A final word from the blogger

What a trip! I'm pleased to say that everyone has made it home safe and sound with only a small amount of bruises and sore muscles.

Before I left on this journey, I talked to many people who have gone on Thrivent Builds Worldwide trips to understand what it would be like. They all said it was life changing, but they often couldn't describe that statement further, or perhaps didn't feel I could understand.

I get it now. It is a life-changing experience on sooo many levels. So many things about this trip surprised us...the love and hospitality of the Salvadorans, the sense of community and family, and some intense, loving friendships we formed with each other on our team.

But you'll just have to sign up for a trip yourself if you want to understand your friends, spouses, co-workers, sons and daughters who went on this journey. All I'll say is it will blow your mind and fill your heart. Thanks for staying with us through this blog and sharing our experiences. I'm signing off on behalf of our team. Adios!

Adios, El Salvador

Hi! This is Janice Young, guest blogger this evening. It is our last day here in El Salvador and we leave with mixed feelings. We had a great day site seeing in two small villages. The first one, La Palm is in the northern part of the country and is home to an artist's community started by Fernando Llort. His art will be familiar to many of you who have seen Central American art in any market. It features simple forms - animals, flora, and domestic scenes outlined in black and colored with intensely bright colors. We were very fortunate to be able to paint a small box or object and bring it home as a souvenir - although our painting technique was very crude compared to the actual artists.

The second village was Suchitoto, an historic village highlighted by an old early Spanish church built in 1770. It is in the process of being restored, but was still very beautiful. The town was also filled with local craft vendors, and art galleries - and I think everyone found something to take home.

As the devotion reader this morning I shared a poem that I wrote throughout the week, which highlighted some of the things we did, and some of the things we laughed about. Ask your favorite team member to explain! Here it is...

Team Salvador - Sept. 2009

Some of us are married, some of us are not,

Some of us come from the northern cold, some prefer it here where it is nice and hot.

For some it was digging very deep holes,

For others it was twisting wire around re-bar poles.

Some rode backwards in the van with Ramone,

Some go a little confused between sopa and jabon.

Some of us have scrapes, cuts, and bruises, but luckily no stitches,

Some liked to feed and pet the local ______. (female dogs :)

Some went up and down the scaffolding - sometimes with, sometimes without the benefit of a ladder,

Others did whatever, for the job it did not matter.

Some watched in awe as a man cut down a tree with a machete,

Most of us left the cultural celebration with our hair full of confetti.

Some have the beautiful gift of song,

Some seemed to get the dancing all wrong.

Some of us like the Salvadoran food,

Some of us might need a burger and fries (or pizza) to put us in a good mood.

But when we leave El Salvador and we must part,

This country and its people will forever be in all our hearts.

Too Many Buckets of Cement To Count...

Hi, this is Lisa Kelly again serving as a guest blogger tonight. Several members of our group are gathered on the rooftop terrace of our hotel this evening celebrating the day and recounting today's events. The men on our team today really got a workout. They mixed over 30 bags of cement (at 80 lbs each) to pour foundations for a home. This was backbreaking work in the hot sun. We did take opportunities throughout the day to speak with the masons... they are helping us with our spanish and we are helping them with English. Every once in a while they will surprise us with an American phrase they have learned and as a result, we all break out into laughter.

At this point in the week, we have gotten to know about our ElSalvadoran co-workers and their families....who's married...ages and names of their children. A striking memory from today was seeing an elderly woman in a dress (she was a mother of one of the home owners) shoveling rock all day into a wheelbarrow...the people here are amazing!

We had the opportunity to go out to dinner tonight at a steakhouse. We were joined by Felipe' and Ramone (who drive us everywhere we need to go) and Ana Maria Montoya who is the head of the regional Santa Ana Habitat office. We had live entertainment and enjoyed our fearless leader, Nicole, share her amazing voice on stage with the band. It's hard to imagine that tomorrow is our last day on the build site...the days have gone by so fast...it seems like we've known each other much longer than 6 days. We're looking forward to the progress we'll make tomorrow...

