The Student Becomes The Teacher

  Wow! Today has just been incredible, it's hard to even put it into words. The weather was beautiful, the scenery was beautiful, the people were beautiful. Every year that I come back to El Salvador the beauty blows me away just as it did the first time.

  Today we were building in the community of San Jacinto. Myself and Christine have found our groove on Team Verde (green), hammering circles into squares and drilling holes into the trusses that will support the roof the house. I found my rhythm fairly quickly asI remembered doing something like this the previous 2 years I was here.

  While building the first house today, for a family of three (dad, mom and son), I met a boy named Gustavo. It took me a minute to realize that he was the boy receiving the house we were building. He so desperately wanted to be a part of the building process, but could get in to her dig the holes or out together the walls. So he came over alongside me and I was able to teach him how to use the drill.  He was so excited to learn, and so passionate about being a part of building this home for his family. I was so impressed with how hard he was working and how fast he was learning. It started out with me teaching him, and by the end he was pointing out my mistakes and correcting them. And just like that the student became the teacher!

  For the rest of the day, this boy followed me around everywhere I went. He followed me every time switched tools, when I walked back and fourth between the work sites, and even sat right by my side as I played with the other kids. At first it seemed kind of funny to me, but on second thought it just reminded me that even simple gestures can leave a huge impact on someone else's life.

Brittany