...at the end of the rainbow.

Since we arrived at the worksite on Monday, I've been working with our crew on houses #9 and #10.  Our crew has been absolutely awesome! First we prepared the house, which is two in one, for demolition - to gut it out - and then we kicked buttakis with our sledge hammers, pry bars, and every tool we could use to, literally, bring the house down! Technically, it is one building where at one point four families lived.  Then, it was turned into two units and by the time we got to it, none of the layout made sense.

Sheets of plaster were falling off the walls and over our heads from the ceilings as we pried away, banged, pull and destroyed those two houses.  The walls were disgusting, the floors were in decent condition, but the sewer had backed up on the second floor and the stench killed us!  Well, not literally, of course!  

For two days, those of us working on this unit had to wear head to toe safety gear.  We were trained and briefed on why we had to do this demo work while others were doing the actual 'fun' part of the event - building houses.  As I said earlier, I was sad that I didn't get to build and that I got assigned to doing this type of work, but I would look at the glass half-something and help out, regardless.

Well, today I actually got selected to help build.  I didn't just build... I helped build at the Carter House!  Yes, as in the Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter House!! 

Could it be because of my charisma?  Could it be because I strike up a conversation about Habitat for Humanity that eventually leads to me telling them that, oh by the way, I am also a Habitat homeowner and twenty minutes later I am STILL talking!?  I don't know what it was that made them say "Go build." but in the end, I was happy!

I hammered and taught other women how to hammer.  I was told I was a "pretty good nailer."  I helped with the roof trusses.  Unfortunately, because of the layout and the space, we couldn't just lift a roof the way we do at home, but this was as much fun.  After lunch, more members from our demo team joined us at the Carter house and then we were kicking buttakis again!  It felt soooo good! 

Granted, we have had to endure the rain on Monday, the cold and painful weather on Tuesday, the sweatiness of Wednesday - but towards the end of the week, we're finding a POT OF GOLD.... at the end of our rainbow.

Hugs,

Ana

 

Leveling the field - one volunteer at a time

Everyone in our team wore these on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Today was the official kick off of the 2010 Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Day, which is tied to World Habitat Day.  As I left the hotel and got on the Metro, I wondered about the type of work I'd be doing, the type of people I'd be working with and what the day would be like being that President Carter and Mrs. Carter would join us at the sites.

That's when I remembered that we were all there for a reason:  to volunteer to do Habitat's work.  Right there, I remembered that no matter what background each individual volunteer had, we were all the same: good volunteers.  I have already met people from different places in the US.  No, I can't remember everyone's names, but their faces are now familiar because we've made some kind of connection.

There is this woman, Miranda, who is an Interior Designer in Georgia and who has been to another JCWP before.  We both found each other wandering around in the wrong part of the neighborhood and then found the site, together.  Then, there is this father and son team, whom we've decided to call "Chicago Sr." and "Chicago" who came all the way from... Chicago!  The dad favors Tommy Lee Jones in his looks and mannerisms, but also favors one of our Weekday Saints, Drew from the East of the River team.  This is Senior's sixth JCWP and we can tell he's having a lot of fun doing what he's doing.  Junior, is a quality supervisor for a company that makes frozen pizza.  We just found out Kashi makes frozen pizzas - so note to self:  must look into them when I get back home.

I have met a few people who constantly remind me of my Habitat family back home.  I've seen The Mayos, The Zwerlings, The Wagners, The Trumbles, Mike, Turquoise, Burt, Carl and so many others in the faces and actions of these people.  It's just amazing!

People are constantly asking me: "Aren't you so and so?  You look very familiar! Have you (fill the blank)?" and I am constantly saying: "Nope, first time here!  Lord, don't let another one of me roam this earth, that could be trouble!" Sure enough, it's a joke and they start laughing, but it makes it easy for each party to walk away in a joyful manner.

What is more exciting is the look on people's faces when I tell them:  "I am a staff for Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity and I am also a homeowner - in that order!" They immediately lighten up with all sorts of questions - and of course, I am just honored to tell them my story when they ask.