Two cultures collide today ... in a good way

Hi, this is guest blogger Anne Johns, hope all is well at home. Today we worked for half the day, and then taught our new friends how to play American Futbol. The half day was welcome after shoveling gravel and sand all day yesterday. It was a hot, dirty and exhausting day but it felt great to get the work done. Today I was glad to spend the morning cutting wire, it gave my two small hand blisters a rest :). We learned that our two cultures share some things in common, a love of sports and music. The locals put on a music and dance performance for us and provided some favorite local delicacies. A good time was had by all.

Today's schedule changes for a somber reason...

We arrived at the worksite this morning after a quick trip to the Farmacia (pharmacy) for a few individuals who were ill on our team. No worries - we're all taking good care of one another, and still getting the work done.

However, when we arrived at the worksite we found that our work would only last a half day, as the masons and other crew members were attending a funeral service. One of the men who works at the site managing the storage building was burying his brother who was murdered by thieves on Saturday. His father was also shot, and is hospitalized.

We worked until noon, and finished digging two large holes for the septic system at two different homes. The rest of the afternoon we went on a guided tour of Santa Ana and saw a beautiful theater, the cathedral of Santa Ana, and went shopping for souvenirs.

Tomorrow is a full day on the site, and we will be back at it soon enough. Love to our family and friends back home.

This is Lisa Kelly...serving as a "guest blogger" today. Today, we all experiencced a wide range of emotions. After a very moving church service this morning, we went to a volcanic crater lake for the afternoon. We had an amazing lunch by the lake in a structure on stilts with one of our masons, Phillipe and one of the families we are building for this week. Their names are Natlia (who speaks great English) and her husband, Angel. Natalia is a homemaker and Angel is an accountant, who plans to run his business out of their new home. Lunch was an amazing sampling of steak, beans, chorizo sausage, the best guacamole' ever, cheese and grilled plantains with cream. We all received a hand-made rose made by Natalia along with party hats and balloons. After lunch we took a boat ride to a beach...along the way, we saw people swimming and fishing, men jumping off large rocks into the water, corn planted by hand along the steep slopes leading down to the lake, beautiful homes owned by the rich (one even had a helicopter parked in the yard). Half of our group was adventurous and jumped right in the lake. The others (who didn't have a bathing suit along) took another boat ride. Nikki stayed on shore in her clothes and the guys picked her up and dumped her in the lake. :) Soon after, we asked Travis (our other fearless leader) to drop the man purse he was hugging to join us. After a mob of us came to shore, he went in (still in his clothes) on his own free will. As the rest of the group returned from their boat ride, they also joined us for a swim (in their clothes). As we returned to shore, we witnessed a group of people conducting a baptism. It was a great day today...filled with lots of tears and laughter. Tomorrow, it's back to work on the build site.

Hard to put words to today's morning service...

Today's service at church was beyond touching. The church is very small and modest, and the altar is very colorful at one end of the long building. Instead of pews in rows, all pews were pushed against the walls leaving the middle section open. Little children sat in small chairs in front of the adults, smiling and playing and looking adorable the entire time. Many things stood out from our experience there: when you typically give "peace" in church, in America we shake hands. Here, they give hugs - heartfelt hugs - instead. The children too - made the rounds and gave awesome hugs and kisses on the cheek. I had three little girls at once tackle me at once with so much love it was overwhelmingly emotional. Many of our team members were touched by our experience there, and the simple sermon we heard. We also witnessed a young woman (16 years old) who had lupus and struggled just to walk. The church was giving her a walker today, and took collection for her also. We received special gifts from the children - another heartfelt moment...and said goodbye with the blessings of the congregants.

Jose Antonio Barillas - our mason started the day the right way...

This morning we arrived at our work site, and met our work crews. Each crew has one mason and two helpers for each house being built. Jose Antonio was one of the masons who did the devotion to start our day. It was interesting to hear his reading from John in Espanol. He was able to put the entire new testament into about 4 words and summarized it beautifully. He spoke from the heart, and clearly lives his faith.

