A few Saturdays ago, I went with about 30 other volunteers to a dirt-poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Tijuana, where we braved sunburn and heatstroke in an attempt to transform a rather large pile of building materials into a small house for a low-income family.
By the time we broke for lunch, the walls were up, and the roof was starting to look like a roof. Lunch, consisting of rice, beans, and tortillas, was provided by members of the local community. It was absolutely delicious!
By 5:00, the house was done, and one of the organizers told us about the family who were to receive the house. We learned about how they earned the house, working on various projects to benefit the local community. And then we met them.
Through an interpreter, they thanked us, telling us about how much difference the house would make in their struggle for economic stability. Then they said they wanted to give us something in return. They brought out a ceramic statue of the Virgin Mary, and told us about how, years ago, it had been blessed by a priest, and how, over the years, it had served as inspiration in their prayers for a better life. It was obviously one of their most treasured possessions. But because we had helped to answer some of those prayers, they wanted us to have it.
There was some discussion that that we should not accept so precious a gift. I just snuck off behind the outhouse. After all, us macho construction-worker types simply cannot afford to be seen getting all teary-eyed in public.
The organization that makes it happen is called Corazon. They fight poverty by educating children, by providing adults with job training, by building homes for families, and most importantly, by organizing people to work together as a community to solve problems like day care and elder care. And unlike the way it works with most volunteer organizations, there are no hand-outs. Recipients of these benefits are required to earn them, by contributing a significant amount of their own time and effort.
~ From Ed in Culver City
By the time we broke for lunch, the walls were up, and the roof was starting to look like a roof. Lunch, consisting of rice, beans, and tortillas, was provided by members of the local community. It was absolutely delicious!
By 5:00, the house was done, and one of the organizers told us about the family who were to receive the house. We learned about how they earned the house, working on various projects to benefit the local community. And then we met them.
Through an interpreter, they thanked us, telling us about how much difference the house would make in their struggle for economic stability. Then they said they wanted to give us something in return. They brought out a ceramic statue of the Virgin Mary, and told us about how, years ago, it had been blessed by a priest, and how, over the years, it had served as inspiration in their prayers for a better life. It was obviously one of their most treasured possessions. But because we had helped to answer some of those prayers, they wanted us to have it.
There was some discussion that that we should not accept so precious a gift. I just snuck off behind the outhouse. After all, us macho construction-worker types simply cannot afford to be seen getting all teary-eyed in public.
The organization that makes it happen is called Corazon. They fight poverty by educating children, by providing adults with job training, by building homes for families, and most importantly, by organizing people to work together as a community to solve problems like day care and elder care. And unlike the way it works with most volunteer organizations, there are no hand-outs. Recipients of these benefits are required to earn them, by contributing a significant amount of their own time and effort.
~ From Ed in Culver City
Comments (2)
Thank you, Ed, for touching not only a heart but an entire community.
Posted by Marina Jimenez | December 13, 2006 7:49 AM
Posted on December 13, 2006 07:49
Wonderful Ed. Your generosity and sensitivity to others is deeply inspiring.
Posted by Doris Cope | December 20, 2006 7:07 PM
Posted on December 20, 2006 19:07