Back home

I feel as though I have been back for a month...It feels like so far away with all the hard work we did and everything we were able to accomplish each day. I want to be back there and help out some more. I feel like it was not enough. I know what we did was a lot, but in the whole scheme of things, it just felt like so little in comparison to what more they need done over there.
I was so proud of everyone on this trip and the bonds we all made with each other. Stephanie made it on the roof and was chiseling away at setting the gables even though it was not in her comfort zone, people were learning things and doing things that they have never done before - like Deepak using the sawzall all day on Day 3 cutting out a lot of the windows and doors - I know Juliette and Kathryn did the same - not sure if they ever used a sawzall before. I have never used any saws of any kind including the circular saw - and when Eric told me to find LUMBER to cut out to the different sizes - I did just that, and once I found them all, I went off on my own to set them in the vise grip. When it was steady and measured out, I cut it with the circular saw with my trusty goggles!
I bought kneepads on one of our trips this week to Home Depot and boy, did it help! I had no idea how much I would have needed them. It was just for little things like those hard to reach angles on the roof/attic where you need to chisel or hammer in nails and needed to kneel on something. Along with leaning up against the ladder - I felt so much better the days after I got the kneepads because they no longer hurt. We all wanted to purchase a nail gun (to donate once we were done) to help get things done faster so we can move on to the bigger things, but it was mentioned that it was not 'volunteer-friendly' so it was probably not a good idea to get and leave. So, we finished up the job the old fashioned way with the hammers, nails, and muscle power :)
I would have never been able to have this time with all these people in one place for this long period of time. I really feel a lot closer to the other 8 members in GTS here at XL because of the time we spent. Each person was tremendously generous in all aspects and we all worked amazingly well together. It was said by one of us that we were all on this trip because we were all compassionately giving to give our time and other things...this could be why we all got along so well and were so supportive of each other. Even when we were nearing the end of the day and heard the music from around the corner that marked (What Eric called) "Ice Cream-thirty", there was always someone to buy the ice cream snacks for the whole team at the site to help give us the boost to finish out the rest of the work for the day. Just a small thing we each did for each other that was such a GENEROUS thing to help us along the way of this week of selfless work. I really and truly enjoyed my time with everyone I worked with this week. Everyone had such a great personality and we worked well together in getting the job done quickly. Even Peter, the foreman was really happy with the progress we made and how well the work moved along each day.
I know there was a lot of little details that we were able to accomplish in the small time we were there and we helped out a lot. I was just hoping to leave it so the roof was all done and we were able to set all the Tyvek up on the walls and roofing. This is why I want to go back - haha, so I can help finish the house, but it won't be fully complete for a few months at least.

This just goes to show that there are so many ways in life that we can all help out and we can all help each other around the world. Again, another small piece of a pie that not just one person or one group of people can accomplish. It needs to be done in thousands and millions of groups to get it done quicker or in a more complete fashion. But we can all do what we can in our every day lives to make the difference and make each day count in the big picture of life. I definitely have a different view on things and my perspective has changed for the better.