Real Building

A week or two ago I was fortunate enough to go out into “the field” to take part in a Habitat build with one of our volunteer groups. For those of you who have been curious to know a bit more about the building process and what I do for Habitat for Humanity, your wait is over!

In a nutshell (and in a perfect world) the process is quite simple:

1) A team decides it wants to partake in a Habitat building activity in Guatemala. Teams can be young, old, mixed, youth groups, school trips, previous volunteers who want to return as a leader of their own group, etc. The sky is the limit pretty much.

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      2) The team leader is put in touch with our office here in Guatemala and when we find a date and location that fit the team they have the great pleasure of working with me. I help organize/coordinate their work/travel itinerary, budget for paying for this awesome trip they are about to embark on, hotel arrangements, transport, etc.

      3) The team arrives in country ready to rock ‘n roll and one of our Field Coordinators joins them out into the field to accompany them on their trip/build. Traditionally I don’t partake in this part, but rather pass them on to another Habitat member who reaps the benefits of living like a Rock Star out on the road.

(Worksite, notice the beefcake in green surveying the land)

(Laying brick on a traditional Habitat House)

Anyhow, this past week we had a particularly large group come to Guatemala to partake in a build out in Zacapa, a municipality out in the eastern part of Guatemala near the Honduran border locally renowned for their particularly tasty hard dry cheese and hand crafted cigars. While I didn't have the pleasure in partaking in either, or seeing much beyond our hotel and the work site for that matter, my lasting memory of Zacapa was the heat. However, I had a great time getting out into the field with my first Habitat group and getting my hands dirty as I took part each day in doing some building. Unfortunately, I had a bad spill one day running around the hotel pool, another incident fording a local river which nearly knocked out my digital camera for good, and my work phone didn’t make it out of the town alive, but all in all it was a great experience. 

(Nearly finished Habitat House)

("Cultural Night" @ the hotel in Zacapa)

(Zacapa morning commute)