Paraguay Team Blog

A Habitat Home Dedication

On the last day, we gathered at the job site for the dedication ceremony. This ceremony is such a special time for everyone involved in Habitat. We not only celebrate a new home but this ceremony symbolically represents a new life for this family. You can see the depth of emotion as the family expresses their gratitude to Habitat and to the volunteers that traveled so far to help them fulfill this dream. They gave each of us a handmade gift and we were able to share one of our local traditions offering the family a hand sewn, brightly colored quilt made by the Eagle River Presbyterian Quilters group. The family embraced their new bible from Habitat and told us of their dreams for their family. There was not a dry eye in the ‘house’.

During the week we were building we experienced several weather and material delays which prevented the walls from being fully completed as our group would have liked. The Paraguayan workers were not at all flustered by the delays and knew the home would be completed properly and in due time. It was a nice little lesson in acceptance and a good example of the ‘South American’ peaceful pace. 

It’s the people that make Habitat work!

It takes an amazing person to travel 5,000 miles to help a family they’ve never met. It also takes an amazing person to help build their own home while working a full time job and raising their family in a difficult living situation. When you bring all these people together, incredible things transpire!

I love my job with Habitat for Humanity. Anyone in the valley that knows me (and even those that don’t know me!) have heard me say ‘I love my job’. My work allows me to meet the most incredible people from all different walks of life and to help bring those people together to work for a common goal. Like I said, it is a powerful thing. This trip to Paraguay allowed me to experience Habitat as a worldwide program bringing further depth to the diversity while maintaining that common goal. I met yet another amazing family that stepped beyond their comfort zone of daily life and chose to help build their own home for the purpose of creating a better future for their children. I have seen Partner Families thrive here in the valley and now I’ve seen it happen in one of the most impoverished countries in the world. It was not a sad experience but a time of celebration. The Paraguayan people we met are highly motivated. They believe in education as a key to the success of their country. Statistically, Paraguay is the 3^rd poorest country in South America, yet has the highest literacy rate. That impresses me and motivates me to work harder so we can help more families here and around the world. This international build trip has definitely strengthened my commitment to Habitat and helped me appreciate all of the people and opportunities that I have in my life.

Blog 5:  Habitat for Humanity International – Paraguay

Day four started out like our other days with the group falling into rhythm with the routine, breakfast in the hotel at 7, meet in the lobby at 7:30, pile into Miguel’s van for a Super Mario-like drive through down town, and finally over the Rio Paraguay and on to the job site in rural Paraguay. This morning we stopped at a very small, dilapidated store that was full of miscellaneous building supplies (a kind of rustic Paraguayan Home Depot minus the Depot and without much for the Home). We waited around for a while and finally Claudia, along with the new Habitat Paraguay architect, and a couple of the other Habitat Paraguay volunteers showed up. After a lengthy conversation with the building supply shop owner, and a couple of phone call by Claudia back to HQ, and ultimately the transfer from Ben to the shop owner of the US equivalent of 100 dollars in Guarani brought smiles to everyone’s faces. Soon the small convoy was underway to the job site again. Once back in the van, Claudia explained to the group, that the two small concrete bridges that Patrick had organized to replace the currently dilapidated wooden bridges connecting the house site to the road, and spanning the open drainage ditch in front (and funded by a small consortium within our group and led by Ben), had been the source of the material delay the day before; as well as the topic of all the conversations at the supply shop. Since the bridge was not in the original plan or budget, but an order was placed for the additional material, the supply shop owner decided to suspend all further deliveries to the job site until he got paid, in cash, for the change order- welcome to construction in the third world. On the bright side, the group did get a lot of mileage out of Ben’s new Paraguayan bridge building company.

