Friday,  November 23, 2012



Friday was a day of very mixed emotions.  There were tears of joy and happiness.  The families that we built for are so appreciative! With the help of a translator they repeatedly thanked us for all we have done.  They told us this gift of a home has been their dream for a very long time. They always wish  God's blessings upon us. It touches us all deep in our hearts and we stare in wonder at the beauty of these families who have nothing, yet are so thankful. We wish we could do more.  As we walk away our hearts are pulled.  We truly have left a mark and we have improved the lives of many families, but they have left a bigger mark on us. They have found a place in each of our hearts, they have changed us and as we go back to Canada we will always wonder what will happen to the families, the mothers, fathers, the beautiful children.

Friday we worked until 1:00.  We managed to get all the way up to the roof. There are so many steps involved, as we are learning. The last bricks are all cut on an angle so the water will run off to the road.  We once again built forms, made more cement and then attached to rebar to the top.  More and more cement was made and the floors were poured. It was amazing teamwork!

There is no better feeling after a week of hard work!!

All this and we only worked until 1:00!  Lunch was a celebration.  The experience with the families is very important to Habitat so on the final day of the build there is always some kind of celebration.  A decorating committee of Rita, Rosie, Camille, Jen, Renee and Grace gave this area a festive feeling with a Canadian theme. Katia, Salim and David arranged for all of the families to come to the central location and join us for lunch, games and presentations. As the pictures will show it was a wonderful party for all ages!

Following the piñata and presentations we made our farewell tour of all three locations.  It's hard to believe the week went so fast! We had the opportunity to visit each site and see the progress of that team. We said our final goodbyes to the family and then boarded the bus again. It was so hard to say goodbye. There were lots of hugs, tears and children running right up to the bus to send us off! Really tough!!

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

These words and photos do still do not manage to capture the depth of this experience.  It was a very successful build! Many people have come together to make this build run smoothly.  The Habitat team of Salim, Katia and David were always available to us.  They divided themselves up so that they were on each of the sites and available to us for translation and assistance. They are also ambassadors for their country so they interwove many cultural events. They have done a very good job of making us fall in love with their country!

Another key player in the success of our build was Nelson, our reliable bus driver. He shuttled us back and forth to the site and excursions. He greeted us first thing in the morning, clean and fresh and picked us up at the end of the day filthy and loud. The music blared and we laughed and sang! We bid farewell to Nelson today because he will be greeting the next Habitat team tomorrow.

Last but not least,  the site leaders, Chris, Tony and Paul managed to provide us with a nice mixture of physical work and interaction with the families. They´ve learned over the years the interaction with the families is as important, if not more important, as the building. We are building relationships.

Overall, this was yet another successful Habitat Build that has impacted and helped that lives of countless individuals withint he wonderful city of Estelí

Thursday, November 22 - Day Four

     Another productive day on the sites.  Each team sent people to the factory to complete the rebar for the houses and paint the beam work to be used for the roofs.  Others continued with the brick work with the goal of completing all that was required before the roofs were to be added.  All teams were able to be part of the brick laying thanks to the patience and understanding of the mason despite the language barrier.  Pleased to say ....   Goal was met by all 3 teams   Well done teams!!!!

Painting the roof support beams

Finished Product, ready to go for tomorrow 

 Preparing for the concrete floor

Sifting sand for the cement  

     Added to this experience of the day, the children continued to be part of the day's experience with colouring books making and presenting their drawings to members of the team as takeaway memories.

The Gervais brothers are making friends all over Nicaragua 

Some local kids having fun on the site

Thoughts of the Day:

"Over the past week I have watched a shine come into the eyes of the father of the house we're building. As he works alongside us each day he smiles more and carries himself a little taller. Assisting a parent provide shelter for his family is worth every moment of preparation for the trip, every last piece of luggage and every single aching muscle."  -Camille

"Every day shared in Nicaragua will remain a lifetime of memories for us."  -Gerry

"Great feeling in knowing that we are making a difference in these people's lives with our build. Making new friends with amazing individuals!"  -Stafford

"The hospitality of the people in this country is amazing!  They make us feel like family."  -Carolyn 

"The best part of the day is when the kids run up to greet us in the morning. We all get hugs and smiles. Priceless!  -Rita

"As the walls of the homes rise, the pains in the backs and arms have declined somehow."  -Jeff

"It's amazing how little you have to give to make a difference for so many people."  -Barry

"So...$100 for new shoes or... a new sink and stove for a family of 10 in Nicaragua. What would you do?!?"  -JM

Is it REALLY our last day tomorrow??!? 

Can you tell we're having fun?

Wednesday, November 21 - Day Three

    In order to allow more time for the cement foundation to dry, we began our day with a tour of the local, world renowned cigar factory, Placencia . Did you know that it takes approximately 3-5 years for a tobacco leaf to become a cigar?  It is a very labour intensive process that makes one appreciate cigars that much more.

