Up to this point, our El Salvador trip has essentially been a cultural tour. We've seen the remnants of the war; we've been exposed to the poverty; we've grown to learn more about this unique culture that still values family, friendship, and community, much like ours.
We didn't talk much about what was coming, perhaps out of fear.
Then, it was Monday morning, and we took a bus to the edge of Ahuachapan. The roads were narrow, hilly, and far from the straight roads with intersections and stop lights we were used to. And then we turned onto an even bumpier dirt road. After a few more minutes of twists and turns smattered with small homesteads of various sizes and conditions, we arrived at our stop. Literally the bus stopped in the middle of the road with barely room for pedestrians on either side.
We then learned what exactly we would be doing. After meeting the family whose house we would be beginning, a polite but shy group of people led by Señor Hector, we met our site bosses and started working. There were actually two AUMC groups (along with a third group of non-AUMC persons) working on three projects all within a 30 second walk of each other. The first AUMC group was to start digging trenches for the concrete foundation of the new house while the second smaller group was assigned to help spruce up a house recently completed by Habitat El Salvador (this mostly involved moving a giant pile of dirt).
The digging and shoveling and pick axing were grueling and the hot sun and humidity did not help, but we were all amazed by how hard each of us was working. We functioned as living dirt-moving organisms and began to get to know the people we were working beside. It's been exhausting and incredible, and it has only been two days.
More pictures to follow. Wifi is a bit spotty, and there isn't a whole lot of down time.
We didn't talk much about what was coming, perhaps out of fear.
Then, it was Monday morning, and we took a bus to the edge of Ahuachapan. The roads were narrow, hilly, and far from the straight roads with intersections and stop lights we were used to. And then we turned onto an even bumpier dirt road. After a few more minutes of twists and turns smattered with small homesteads of various sizes and conditions, we arrived at our stop. Literally the bus stopped in the middle of the road with barely room for pedestrians on either side.
We then learned what exactly we would be doing. After meeting the family whose house we would be beginning, a polite but shy group of people led by Señor Hector, we met our site bosses and started working. There were actually two AUMC groups (along with a third group of non-AUMC persons) working on three projects all within a 30 second walk of each other. The first AUMC group was to start digging trenches for the concrete foundation of the new house while the second smaller group was assigned to help spruce up a house recently completed by Habitat El Salvador (this mostly involved moving a giant pile of dirt).
The digging and shoveling and pick axing were grueling and the hot sun and humidity did not help, but we were all amazed by how hard each of us was working. We functioned as living dirt-moving organisms and began to get to know the people we were working beside. It's been exhausting and incredible, and it has only been two days.
More pictures to follow. Wifi is a bit spotty, and there isn't a whole lot of down time.
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