Once things were sorted out and the needed materials were back on the job site, we were able to get back to the business of building a house. The whole group started by transferring materials from the road in front of the house where they had been dropped, to wherever the masons would need them on the job site. What in the states that would be accomplished in a few minutes with a small loader, in Paraguay became an extremely labor intensive task. Yards and yards of materials were moved around the job site in two gallon bucket loads, one shovel full at a time. This undertaking was made considerably faster by Patrick’s recruitment of 8 or 10 of the local kids. By adding 6 eight year olds to our bucket line we were able to double our efficiency and the piles of dirt and ruble on the street that we were using for fill shrank at a slow but satisfying pace. By 1:30 pm the little bit of cloud cover we had in the morning was gone and the temperature in the sun was in the mid to high nineties. This necessitated a slower pace that combined with the kids heading back to school for afternoon classes, dramatically slowed the afternoon progress. By 3:30 however, all the material had been moved to where it needed to be, and we had caught up with the masons, providing the perfect stopping point for what we all felt was a very productive day. Stopping a little early also gave us the opportunity to stop by the Habitat house that Corey and Amanda had worked on the previous year, and gives the group a chance to see what our house will look like when it was done. Being able to see what the finished product looked like and comparing it to the small shack that our family was currently living in was the high point of the day for Maddi and me. The pride that the family obviously took in their new home, from the neatness on the inside, to the plantings and landscaping that the family was doing on the outside was very moving and really confirmed to Maddi and I that we were making a huge difference in a family’s life. The day finished up with a debrief at the hotel, followed by dinner and then a field trip, led by Corey, to see the night life of downtown Asuncion; and finally bed.

Blog 4: Habitat for Humanity International – Paraguay

What an adventure so far. Our build is coming along, but today brought some unexpected frustration. Our morning started after a wonderful group dinner with our Paraguayan friends, Claudia, Miguel and Charles. But, as it goes in South America, our dinner did not end until 12:00 pm. Our alarms went off at 6:30 am and off we were, tired as could be, to the build site. The temperature today was a solid 10 degrees warmer than the previous 2 days which was hard on our already tired bodies. We arrived at the site and were graciously greeted by Gilberto (the soon-to-be homeowner), his smile ear to ear, joy gleaming from his excitement at the thought of his new home. We started moving wheelbarrows and buckets of dirt to make cement for the masons and to fill in the first layer of the floor of the home. In Paraguay very little is left at the end of the build so we used the dirt from the foundation to start filling in the floors. Although it doesn’t sound like hard work, the 95 degree heat and being bent over all day with a shovel was tough on our crew. But, everyone plowed through and we enjoyed some homemade empanadas for lunch.

Over the course of the past few days the neighborhood boys have been watching, from outside the fence that surrounds our build site. After lunch, as we were moving more dirt, the boys circled around Patrick. With a smile on his face he nodded to them to come on over. Before we knew it we had eight little boys building with us, watching our every move and working side by side. The boys would repeat what he would say in an effort to learn a few American words (English is rare in the Chaco in Paraguay) and laugh at our poor attempts to speak in Guarani. By the end of the afternoon we sat in the shade, laughing at one another, giving thumbs up and taking photos, while watching their excitement over our digital cameras and pictures on our iPhones. The experience was incredible, leaving us with an unexpected and unique experience with the Paraguayan children. That afternoon we also got some bad news that the supply truck was behind schedule and our next round of supplies was not going to be arriving that afternoon. Our build pace has been above average and we were up to par with the masons so we decided to leave the site a bit early and head back to town.

On our way home, Steve mentioned that he wanted to stop at the leather store he had been eyeing each day. We entered the shop and before we knew it, Steve had purchased a horse saddle, stirrups, a rope and riding crop and Kristi had custom ordered three hand-made belts, complete with holsters and pockets. It was such an amazing experience to watch the leather worker, on the sewing machine, making each piece in the store by hand with a foot run sewing machine. The rest of our ride home was filled with laughter and story-telling.

After dinner we ventured out to see the town and enjoy the street vendors. We sat at a café, enjoyed some Paraguayan beer and delicious desserts and mused over our day. The people of Paraguay are incredibly friendly and are very fascinated by Americans. We made a few new friends and exchanged many smiles. Most of our crew retired for the night and a few of us went to see a live band. The band was so much fun, the South American music radiating throughout the venue, the young dancers vibrant with excitement and energy. We watched as the room filled with energy, sat back and enjoyed the show.

