The intention of our last day of volunteering was to “give with gratitude”. A 24 year old male Sojourner later reported that the gratitude he’d felt all day came back to him threefold as the family expressed their immense gratitude for us being there to build their home.
The 88 year old grandfather supervised the job site and lent a helping hand by climbing trees to retrieve fruit, hacking branches with his machete and clapping his hands excitedly cheering us on.
The female head of household expressed her gratitude, with tears in her eyes, explaining that her children would now have a private bedroom opening up more space for the family as a whole. We were offered water, coke and crackers to help us refuel as the first sunny day wore on. The children peered in the window holes to sneak peaks, watch progress and dream of furnishing their first private bedroom.
On day two the team put on the finishing touches and then uprooted trees and bushes from the family garden. Watching people take turns to hack at roots with a giant machete was fantastic! We all gathered inside the home for a prayer and to present the family with donation items, a token of our gratitude for allowing us to be there.
For those of us living in first world countries, it’s often mistaken that tangible items improve our quality of life. On this day, being grateful for the abundance we are blessed with reminded us that the intangible is oftentimes much more satisfying. For this Guatemalan family who has never known abundance, a new home was a luxury and a necessity. The value for the PLAY it Forward team was much less intangible. We took away an enriching experience, a lifetime of memories and new set of values that money can’t buy.
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