Day Seven Friday November 25th

Both teams headed to their respective build sites for what is the saddest day.  We worked on site for the morning.  We busied ourselves trying to get as many bricks installed.  There is nothing more thrilling than seeing those walls get higher and higher and we have made such an impact.  On Team Paulie, our mason, Carlos, told us we saved him 4 days work!  That is huge!  Both teams spent the morning mixing cement, moving and laying bricks.  Some headed to the adobe factory to make more bricks.  Stan & Joanne went along to help set up for the Christmas party planned for the afternoon.   On Team Tony we were lucky enough to have a bit more time to set up a second tattoo booth, color cartoon pages with the kids and actually take a walkabout around the community.  It was an inspiring site, wonderful to see past Habitat houses, painted in different colors, their yards planted with local vegetation, even one house, brandishing the small Canadian flags handed out earlier in the week. 

The best part of the morning was playing with children, chatting with the masons, families and friends from the community.    On Team Paulie, Camille brought supplies for fingerpainting.  Fernando, Anderson, Francie, Fabiola and Ashley spent all morning doing this.  They were thrilled and so was Rosa when she saw their creations.  The people of this community are extremely proud.  They are not looking for a hand out but rather a hand up.  We have witnessed how hard working they are, especially the women.  I think they were overwhelmed by us, not sure of our intentions.  That wall was broken down and we were embraced. This community has taught us so much.

Since Friday was only a half day of work, at the end of the morning we witnessed the children of the communities going home to clean up and prepare for the early Christmas celebration that Habitat had planned at the Adobe Factory.  As we pulled up in our bus we passed local families walking to the Factory.  Upon our arrival, there were approximately 200 people at the site, with more arriving hourly.  We played games such as musical chairs, dance contests, obstacle course and tug of war, all of which we paired with the community and their children to participate in.  Habitat had organized a Christmas gift for all the children in the community as well as a meal after we had departed for the afternoon.   We were all feeling incredibly overwhelmed as we departed at the end of the day, at the end of this build.

In typical tradition, on Friday night, the Starfish poem was read, this year by Morgan, and then we all  shared our favorite "snapshot" stories of the week.... La Gallina has truly touched all of our hearts.  We would truly like to thank the Nicaraguan Habitat for Humanity team for all their hospitality and excellent organizational skills.  Their new day care project for La Gallina will be a tremendous success.