HIT Squad
This month in Ecuador, we are working with an organization called Pan de Vida (Bread of Life). This foundation has a lot of different program; they have feeding programs on Wednesdays and Sunday that include Church services; a women entrepreneurship program where they teach women some kind of profession, like sewing, for about 7-9 months in hopes that these women are able to help support their family and maybe even start their own business; a HIT Squad program, where they go and build houses for people that don’t have a safe place to live, and many more.
This past weekend we got the opportunity to work with the HIT Squad and go to the Coast for 4 nights and 3 days to build a house. About a year ago, the coast got hit with a really bad earthquake, and it destroyed many houses and lots of people are still living in tents because they can’t afford to build a new home. So for one family, we got the opportunity to bless them by building them a new home. I remember the first day we arrived at the work site, which was right next to the church where my team would be staying at. I’m sure the workers and volunteers from the church that were helping build the house thought, “Oh No! We have 7 white girls working with us, let’s see how this goes.” But when we got to work, we all worked our very hardest to try and get the house built as much as we could in 3 days (and I think we impressed them). We got to work and the first half of the day, I spent shoveling dirt into a wheelbarrow and then rolling the wheelbarrow to the house to make a little bit of a walkway and to cover the pipes that ran at the side of the house. We finished moving the big pile of dirt before lunch.
Before Picture 🙂
Me carrying dirt to the house
After lunch, my teammate and I that had been shoveling the dirt, started helping our other teammates mix cement that would go at the base of the house. It was very hard work, shoveling and mixing the cement on the floor, but it was so much fun just being in everyone’s presence. By the end of the first day, we had finished moving all the dirt and covering the whole floor in cement.
Our Team Mixing Cement
Me mixing cement
First day
At around 5:30, after we were done working with the men for the day, we went to the beach with the kids, since it was only a 5 minute walk away. We stayed with them at the beach for a little bit. It was so much fun playing with the kids and just being in the presence of their joy. We taught some of them how to do flips by flipping them around, which they loved and we just got to love on the kids and play with them.
Views from the Beach
Jesus, smiling mischievously
Frankie Jesus
Allie and I teaching the kids how to do backflips (don’t worry, the kids were spotted by semiprofessionals)
At night, while we were waiting for dinner, Allie, my teammate, and I went to go outside and play with some of the kids. At first, there were about 5 kids we were playing catch with, but by the end there were at least 10-15 kids playing with us. All the kids were so sweet and no matter the age, 5 or 12, all wanted to be held and all wanted to be acknowledged and loved on.
The next day we worked until around 1 or 2ish, filling holes in the cement blocks to create the walls of the house. It was cool because we started building closer relationships with the people that were also helping to build the house, especially with the maestro, which was the person in charge of building the house. We started joking around with him and since our Spanish is a little bit limited, we started teaching each other the languages. He was teaching us Spanish words, and we were teaching him English words. It was super cool to be able to make that connection with him and build that relationship throughout the 3 days we were there.
Allie and I hard at work filling holes with cement
Natalie and I very strategically filling holes with cement
We worked that day until around 1 or 2, and then had lunch together. After lunch, we went out and walked around in the village with the kids and said hi to people and just kind of had fun with the kids and handed out snacks to other children and people that we saw.
That night, we had VBS for the kids and got to hand out gifts for the people there. First, we got to give out diapers to the mothers and pray over their safety, the safety of their kids, and whatever else they needed prayer for. After we were done handing out diapers, we went in to the church and danced around with the kids there, we also had and amazing reenactment of Joseph’s life in Genesis. After VBS it was time for the presents; we had bags made for the girls, boys, women, and men with clothes and some other things in them. We had enough presents for all the people, which was such a blessing. This night was filled with so much love, getting to love on the women we prayed for, loving on the kids and dancing with them, and seeing the love that the people showed each other.
One of my teammates, Morgan praying over one of the moms and kid that received diapers.
Morgan Furlong and Kristen Bennett, getting ready for the reenactment
The next day was our last day already! We tried to finish as much of the house as we could, and some of my teammates went to the beach again with the kids, since they had so much fun doing it the first time. Then it was time to say goodbye. We ended up finishing most of the house by the time we had to leave. It was probably one of the hardest goodbyes I’ve had to say on the race. The community and connections we had built with the other workers and the kids in just 3 days were unreal. It felt like we had know these people for so much longer, and didn’t want to say goodbye. We got to pray over the people there, the pastor, maestro, workers and just the whole village of La Chorrera. They also prayed over us and thanked us for the work we had done, even though, they had taught us more about love and joy and hope than they could’ve ever imagined.
Final Product
Us in the house on the final day
I just wanted to say Thank You to La Chorrera for showing me what it’s like to truly be a community that loves and cares for each other. Thank you for accepting 7 girls from America and welcoming them with open arms, I will forever be grateful. Thank you for teaching me more Spanish and for your hospitality and teaching me that (as cheesy as it sounds) it is not about what you have, but all about what is in your heart and what you do with what God has given you.
Some of my favorite pictures from La Chorrera:
Our Home for 3 Days
The Maestro
