Un Techo para Mi País

Friday Sept 10th - Tuesday Sept 14th

http://www.untechoparamipais.org/

Un Techo para Mi País is an organization that first started in Chile. Now it is in several countries across Latin America. The son of our program director volunteers with Techo. Also, we met another student, Cynthia, who helps organizes Techo. Cynthia went to school in the US last year through a program called UGrad, which is a program connected to SIT under the umbrella of World Learning.

On Friday the 10th, we left for Maltagalpa. We met in a park and like we had been warned, it was fairly disorganized. Our group of volunteers had 20 people too many. No one wanted to switch, and we wanted to stay in Cynthia´s group. I met 2 Nicaraguans, Georgina and Oliver, who spoke very good English. They were helpful. Some of the other SIT students wanted to go home at the point. But, I was excited and wanted to stay. All 6 of us SIT students ended up going.

The bus was crowded so I hitched a ride with Georgina and Oliver. Oliver called someone to drop off the car for him. I asked if his brother dropped it off. Oliver responded that it was just a worker. The car was a fairly new Honda CRV. Georgina and Oliver also attended the expensive American School in Managua, which explains their good English.

In general, I feel that the students that volunteer with Techo are from wealthier families because they do not have to be working or staying at home to help their families. It is difficult now to transition between hanging out with my homestay family in Barrio Maximo Jerez and hanging out with my Techo friends.

Back to Techo...
We arrived at 10pm on Friday, ate, and did an ice breaker activity. I loved the energy of the group. We slept on hard floors of the school classrooms. Many students brought air mattresses, cots, etc. I only had my sleeping bag, but after a long day of work, it didn´t really matter. We worked from 8 am - 6pm. The work was hard because we had to break through rock to dig holes to put the pillars to support the floor. We had 15 pillars.

Sunday: The next day we worked from 6am -7pm. 4 of the SIT students went home because they were not feeling well, but Molly and I stayed. We had to carry the pre-made floors up the hill to our work sites. It was heavy and difficult. I also got sunburnt on my chest pretty bad. Finally, the buses stopped running at 7pm and we missed the last bus. So, the supply truck came and picked us up. It was actually rather fun being crammed into a bus with a lot of students, being driven down bumpy roads in the middle of the night and periodically yelling 'Viva Techo!!!'

Monday: Molly had to go to the hospital and had a stomach infection. (So, I was the only SIT student to work every day). We had to carry up more floor boards and walls. It was another long day. 6am - 9pm

Each night we showered at the school in our swimsuits using hoses. We ate rice, beans, and pasta for lunch that Techo gave the families to cook for us. The family that received the house that I built was a single mom with 5 children ages 14 and younger.

Tuesday: It was supposed to be our last day but the rest of the materials did not arrive because of rain flooding the highways. Most of the afternoon, I hung out with my work group and the kids of the family. We took a lot of pictures too. About 15 students left and everyone kept asking me if I was going to stay the extra day. Claro! Voy a quedar!

Wednesday: We finished the house. I was sitting on the edges of the walls hammering the frame for the roof in the rain. I almost started to cry when we did a little closing ceremony in the house. The mother and her neighbor also blessed the house. The oldest daughter gave me a ring and Laura, our group leader, her earrings as a token of her gratitude. It was incredibly sweet.

What an experience! Maltagalpa is green and lush. At times, I would just sit and rest looking at the wonderous landscape around me. Finally, I loved my work group and only one student spoke English. At times, I didn´t understand the jokes, but it didn´t matter. We laughed a lot.