San Rafael

On Tuesday the whole team, along with Common Hope{s construction crew, put up a house in San Rafael. This is the fourth house Common Hope has erected there. The village is indigenous and very poor--for some of our group this was their first encounter with chronic, unrelieved poverty and it{s sustained effects on a community. We stopped at Hands of Hope clinic, where more than sixry women and children were lined up waiting for medical care. Then we climbed up the hill to the building site.

The family for which we are building consists of a mother and father and five children. They are currently living in a corn stalk home with a kitchen area behind it. They have pigs, chickens and a dog or two--all living in close quarters. No sanitation system. Something of a latrine. Surrounded by extended family. One of the family has a bovine who is tied to a tree right in the yard.

We hammered lumber together and helped put the wall panels in place, assisted by three Guatemalan volunteers . Julio, our bus driver, pitched in. He, himself, had lost his home to a mudslide. A young man, whose education had been made possible by Common Hope, but who is not currently working, has been volunteering with us in an effort to give back. And another Guatemalan who was looking for something to do for a few days volunteered as well. Those three, along with Common Hope employees, Pablo and Felix and the boss, Mario, did most of the work! Still, Bill got the chance to instruct some of us novices, Alex, Jesse and Calder made good contributions, and we convinced Meghan and Niki that they could drive in nails. The rains held off until late afternooon.

I was in San Rafael a year ago with Pilgrim{s vision team. I found that in a year{s time, the people of San Rafael are more open and much less shy in the presence of volunteers. The mother in this family invited us in to see her old house from the inside. She made us beans and tortillas for lunch and the children scampered around us, eager for us to take their pictures.

It continues to rain in the afternoon and evening. Apparently there is another tropical storm brewing to the west. Common Hope staff is monitoring the situation and will help us make decisions related to our travels after we we leave them.

Today is Wednesday and we will return to San Rafael to finish the house and have a house blessing. This afternoon we will help here on Common Hope{s campus.