Betsy, Andrea, Ashley and I met the social workers and headed out to visit some families. While Chris, Sammie, and Mitch headed out to build the house.
This was a day that I had really been looking forward to. Even though I would have to have much of what was said during the visit translated later, I knew that I would still gain much from the experience. As we entered the first house, we were greeted by Ima and Rolando, age 5 and 3 respectively. Their smiles truly warmed my heart. This family had 3 cinder block rooms for sleeping and had their kitchen outside under a tin roof. As we went inside to sit down, their mother was very excited about a new bed and the kids could not stop rolling around on it. I kept thinking, my kids would do the same thing!!
As we settled in, I really started to observe my surroundings. The dirt floor, the animals, the flies, the smoke...I don't have words to describe my emotions as this all become more real to me. All that I have, all my possessions, my complaints, seemed ridiculous compared to how this family lived every day. My heart was heavy as we left but I did feel some hope because of what CommonHope can offer this family.
I arrived at the house site with curiosity to see what had been accomplished so far. Most of the walls were up!! The energy was contagious...the family was excited, we were excited...so cool. We had a goal of finishing the house by noon. Soon all the walls were up, the trusses, and then it started to drizzle. It could not stop our momentum. The CommonHope workers, Felix and Pablo, were amazing to watch and had buckets of patience working with us as volunteers. The family was so gracious and made us homemade toritilla's and eggs for a snack. Everyone gobbled it up and we had energy to complete the job. 
As the last peice of ceiling went up the rain began in earnest and it was as if someone knew that the house was complete. It was a day filled with emotion and we were blessed to have experienced it all.
Adios, Steph
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