Building a house for friends

I had been looking forward to building Edu’s house for weeks.  “I really hope it does not rain tomorrow,” I said to the Sisters at dinner.  The day arrived and it was cloudy but we did not have rain.  We built for a couple hours and then the rain started.  “Ah, shucks… cannot build more today”, I thought to myself.  What a shame, I thought, I would be without entertainment for the next few hours… then I looked at the face of Fatima, the mother, and I looked at the boys standing under a leaky lean-too, getting soaked by the rain and it hit me.  What was happening to them was real life… it was not a game.  They were standing under a leaky shelter because they did not have a house.  I repeat, this family of 6 did not have a house and the thought in my head was "aw shucks, its raining..."  I felt guilty and selfish and it stuck with me all week.

I can provide a little background on the family and the project.  The house belongs to Fatima, a 28 year old, hardworking mother of 5 who lives in the barrio debajo del puente.  Her youngest son, Edu, is one of our favorite students in Jardin and has made many appearances on the Blog in past entries.  The house for the family of 6 is not much bigger than a standard American bathroom… we’re talking 12 feet by 8 feet.  It has not had a roof for the past 2 months because of a large storm that blew it apart.  

When the house is in full, working condition there is no bathroom.  The inside contains a table and a few shelves on the wall (see right).  Water comes to the house through a garden hose.  Stolen electricity enters the house through long extension cords draped through trees in the neighborhood.  There are two graves immediately outside the home that, we assume, belong to babies who didn’t make it.  This house is one of thousands in exactly the same condition but it is different because we have formed relationships with these people.  They are our friends.  

 

First, it is really important to establish that the following is all possible because of donations we have received from friends and family.  Now, to the story... The project officially started with a "thud" when the hardware store’s truck got stuck in the mud while delivering bricks, sand and tin roofing.  I should mention that this barrio is not accessible by paved road.  When it rains, it is fairly inaccessible.  After being towed out of the mud by a much larger tractor, we got the supplies down to the barrio and delivered.  

Last Saturday we arrived to start work at 8:00 in the morning.  Home construction is different here than what we have back home.  Thank goodness for Rueben, who is the father of one of our friends here in Encarnacion, and works in house construction.  It is a long story but he used to live in the barrio and has strong connections to many of the families there.  He donated his time and made the whole project possible.  Anyhow, to the construction, our first task was in demolition - removing and cleaning old, used bricks from the damaged walls.  We took hammers and knocked old concrete off the bricks and sorted them into stacks – “real broke” and “kinda broke.”  I could tell, up front, this was going to be a unique experience.  Pieces of brick that were torn to nothing (and I thought were garbage) were making it to the pile to be used for the house (look at bricks on ground, at right).  After sorting and cleaning some bricks, we started building.  Reuben positioned long sticks in the corners of the house and connected the guides with fishing line, one brick height above the existing wall (you can see the guides in the picture on the right).  This fishing line served as a guide so as to keep the walls kind-of straight and relatively level.  We poured sand and concrete out on the floor of the house and added water to the middle of the compote.  Who needs a bucket when you have a floor?  It took a couple tries but I got pretty good at mixing concrete on the floor.  The walls went up slowly but eventually we got rained out.  As I previsouly mentioned, I was a little upset because my entertainment was over for the day.  Then the rain really started and the Sister came to pick me up to take me to the house.  “Put a coat on,” she said, “you don’t want to get sick.”  And so we left Edu, and his family, outside and in the rain.  All I could think about was how another week was passing without a house or a roof for that family.  In the meantime they are staying with another family in, I can imagine, another very small house not suited to accommodate the normal residents, much less 6 guests.  This is their life.

We were going to work again Saturday but then it rained.  Yesterday (Sunday) we returned and picked up where we left off.  After raising the walls it came time to find wood to serve as supports for the roof.  We dismantled the wall of an old, neighboring structure and used lumber, which was partially rotted on the outside but, with a little cutting, turned out to be pretty good.  We removed all the old and rusted nails but we did not throw them away.  Quite to the contrary, I spent the better part of an hour hunting the neighborhood for other old nails in the hard-packed dirt (they were all over the place AND kids are always barefoot).  I took the old, bent and rusted nails and straightened them out.  We used everyone when putting the supports up for the roof.  That is where the day ended – with walls up and supports prepared to hold a roof that will, weather permitting, be installed next Sunday.

There are a few bricks left over and they are planning on building a bathroom behind the house.  This will be a huge improvement because right now they use a hole covered with cardboard right next to the house.  We were in many a perilous position when building the house.  You are cautious when falling off makeshift ladders means not only falling but taking a bath in a home-made latrine.

In addition to building the house, this experience provided the unique opportunity of sharing a couple days with a family in the barrio.  Today a kid showed up with a live chicken.  Fatima, bought the chicken and anchored it to a table sitting outside her house.  She told me it would not be ready for Edu’s birthday (in August) but that it would be ready in September.  I asked her how much it cost… 10 mil guarani ($2.50 USD).  I also asked her how much a chicken in the supermarket cost… 20 mil guarani ($5.00 USD).  I cannot imagine a situation where $2.50 is worth raising a chicken attached to a string for two months.  

Inevitably, because it is Paraguay, home construction (or anything for that matter) involves sharing yerba mate.  It is a rich cultural tradition and we did our fair share of mate sharing (left).  

So, a few of my conclusions/things I learned/ or was reminded of through this experience and my relationships with families under the bridge: 

1.  If possible get out and volunteer with those who really need it.  Building long-term relationships with people who are suffering provides them with support but it also provides you a point of contrast that makes counting your blessings or thanking God for your life situation much more meaningful.

2.  Recognize that, when you are doing well in life, you cannot claim 100% responsibility for that position.  You owe a lot of that to luck, family and place.  There are other people who landed in other situations, through no control of their own, with the same inherent skills and smarts you got with a much different life result.  I cannot tell you how many times I have said, "If this person were just in a different situation, they would be able to..."

3.  Putting forth an honest effort, even when you aren't very good at something, makes an impression.  I had no idea what I was doing building that house but I moved bricks, stirred concrete and tried to help.  I have no idea how to speak Guarani and Spanish is not all that easy but people like it when you try.