Blog 3: Habitat for Humanity International - Paraguay

Nancy:

After a physically exhausting and rewarding day yesterday, we only worked until 12:30 moving bricks, carrying buckets of sand to the mason to make into cement, and then carrying the buckets of cement to the masons to lay the brick. While they had their lunch, we had some time to take a short walk around the neighborhood. The neighbors seem to be getting used to us and greet us with an “hola” and come by the worksite to checkout the activity. We had an awesome lunch of empanadas and then a "field trip" to Las Colinas... that being the reason for the short workday. And what a field trip it was.

Habitat Paraguay has helped, and continues to help, the people in this very poor area by loaning them money to help fix up their homes.  The government owns the land and won't take it away from them if they have been there for ten years but they do have to pay back the loan.

Our first stop was to a daycare which is free to the families as they can't afford to pay. Some of the children were outgoing and interacted with us while others were very shy. They were having their snack of milk and bread, sometimes their only meal other than milk for breakfast if their parents can't provide any dinner. Heartbreaking to me when I think of children going without, but oddly enough they were happy... laughing and playing just like any other kids.

We toured a few homes that had benefited from Habitat's help turning a one room house into a two bedroom or a tarp "house" into one with walls, roof, and a toilet. They need so much more but Rome wasn't build in a day. This trip has changed me and I am so proud to be a member of the Habitat Paraguay team.  

Ben:

Tired; hit the fan big time today. I haven't done physical labor in a long time and the first full day took a lot out of both of us. I was grateful we only had a half day at the work site. We still got a fair amount done, more bricks moved, more sand piles transferred from point A to point B. Make no mistake, it's the physical labor that gets a person in touch with the project at hand. Hours of shoveling and moving earthen bricks, sand and cement and the results to this body are what this experience is all about. The construction is not an intellectual exercise. Tired is how you know you've helped someone help themselves.

Las Colinas:  the afternoon was spent at a ten year old community that, with the help of the government (donated land) and Habitat Paraguay, has begun in a significant way to help itself improve the lives of those that live there. There is still a long way to go.

We were introduced to several of the town's people and were afforded the opportunity to see the homes that were either improved or built with the help of Habitat. Lots of children living in what we certainly think of as poverty. We met two women who each had six children. The kids seemed happy and energetic. Is a one bedroom home for six an improvement?  In Las Colinas the answer is a clear yes. What was a slum is now a community. Where there was nothing there is now a start. If one does the math, this neighborhood will need a lot more homes in the future. We are doing the work for one home. Tired hit the fan of my imagination today, too.

Blog 2: Habitat for Humanity International - Paraguay

Blood, sweat, and tears... and it´s only day one.

The 55 hour trip from Vail, of which only 14 hours were spent on a plane, seemed challenging at the time. Most of our particular travel group of five had only met days earlier, so there was a certain amount of pride involved in maintaining a calm and collected attitude. That now seems like the easy part.

When we arrived at the jobsite, a day late due to the weather delays, we saw that the local masons who we would be assisting had already made good progress. Plàcido, Juan and Luis had mostly finished digging the trenches for the footers of the 527 square foot home. The "only" thing left for us to do that day was move materials from their drop site on the road onto the jobsite... about 10,000 pounds of bricks, 5,000 pounds of basketball-sized rocks, and a couple tons of sand for the cement mix. When does the skid-loader arrive? Where are the laborers? Can we at least find a tire for the one wheelbarrow?

After a short time fumbling around, we developed a pretty  good system getting everything moved. We placed a layer of the big rocks in the 2 foot deep trenches and the masons began adding cement and more big rocks. This proceeded into the afternoon until finally we were out of rocks to move. I imagine I wasn’t the only one to thank heaven that we were out of materials. I was the only one to curse the truck that showed up late in the day with another couple tons of rock. A real buzz-kill. As we loaded each other up with arm-loads of stones, Ben, Steve and I kicked around many ideas to bring in all types of mechanized equipment... all quite unreasonable and outlandish. I’ve worked in the building industry for nearly ten years at home in Vail. As I staggered back and forth in the steamy heat, what echoed through my head all day was the many times I’ve said "We need to finish this pronto... you can take a break later."

