When I returned from Kenya in August, I was happy and satisfied. Traveling always gives me a feeling of adventure, but I was ready to “settle down” for a while! However, that was not in the cards…
Shortly before I went to Africa, a good friend called with a request: would I be willing to take over leadership of a team she was planning to lead to Thailand in October? Wow. A 14,000 mile journey in August followed by a 17,000 mile trip in October? Could I survive? Well, might as well try. 🙂
This was a great way to get me “out of Africa” and into volunteering in additional destinations! I’m thankful that it turned out as it did. We had a small but mighty team that spent 2 weeks in Phuket building, helping, touring and taking it all in. It was also the first time I had “repeat volunteer” on a trip – what a great experience!
I know, I know! Eldama Ravine AGAIN? Well, yes. 🙂
I was scheduled to build in Kenya in March of 2013, but unfortunately that trip was cancelled due to uncertainty around the upcoming Presidential elections. You may recall that in 2008, there were riots following the December 2007 elections, which led to a humanitarian crisis. Habitat for Humanity made the difficult decision to cancel our scheduled trip based on an analysis of safety. Thankfully, those concerns turned out to be for naught as the elections were relatively peaceful. Nevertheless, it left me without a trip!
Around this same time, the folks at Habitat for Humanity Kenya were reevaluating their program and were planning to put hosting of international volunteer programs on hold in order to focus their efforts in other ways. When I learned that it might be some time before teams would be returning to Kenya, I quickly found one of the remaining teams and joined what turned out to be the last team of the year!
This time we worked in a different area of town relative to my first two trips, so the experience was new for us all. We met Dinah John, an elderly woman who cared for her orphaned grandchildren when there were not attending boarding school. Over the course of a week, we laughed, cried, danced and sang with our new community. Simon and Stanley, with the help of occasional translation and usual jokes from Eric, taught us to mix mortar, lay bricks and plumb corners of the house. We chatted and played with the kids and ate delicious meals (ugali! chapati! mandazi!) prepared by the women of the community.
What a team. What a country!
Yes, that’s right! On the way home from my first Global Village build, I immediately wanted to do it again. 🙂 I wanted to return to Kenya in order to form deeper relationships with the people there. As luck would have it, I ended up in the very same community!
Returning to Eldama Ravine was amazing. When I walked into the hotel, the friends I made just a few months ago shared huge smiles and warm hugs, welcoming me “back home”. We chatted about what had changed and what had stayed the same. We ate the same food, drank the same boxed wine, played pool to the sounds of Toto just like before… Yet this was definitely a new experience. A new group of volunteers who would become friends, a new family, and plenty of new insights.
This was also a special build because it was my first Thanksgiving volunteer trip! Although I missed being home, my new friends made this an experience to remember, and one to be shared on these pages soon. 🙂
Details of my time at the Tashi Chime Gatsal Nunnery coming soon!
In December 2015, I worked with One Small House and a team of amazing volunteers in Tijuana helping three families into new homes they desperately needed. Below, you’ll meet the families we were able to help.
Meet The Families
The first family we built for is the Guzman family. At the time of the trip, this family comprised Jose Antionio Juarez Guzman, who is 79 years old, his 89 year old wife, Maria Treinidad Medina and their son Jose Manuel Valezuela Medina, who is 53 years old. The wife and son in this family are completely blind, and the father has extremely poor vision (blind in one eye and hardly sees out of the other). As a result, the family is unable to work and survives off of the kindness of neighbors. Sadly, they had been living in a decrepit home that hardly protected them from the weather. Our goal was to provide them with a safe, warm home this winter.
In addition, we were also building a home for one of their neighbors, who help the Guzman family – in fact two families who are currently living under the same “roof.” Although it is their home, their current house is in terrible condition. Living here are Alejandro Feliciano Diaz (39 years old), his wife, Yolando Guzman (40 years old), their son, Jesus Alejandro (2 years old), along with Benjamin Leyva Romero (27 years old), his wife Griselda Maldonado (26 years old) and their two children, Jesus Maria Leyva (4 years old) and Cristopher Nicolas Leyva (3 years old). Benjamin and Alejandro are cousins and this large family will benefit greatly from your support his December.
