Katie Hanchuruck: El Salvador

This weekend I returned home from our Habitat for Humanity Global Village trip to El Salvador. I went with 10 other people including Alex and Bettie (who works for Habitat Charlotte as well). We spent the week building a home in Sonsonate. The home was started the day we arrived. We were working in an area where several homes were being built. Don Julio oversaw our efforts for his son. His son and his family will be moving into the house when it is finished, but had to be away working all week in San Salvador so his father was there to greet and work with us. The house next door was being built for Don Julio’s daughter. We began Monday by starting to dig the foundation for the house, and finished the day by passing buckets of sand to mix into the cement from the street where it was delivered to the worksite. We spent a lot of the week moving sand, gravel, limestone, and cement bricks from one location to the worksite. By the end of the week we had managed to get the foundation dug, and all the cement mixed and poured (by sheer muscle power- no cement mixer included!) There was another Global Village group of Canadian high school girls who stayed with us and build on a site just down the road. Did you know Canadian bacon isn't a thing in Canada? And their money is plastic?

Even though my knowledge of Spanish is limited I felt able to communicate well enough on the worksite and greet Don Julio. I also understood him when he told me it was hot outside and was able to exchange pleasantries. One member of our group, Maggie spoke Spanish really well. She’s currently in high school and tutors English as a Second Language (ESL) to adult students. She was awesome at connecting with the families and neighbors as we worked! We also had a few members of Habitat El Salvador staff to help us on the worksite. They not only helped translate the Mason’s instructions to us but also coordinated our travel, meals, and everything else we did. They taught us about the different Departments in El Salvador and told us about the local culture as we traveled.

While the work was more physically difficult than my normal work, building in El Salvador still felt like a vacation because mentally the work was less taxing. My only responsibility was to show up on time and work with my team. I had no other responsibilities to coordinate tasks, prepare meals, worry about transportation. Even the worries and stressors that I left in the US remained un-thought of as I concentrated only on the beauty of El Salvador and the work we were doing.

Our accommodations were gorgeous! The first night we stayed at a resort on the beach. We spent our first few hours in El Salvador getting to know our travel-mates, walking along the beach and eating. After that we travelled into the mountains, closer to where we would be working. The “resort” in the mountains was even more beautiful than the first! The area was so lush, covered in tropical flora. We all had beds in one of the cabins. We had 4 cabins between the 11 of us, and each had a toilet (that flushed) and a shower. The staff even changed our sheets every day! We also ate two meals a day there (breakfast and dinner) and it was always delicious! While I am tired of tortillas, I filled up every day on eggs, beans, vegetables, fruit, and even got to try papusas- a stuffed tortilla (usually with beans and cheese). Being able to go back to the resort every night and walk around, relax by the pool, journal, reflect, study, drink coffee (or una cerveza, por favor), was just fantastic. It was a great trip. I learned a lot about El Salvador, the people, culture, way of life, the local Habitat for Humanity, Spanish, and I met alot of great people! I highly recommend going on a Global Village trip, and cant wait to do another!