We had an extremely challenging first day. Had I been there alone, I would not have been nearly as productive. This group of people I had only just met were incredibly dedicated to this cause and that certainly pushed me to accomplish more. We maintained a great attitude with humor, emotional support and positive encouragement. I know I was certainly pushed by my own pride, thinking that I at least needed to keep up with 14 year old Maddi and also with Nancy, who is nearly my mother’s age. We moved tons of material and accomplished a lot, just to bring the house up to ground level. If I’m going to make it through this week, it will be because of this incredible group of women and men.

Blog 1: Habitat for Humanity International - Paraguay

We've got the right team. 

I had the opportunity to learn a lot about the group participating this year's local Habitat for Humanity's International Build program on our journey to Paraguay. Nine locals volunteered to travel to the Southern Hemisphere with the Eagle and Lake County Chapter to build a home for a family in need. Though the trip took nearly 60 hours from Vail to Asuncion, the excitement didn't wane. The icy and snow packed roads on  the morning of Oct. 23^rd were thought to be the worst part of the trip, but then tornadoes in Dallas canceled our flights connecting us from Denver to Sao Paulo, and long lay overs made for some weary travelers, but it also gave us a chance to get to know each other, and a chance for me to realize that this was a pretty special group of people...to endure all this, yet still be excited to build a family a home half way across the world.

Our team:

Amanda Precourt  - Our fearless leader, who set up the International Build program for the local HFHELC chapter (Habitat for Humanity Eagle and Lake Counties) never wavered from being in charge, even thru lack of sleep, canceled flights and dealing with uncooperative airline reservation agents.  She’s traveled extensively and giving back to these communities truly is a passion of hers.    

Ben and Nancy Broder – both are retired and Nancy is active in the Fox Hollow Project in Edwards.  Talk about dedication, Nancy has volunteered every single Thursday this past summer.  She came out several days throughout their Woman Build week and since she'd gained so much experience over those three months, she became a group leader and inspired other women to take part in such a male dominated field.  Ben simply said he signed up for the 10 day adventure because “he can’t trust his wife alone”!  But we couldn’t have accomplished what we did without Ben’s leadership.  He and Nancy have been a great addition to our team and we’re glad to have them here.        

Steve Conlin and daughter Maddi - raising his hand for the highest bid during a live auction at the Evergreen Ball this summer lead the father-daughter team to South America. This veterinarian from Eagle hopes to instill the spirit of giving at a young age to his two children.  Maddi, a 14-year-old at Vail Mountain School has been excited for months to take this journey, was busy asking the Local HFH leader, Claudia, many questions since she is going to utilize this experience for a school project.

Corey Lamothe -  a returning member from last year, which is quite a testament to the program if she is taking time to volunteer and travel all this way once again to serve.  She says this is incredible cultural and learning experience and that sometimes we take for granted everything we have and it’s rewarding to see how much appreciation the family and community have for the volunteers. 

Kristi Moon - Marketing Director for Habitat.  She’s excited to see the international side of the organization.  The part she likes best about the job – domestic or internationally - is meeting the family.  To be able to build alongside a family means a lot to her.

Patrick Zimmerman – A former house builder himself in the Vail Valley, and no stranger to building homes for HFHELC at Fox Hollow, he travels internationally quite a bit and we are counting on him for his language skills since he seems to be the most fluent between all of us.

Paraguay, which is home to six million people and roughly the size of California, is the third poorest country in South America, yet its literacy rate is the highest.  Just outside of the capital city of Asuncion is where our group will be working for the week, building a modest brick and mortar home for a family of four.  The father is a police man and the mother is a teacher. This local chapter of Asuncion aims to house teachers through Habitat build programs due to their goal of keeping teachers close to their schools.  Teachers make around $300 per month and these families go through a similar selection process as our local chapter, which takes about six months.  Ability to pay, need, and sweat equity are taken into consideration, as well as home education classes which will help the families stay on track for successful home ownership.

Three professional masons will be helping our group and the home we are building is approximately 527 square feet and costs about $6,340 USD.  Tomorrow is our first day, jet lag is setting in; we are three hours ahead of Mountain Standard Time, and we hope to give you a glimpse into what we are experiencing here in SA and encourage you to join your local chapter of Habitat.  A little travel, hard work and an adventure can make an enormous difference in a family's life.