Inspecting fermented tobacco leaves 

Plasencia's Finest

Rolling the Cigars

    Today's workload was another joint effort where half of each team came together to construct the rebar to enable further phases of the brickwork, while the other half of each team began the construction of the walls at each of their respective sites. The homes finally began to take shape and everyone was on schedule and excited with the progress.

     In addition to the work that was done on the homes, at the end of the day, the group decision to donate a new sink and wood stove to third family became a reality, thanks to the Ottawa Police Association.

Old Sink

New Sink

     The evening ended with a presentation and thanks from the executive director of Habitat Nicaragua, Frank Matus.  There are many great projects happening here!

Local kids playing baseball

Thoughts of the Day:

"I was touched that Renée was really happy to be ont his trip and that she was going to work very hard." - Jennifer

"Do not bend over when making rebar ( especially if you have long hair)"  - wise words from Rosie 

"Nobody will question the Gervais heart but maybe their brains" - Dave and Brian

"This country is full of smiles" -Tony

"I'm really terrified of snakes" - Wendy

Happy Anniversary Gerry and Camille-  Team Nicaragua

Tuesday, November 20 - Day Two

     Today's task was to complete the foundation at all three sites in preparation for laying bricks tomorrow. This was no easy task! It required much work, making rebar and mixing and pouring cement. The recipe for cement is 6 buckets of sand, 9 buckets of gravel, two bags of cement and a lot of  muscle!

     In order for the entire Habitat team to enjoy lunch together, we all pulled together to complete the task at all three sites. While one team finished early, the other two were struggling to finish. With an amazing show of teamwork, they split up and joined the other teams to finish the job on time.

Mixing the cement

A Habitat tradition of placing a loonie in the foundation

     Group number 1 had the joy of being able to make tortillas with the host family

Rita has a way with children

The families's nephew hard at work helping the team

     After a hard day's work the Habitat Nicaragua team thought it would be a nice idea to show us some of the beauties of Estelí. After a short drive and a bit of a hike, we arrived at the hidden waterfall, nestled in the hills surrounding Estelí. The frigid water, that reminded us of Canada was extremely refreshing after such a long, exhausting day of work. 

The team relaxing at the waterfall

Thoughts on the Day:

"It was a very hard and exhausting day, and by theend of the day, you had great satisfaction in terms of helping those that are less fortunate than you are."     -Stafford

"There is no feeling like when worlds come together and become team Habitat."  -Gerry

"Its true that Nicaragua does have hot water."  -JM

"The sense that knowing that you are doing something so great for someone else was so visible today when we got to the site and all the children ran to our bus to welcome us back."  -Sue

"Duct tape can fix anything."    -Cheryl

Stafford's new shoes

The foundation is set and we are ready for day three! 

Monday, November 19 - Day 1

     The three teams were divided and headed by Chris (red), Tony (blue) and Paul (green). The goal of the day was to complete the foundation of each site. Additionally, four members from each group were sent for rebar duty.

The rebar construction team are hard at work in a nice and shady area. 

    After a very hot day, all three sites are prepped for pouring the concrete foundations tomorrow morning. 

Memories of the first day:

Hard physical work, good camaraderie, definitely worthwhile.  -Ron

The kids at site three had a great time colouring. It was a joy to watch them being so happy.   -Tad

Happiness is not found in things, it is found in action, and the simplicity of contentment.   -Love Jilly

I didn't do much, I just twisted wire all day.  -Jeff

I haven't blogged during the past four years I have been here, I am not going to start today.   -John

I was touched at how the children tried to communicate with us despite the language barrier. - Grace

It touched me at how happy the families were and how happy our help made them.   -Renée 

Seeing what we saw today has motivated us to continue working hard through the rest of the working days. We returned to the hotel, exhausted, for a lovely meal before getting some rest for tomorrow. 

Sunday, November 18 - Orientation Day

     We all arrived safely in Managua on Saturday night, to be greeted by the Habitat Nicaragua Team. Despite the 16 hour journey, we still had enough energy to socialize and share a few laughs and past experiences. New members were made to feel very welcome. The hotel was great. We had a wonderful evening meal followed by sound sleep in comfortable conditions.

    Sunday we got down to business, starting early in the morning, we left Managua for the highlands of Estelí. The Habitat Nicaragua team (Vittoria, Salim, Katia and David) provided us with the opportunity to visit all of the worksites and meet the 3 different families that we will be building for. It was difficult for many of us to experience the poverty and the circumstances the families are in. It was quite an eye-opener and made everyone realize how good we have it. After what we saw Sunday, we all returned to the hotel and felt that we must work very hard to help these families as much as we can.

The team approaches site number 1

As we made our way to site 1, we had to cross a bridge that was a challenge to cross and clearly unsafe. We are all keen to build a new bridge if possible. 

With such a large group, we were divided into three teams and will be working separately on three different homes for three different families. 

Family number 1

Inspecting site 2

A family of 10 live at site 3

There is lots of need for help in Nicaragua and we are anxiously waiting to get started.