Guatemala

Once again it has been a few weeks since I wrote and during that time a lot has happened. At the end of February I had the life changing opportunity of going to Guatemala to build houses. On the 13th 8 of us took off on this adventure with no plans on where to help or who. We spent 10 days helping build houses, stoves, walls and other odds and ends for people who just don't have the money to help themselves. One of the first days we were in the country we drove out to the coast where the poverty level is absolutely unbelievable. We were told about a women whose husband was murdered last year and she was left a lone with 5 kids under the age of 12. When we arrived she was so surprised to see 8 gringos ready to build her a home and help her family. After talking with her for a few minutes we noticed there was no food to be found. I asked her how long it had been since they had eaten and her response was a punch to the gut. "tres dias" 3 days since they had last eaten... Since this women has no way of working outside the home with so many kids and no husband we decided to build her a stove where she could cook and sell tortillas for the neighbors.

The following day we met a family that lived in a small home... when I say home this was a mixture of sheet metal, cardboard and old wood that was about 15x15. 4 Families lived in the small area with about 10 kids. They had a table where they cooked food for the family and another similar for cooking tortillas to sell. As we were looking for things we could do to help we came across one of the husbands laying on the dirt floor. Come to find out he had fallen from a tree 3 years earlier and was paralyzed from the neck down. The hospital told him to go home a die, but he has survived for 3 years passing the time on the ground. Amazingly enough he has tried to do his own therapy in the back yard on make shift therapy wood bars. During this time has been sleeping on the floor and was bruised up and down his back. Long story short I have never seen anyone so grateful to have something so simple as a new bed. I had to leave the room he was so overwhelmingly excited and grateful to have a bed to sleep on you could see the emotion as his eyes swelled with tears. This trip was truly eye opening and life changing.
It's humbling to see how most of the world lives and what they live without. It has helped me realize how much I don't really need and more important to appreciate the simpler things in life. I'm grateful for the many blessings that I have and for the opportunity to help these people as they blessed my life more than I ever thought possible.

If you are interested in donating money to this cause or joining us next year we are setting up a organization right now to help the many people who are in need in Central and South America. If you want to help let me know. Thanks!