The best week of my life…
This week has honestly been the best week of my life. I am new comer to this group, and I did not know what to really expect. This experience has made me feel just about every single emotion I have in my body. Between building our house for our family of eight, teaching an English lesson at the local school, working alongside the Haitian Refugees in a garbage dump, and working in the shoes of a mother for one day… this experience has most definitely been an eye opener on the importance of life.
Today my team was in charge of building in the morning and painting in the afternoon. When we first got to the house this morning, we were all very excited to get to work because earlier in the week we had to miss out on a day of building due to the heavy rain. Unfortunately there was a lot of mud that had formed, but we just got right in there and started working hard. We always work in groups while building because it is much easier working together and everything gets done a lot quicker! At one point through building there was an assembly line with nine people passing buckets into the house. It was a very good system and it was fun! It started raining on and off, but it most definitely did not stop us. We just kept going. These building experiences are really hard work but they are so worth it because our efforts are helping to change the lives of a family in need. We are just about to start the painting and finishing touches on the house and I cannot wait for the house dedication on Sunday where we will give the family the keys to their new home!
Later that afternoon, my team was in charge of painting the local school/church. We split up into smaller groups and painted away. After 20 minutes we were all getting tired, but we never stopped. The Gonzaga group always put our 110% effort in what we do in order to earn the gratitude that was given to us. The students at the school started to look up to us, they were amazed by what we were doing and started helping us. They are as grateful to have us, just as much as we are grateful to have them. Every person working today gave it their all, and it is really starting to show. I am so proud of the Dominican group!
People often come to the Dominican on vacation, and all they do is sit on the beach and tan, eat and swim. To me, the Dominican is much, much more than all of that. I would come back here anytime and do this trip over again. Its once and a life time chance and I am so thankful that I have experienced it!