14 Families and 14 homes

Once again our building days are done and, I am up early, with time to reflect on the week.  While many things are familiar, the hotel, the food, the heat, the rocks, the view of the volcano, and the tools,  there is always new on every trip. The families are always new and this year I was able to hear the stories from the seven which our team built for.  I was uplifted that six of the seven had fathers who were present in the lives of there families and participated in our interviews.  Three were older and had been with there wives for many years while the other three were younger.  All the families had young children or grandchildren that would be living in the new houses. 

One of the older men had gone blind 7 years ago so his oldest son (9 at the time) had to take over supporting the family. I cannot imagine the hardships of being blind living on the side of a Rocky Mountain in a house with mud floors and I cannot imagine being nine and having the responsibility of feeding my family, and yet here they were and both had the ability to sit with us and even smile and laugh (especially when talking about their new house).   

Two of the younger fathers (Alberto and Dennis) were the hardest workers on our team and I was able to share many moments on the build sites with them. Dennis touched us all as during the interview he declared his devotion to his family and how he had seen other fathers leave, that the children were always most affected, and that he would not do this to his family.  Both of these young families thanked and gave praise to God for their new homes. 

There were many other differences and difficulties on this trip but none will be remembered outside of these families which have blessed our lives by sharing themselves with us. 

-Pat