bit of down time, we were able to interact a little with the kids. It started off as little splashing of some water which lead to: pretend sword fights with shovels and leaves, baseball with tiny rocks, new hair accessories (first dead weeds, then dead flower pedals, and finally 4 beautiful hand picked flowers),  new nicknames, actual conversation, and laughter and friendship. Although at first it was harder to connect with the kids, we needed to remember that they are just like any teenagers you know and you can't just go up and tickle them in the tummy to gain their friendship. We left the worksite with a new perspective on latrine work, new friends and a back full of water. 

Amilcar takning a... break ;)

Luckily, we did not only connect with the kids, but also with Amilcar. Today we did not have a translator working directly with us. Because of this, he had to either speak in very very very slow Spanish or act out what he need or wanted us to do. This lead to us laughing at him and him laughing at us. As the day went along, we were able to understand each other more and laugh and joke around together. We think this connection started when Amilcar clearly wanted help lifting a very heavy platform and no one was coming to help, so we told him "Nosotros estamos muy furete!" (We are very strong). We were able to convince him by a few flex poses, and using the power of 3 ladies, we got the job done. ;) Our friendship increased through, multiple selfies, broken Spanish interpretations, funny poop pictures, and finally seeing his true personality and getting to share ours with him. At the end of the day we learned the true meaning of caca....caca sticks together!!! :D

Can you guess where we are?

Much love,

Buenos Dias (if you are Lilly) Noches (if you are any other member of the caca club!)

Nichole Loosbrock, Lilly Timmermeyer, Emily Fendt, and part-time member Connor Sabatka :)

It is in giving that we receive...

Today was our first day constructing houses. When we arrived at our worksite, (house #2) our group was greeted by the woman who we were building the house for and her family. Immediately she embraced each one of us, even though she did not know us, she was already grateful for the work we had not yet done.

We worked for the majority of the morning, and just before lunch, the receiving family brought us slices of watermelon. The extreme level of poverty that these people live in everyday hit me hard. I could not believe that anyone could live like this. This family has nothing and yet they gave us all they could offer. Even thought they lived in such devastating conditions they were happy. It made me think how grateful I am for all the blessings in my life. Today I was reaffirmed that happiness does not exist in material processions, but in the little gifts from God and our human interaction. It is in giving of ourselves through loving others that we receive and share in the joy of Christ's love. Even if we have nothing, we have God.

-Brady Fehringer

Who's Helping Who?

Who's Helping Who?

By Sydney Dickson

Photos Provided by Nichole Loosbrock 

In the coming days we will build five houses. The missionaries (us) will build three of those houses with help from some Unbound staff members and the remaining two houses will be built completely by Unbound staff members as they are in a less safe area of El Salvador. In building these houses, we are blessing poor families with things they have never had before such as dependable shelter, peace of mind and more importantly we are showing them the love of God by going far beyond our comfort zones. They are eternally grateful, but this should not be the case. Instead, us, as missionaries, should be the thankful ones. We receive things, I would argue, to be almost as important as a dependable home to live in. First and foremost, is a glimpse of the world outside of the "BC bubble." Secondly, by leveling ourselves to that of the El Salvadorians we experience a deep sense of humility. We build houses that could be done by others much faster than us in order to serve those that love and are loved by God as much as we are. The core of this whole experience is to help people, which is most definitely accomplished in manifold ways on this trip. The locals are doing so much more for us than they could possibly imagine. I believe I speak for all of us when I say, we should be thanking them. 

Bienvenidos Queridos Padrinos

     



Adventures in Tacuba

They presented a number of traditional El Salvadoran dances to welcome us to their community.

 Add a little live music and you get a dance party!

"Lo siento por la silla!" -- "I'm sorry for the chair"

Hey guys, my name is Landon and I am a freshman. So on every trip there is always that "one guy" who tends to break nearly everything. Turns out...I took the reigns on that one. This morning we took out on the adventure to Tacuba to have Sunday Mass. Little did we know we would be graciously welcomed by the entire community with balloons, flowers, and lots of love. After Mass, we went across the street to a local restaurant to have lunch. Throughout our lunch conversation I decided to try and demonstrate something we had seen before to the table behind me, and somehow managed to snap the leg of the chair landing on the floor in my broken chair and shattered pride. The next step was mustering up the courage to tell the wonderful owner that I was sorry for breaking her plastic chair. With much embarrassment, and after thorough rehearsal I was able to get out the words, "Lo siento por la silla."

As uncomfortable as that situation was, being nearly praised for the work which we haven't even started was way more out comfort zones. Throughout the welcome celebration in Tacuba they kept referring to us as their "padrinos" which translates to "Godfathers" (sponsors). This unmerited title made all of us feel unworthy, because these people were those whom we don't understand, have never seen before, and may never see again and they are treating us like royalty. The issue of discomfort was the main topic of our evening discussions.

After dinner, we gather around in a circle and share the graces we received and the struggles we had throughout the day. Tonight the only thing bothering our minds was this sense of unworthiness. We decided to take a step back and consider why we receive this praise. The returning volunteers stated how here in El Salvador, when missionaries visit, they are seen as representing all the sponsors back in the states. This fact did not ease the minds of everyone, because they felt that personally they've still done nothing.

Pondering this in my head, it sparked a huge remembrance of my New Evangelization class this semester where we focus on mission and the Church. In the class we talked about how Christ is the perfect missionary. I pointed out that as we are here serving in El Salvador, we must remember that we are only able to be on mission because Christ has already died for his bride. His death on the cross is what sends us out in to the world and gives our mission purpose. Relating this to our day, we must remember who these natives are really thanking; Christ. This praise bothers us because we think we are unworthy, and we are unworthy...without Christ. We must remove ourselves from the forefront and place Christ where He belongs; right there to receive all the glory. Our day full of discomfort turned out to be like the roses we now held in our hands; a simple expression of their love and gratitude for us, but a reminder that God loves us enough to allow us to experience the beauty of His church.

Bienvenidos a El Salvador!

¡HOLA TODOS PERSONAS!


We made it!! Hanging out right now in beautiful El Sal. From 2-freakin-thirty in the morning until now, a lot has happened!

Here are some snippets from today:

When asked what the favorite part of her day was, Miss Hangy (Hannah Manganaro) replied, "My favorite part of the day was swinging on the swings with everybody because even though everyone wasn't participating everyone was laughing together and having a good time."

K-Richster (Katherine Rich) loves to eat.  Her quote of the day - "Chikys!  Chickys are heaven in a little wrapper."

And what does NatStack (Natalie Malone) want to tell her family and friends about her experience thus far??  She says it is "overwhelming but amazing.  When the flight attendants were speaking Spanish - I realized that we weren't in America anymore.  This is real!"

Landawggy (Landon Downing) says that he is "most looking forward to meeting Christ in the kids.  It has been my most prominent prayer lately.  When I look into their eyes, not seeing them as different than me but seeing Christ in them.  Interacting with them and growing in virtue through that."

Well, we are all pretty tired tonight from our travels and lack of zzzz's.   We promise to write more in the future and by future we mean mañana!

Hasta luego amigos!

- LeAnna, Caitlin and Hannah K.