We had our group's photo shoot with President and Mrs. Carter and Jonathan Reckford, Habitat International's CEO around 1:00pm.  It took us forever to get to that point and the moment was just like a ride at Six Flags: wait for an hour in a line for a ride that only lasted 1 minute.  It was all in great fun and it was nice to see them there.  Afterwards, we were joined by the CEO (equivalent to Executive Director) of the DC Affiliate.  He is a very nice guy and even gave me a ride to the Metro station at the end of my work day.

After speaking to him, I confirmed what I remembered earlier:  we are all equals at the site.  No one is better than anyone else, no one is more devoted, more experienced, more committed or more skilled.  We are all equals and regardless of status, socio-economic backgrounds or educational level, we are there for the same reason, which is to build safe, decent affordable houses that hard-working families can come to at the end of the day and call "Home Sweet Home".

Hugs from DC,
Ana

PS - Click on the link for images of our demo site.

Habitat: One Culture, Many "Regionalisms"

I am Latina.  I was born in Puerto Rico in the early 70's.  My Mom moved us to Connecticut in the late 80's.  When I lived in Puerto Rico, I never saw the difference between a Puerto Rican, a Dominican, a Cuban, a Peruvian or anyone who came from the islands or South America and who also spoke Spanish.  In my eyes, we were all Latinos because of the one thing that made us equals:  our language.

It wasn't until I came to the US that I learned about "dialects" and was later re-educated to understand "regionalisms" was the correct noun to use and why.  I was told that Latinos are not tribes (as in Native Americans) and that because we come from different countries, we have regionalisms in our language.  Dialects or regionalisms, I really don't mind either one because to me, the one thing that is important is that we can communicate with each other.

Today was our mandatory volunteer orientation at Gallaudet University.  I took the metro into town - loved it!, - got off at the closest station and walked to the University.  I found the Auditorium where the orientation would be hosted and of course, it was like walking into a hive of buzzing Habitat bees!  Lots of people, volunteers, staff, Americorps, young, old - all speaking "Habitat" lingo!  There must have been easily 300 people in that room.  Orientation lasted about an hour and included speakers from the local Affiliate, local government and Gallaudet University.

Meeting my "House Leaders" (the same as Crew Leaders), was interesting as we will be doing "demo" on House #9 and House #10.  Mike and his wife are a couple from Florida who have volunteered to work with different crews through the week.

The Affiliate Volunteer Group Supervisor has 'merged' the groups from Houses #9 and #10 due volunteers dropping out at the last minute.  *Where have I heard that before?*  So, we have about 12 people, plus the house leaders to do demolition work: removing drywall (aka sheetrock) that may contain low levels of lead-based paint.  

Initially, I was praying to not get demo work, but after Mike described the type of work we'd be doing, I really started looking forward to it!  I've never worn a hazmat suit -- I know, it sounds so dangerous! -- and compared to what I've done before, this is completely new!

After orientation was over, I walked with another volunteer to the metro stop and stayed together - as they suggested during orientation.  Throughout our walk, Kate and I got to know each other.  She's in her 50's and works for a local government organization - Fannie Mae, it sounds familiar (!!!) and lives in Virginia.  This is the first time she ever volunteers with Habitat, even though she has done volunteer work before teaching ESL in Virginia for 6 years.

I explained to her that today, I came to a deeper realization as we sat through orientation.  I told her that Habitat for Humanity is a culture.  In a sense, a culture like Latinos in that we all speak Spanish and our language is the one thing in common that brings us together.  It can either break the ice or push us away from each other. 

Our affiliates have many things in common:  we all work to fight poverty housing, we all work with hard-working families, we all work to revitalize our communities by investing in our neighborhoods and we are all doing something that is greater than we are as individuals.  However, the one thing that brings us together is our love for Habitat's mission of building houses that will provide safe, decent housing.  It doesn't matter if we're in DC, Hartford, India, Mexico - our goal is the same.

I am just lucky to be part of both: being Latina and being a Habitat junkie!  

PS - I got a baggie full of goodies!  I can't wait to order some of these things for our Affiliate to have and share.