Every Day We’re Shovelin’
Tyler and Puja reporting to you from Ahuachapán, El Salvador!
Today was our third day on site, and we definitely had quite the experience. After spending the first two days preparing the foundation for the home, we began mixing cement to fill the trenches that will eventually hold up the walls. Half our group began the morning continuing to teach students entrepreneurship skills while the other half of us continued hauling, mixing, and pouring the cement. As the week has progressed, we have all become quite close and developed strong bonds of friendship. We have also gotten to know the family we are building the house for as well as the masons and members of the community. What we feel that we have learned so far, especially today, was what Sanchon brought up in her reflection at dinner. One of our teammates, Hongling, is not a native English speaker, and before we left for El Salvador, she had expressed her concerns over the language barrier. Over the week she has built a strong connection with one of the masons, Oswaldo, who is a Habitat volunteer native to El Salvador learning English. The two have bonded not only over their immersion in new languages, but also their different backgrounds. Sanchon brought up how this really emphasizes the global citizen that Babson encourages us to be. While we are focused and hardworking throughout the day, we still have fun both in working, teaching, and enjoying each other’s company. Between the laughs and the shovels, everyone in the group learns more about themselves and the culture that has welcomed us this week. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog!
Puja Mehta ’13 and Tyler Murphy ’13
Puja and the sisters!
Tyler trying something new...shoveling.