Creating Social Value Blog / Service in Action

First day building for Habitat in El Salvador!

 

We’e reached the end of our first build day in El Salvador. It was a great day that started off with meeting the family whose house we were working on. We met Raquel and her three daughters, Stephanie, Jennifer, and Kimberly, and their grandmother. They are all very sweet.

Puja, Stephanie, Jennifer, and Kimberly

Puja, Stephanie, Jennifer, and Kimberly

We quickly got to work removing the old cement floor. The cement was no match for Miguel!

Hongling worked hard taking down a fence. Even after hours of work, she was still smiling at the end of the day.

Hongling

Then it was time to start digging for the new foundation. We shoveled some rocks…

Then we attempted to dig out tree stumps. Some of us were more successful than others. DJ was able to pull a stump out with her bare hands while Sami wasn’t as lucky, despite her effort and persistence.

And then there was more digging. Digging that involved chipping away at the dirt with picks. But Babson students like a challenge, right?

A couple members of the Babson team spent the afternoon with some women and teenagers from the village who are interested in learning how to earn an income for their families. A full day of teaching will happen tomorrow with the team working split shifts on the house and teaching.

At the end of the day we were tired, had a bunch of blisters and some of us were a little crispy from the sun, but as we get to know the family and others in the village, it’s all worth it.