written by: Lisa Howey, veganunderground.com correspondent

 

I just got back from a 10 day volunteer mission in Guatemala where I and 11 Ryerson students were involved in an alternative spring break project.  We wanted to do something meaningful with our extra time away from school and learn something beyond what we could learn in a classroom.  Each of us had a different experience and a different story, but here is mine…

It was an amazing, eye-opening experience that has left me with a sense of motivation to do more.  I tried to go there with little expectation, and when I arrived I was totally consumed by all the sights and sounds.  I never expected to meet such giving and welcoming people or see such appreciation from the organization and the family that we were building the house with. 

We arrived on February 15 in Guatemala City and got transported to Antigua for a night and then we were off to Panajachel to see some sites and get to know a bit about the culture.  While in Panajachel we took a boat tour to Santo Domingo, then the next day we went to the town where we were set to build our house, Retalhuleu.  Sunday we were welcomed at a ceremony where we were introduced to the family in need of the house.  The next day we were going to start building.

 

The next morning we got to our site and got straight to work.  The foundation was already measured out and ready to dig.  We spent the day digging the trenches to be filled with rocks and cement, and tying wire around the rebar for vertical supports.  By the second day we laid the first layer of block, which was called the lintel beam.  By Friday, our last building day, we had 6 layers of blocks on all sides of the house.  The mason told us that the family will now get their house two weeks ahead of schedule.

Each day the family was there to help with the build.  They had two children, 3 and 4 years old, who I enjoyed playing with everyday on the worksite.  On Friday we had a goodbye ceremony with the family and the Habitat for Humanity affiliate.  It was really hard to say goodbye to the family, just as we were getting over the language barrier and starting to get to know them.  Regardless, I am honoured that we got to meet and help them out in some way.  It is an experience that has helped me grow and an experience I will never forget. 

Everyday we had our breakfast, lunch and dinner made for us, and we were very appreciative of their effort to accommodate the vegans, but it was a really hard concept for them to understand.  Therefore, we had a huge need for the Vega bars and Vega powder that were donated by Vega.  They helped sustain us and give us energy for our labour intensive building days!

 

Out of 11 of us that participated in this mission, 4 were vegans.  Pretty good ratio!  After our long work days we spent the nights at our accommodation hanging out and talking for many hours.  During this time many people took advantage of this time (almost everyone) to ask why we had become vegan.  I guess our arguments were valid, because we officially saw one girl turn vegan, and some others seriously thinking about it.

 

-Lisa Howey, veganunderground.com correspondent