We spent hours in the sun doing a variety of tasks: mixing cement, tying rebar, sanded walls using bricks, hauling dirt, the famous "shake and bake "sifting dirt, and digging 9 foot holes (yes, really - we have the pics to prove it.)

It was a lot of fun trying to understand the crews we worked with from El Salvador, and enjoyed learning some new words in Spanish, and taught them some English too.

We will have a day off tomorrow - starting with church service at a local Lutheran congregation (who also had volunteers at the work site today.) Then, we are off a lovely lunch and a boat ride on Lake Coatepeque.

We are HERE!!!!

We have made it safe and sound and are heading out to dinner. It was really hot and steamy when we arrived today, and we were told it was a rather "fresh" day. Yikes. It's going to be a hot one Batman.

Pictures will be forthcoming when we're awake and aware enough to work multiple technologies together. Some of that El Salvadoran coffee should do the trick tomorrow morning.

For now- Hasta manana

The excitement builds as we all begin various stages of travel...

Our Appleton crew,(minus Jim who is already on his way to El Salvador(thought we'd send a scout out ahead ha ha ) - is heading to Milwaukee tonight so we can wake up at 3 a.m. and head to the Milwaukee airport. This will be a "fast" slumber party for Nikki, Mel, Patti, Lisa and Kim.

We have folks coming from Mpls (Travis, Todd, Brett, Pam, Diana, Janice and Paul) and meeting us in Houston tomorrow morning where we depart for El Salvador together.

Our two fabulous FRs, Roger and Anne, are going to connect with us at the El Salvador airport.

Then, we'll pile on like the Partridge family in our bus for a two hour journey to the hotel in Santa Ana, El Salvador.

Hasta la vista!

Tales from Macedonia informs our packing

So I heard through the grapevine that one of the leaders on the Macedonia trip never received his checked bag the entire 14 days he was traveling! I am rethinking my packing strategy - 1 nice size carry on and 1 checked bag. Today will be the test as I actually start loading up my suitcases.

T minus 5 days and counting!

All this stuff in a carry-on? Really?

No way. We've been told we can "travel light" for our trip, and could probably get away with a carry-on.

What? I'm a girl! I have product and a BIG can of bug spray! Plus, I need sustenance (aka cereal bars) in the event that El Salvador food doesn't agree with me. Sorry all, but I am checking a bag, not only to ensure all the stuff I need gets there, but let's face it, there will some great keepsakes to bring back of the culture - and I'll need that room to accomodate gifts for the generous friends and family who helped make this mission trip possible for me.

One week from tonight, our group from Appleton will be driving down to Milwaukee and crashing at our one of our fearless leaders' parents' house (Thanks Nikki!) so we can make that adventurous 5:45 a.m. first leg of our flight.

This is getting exciting...as long as I can bring all my "stuff!"

Welcome to the Team El Salvador blog!

We're glad you're coming along with us on our journey as we leave our homes next week and travel to El Salvador. This blog will be a daily account of our experience on that journey.

As we prepare for our trip we here is some background on the country we will be visiting....(pulled from the Habitat Website)...

After being struck by recent natural disasters, the housing need increased rapidly in El Salvador, both in urban and rural areas. Of the total number of houses affected, 60 percent corresponded to homes with an income of up to two minimum wages, and the remaining 40 percent are households with incomes greater than two minimum wages.

El Salvador is still in the process of rebuilding. According to data provided by the Vice Ministry of Housing, the country’s current qualitative and quantitative deficit totals 630,000 houses, or 51 percent of the total population. Local governments, state institutions, non-governmental organizations and international organizations have made great efforts to respond to the housing needs of affected families. Support from these institutions concentrate on the most affected zones.Through the work carried out by its affiliate branches, Habitat El Salvador has reached both sectors, concentrating its efforts on providing support to those families in need of adequate housing, without discrimination.*One monthly minimum wage in El Salvador is US$144, so a family earning two minimum wages would have a monthly household income of US$288.

Our project focuses on housing, land tenure, and volunteer mobilization and partners with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans to improve the quality of life of low-income, landless Salvadoran families by building 75 homes, using Thrivent and local volunteers.

Stay tuned!