Is it really beautiful?
Everything has beauty but not everyone sees it.
Confucius
It's been an incredible privilege to be part of the beautiful process of building a family a home in El Salvador. There is beauty in working with the family, hearing their story and our hearts connecting in such a deep way as we hand them the keys to their new home. My heart soars thinking about it! Just unbelievable!
But I have to confess that I never thought the actual house, the actual building was that beautiful. I mean we spend time here in Canada decorating and making our homes look beautiful, adding new decor, choosing colours, updating flooring and cabinets. And when we finish our week in El Salvador we leave families with a new home, a simple steel structure, still empty and seeing just the shell.
But then two things happened that completely turned my view upside down - or should I say, right-side up.
First, on one of our trips we were building homes in a remote village - pretty much a 45 minute drive down rough dirt roads that felt like you were driving to the middle of nowhere. Most of the children in this remote village don't go to school past Grade 6 because the middle and high schools are so far away. We started building on the Monday morning and our team was building at the very far end of this village. It was rough, rocky ground making it very tough to dig the holes, but three homes went up that morning.
On the Monday afternoon we moved to another part of the village and started three more homes. My team was building for an older couple, Andreas and Paula who would be living in this home with their grandson. Paula was so excited to receive this new home and Andreas said that in his 72 years, he had never had a house where the roof didn't leak. It was a huge day for them. Then Paula told me something that changed everything. She said that she had gone in the morning to watch us build the first three homes because she had never seen a Shelter home and she didn't even know what it looked like. She wanted to know what the home looked like that she would be receiving. Then she teared up as she told us that she came back at lunch and she cried because the house she was getting was so beautiful. Wow! I had been looking at these homes through my own lense, but at that moment my eyes were opened to a new view. Paula looked at this home that she would receive and saw something so beautiful she cried.
Second, we had the chance to go back to a community where we had built homes just a year prior. It was a heart-warming reunion seeing so many familiar faces and getting to hug and connect with so many again. One of the community leaders, Maria, excitedly came to us and thanked us again for building her a home. She was just beaming as she asked us if we wanted to come and see her home. And what we saw was astonishing! Colourful hammocks hung from the front porch that overlooked the hillside of tropical trees and greenery. (Why didn't I notice this incredible view the first time??) Joy radiated on Maria's face as she showed us her home, her room, her grandson's room filled with their belongings, pictures and love. It was clear she had taken time to tidy and clean and put everything in order. She was so proud of her home and it was just beautiful!
Now when we build homes in El Salvador and leave behind a Shelter home, I see so much more than the steel structure. I see a beautiful home where lives can flourish, where families can make this place special and colourful and full of love and hope.
I hope that when you see a Shelter house that you see beyond the structure. I hope you see the hope it brings, the new life and the brighter future that it brings to each family.
And that you will call this house beautiful.
Rose Loewen