A generous, gentle and grateful man; his face says it all.Don Willy is the soon-to-be recipient of the first Esperanza home here in Oaxaca. His community chose him to be the first, knowing how deserving he is. For a man in his seventies, Don Willy’s energy and work ethic is awe-inspiring. He lost his wife two years ago to a drawn-out illness and now rents a small house for himself, his daughter and his two grandkids. To pay each month’s rent and provide for his family, Willy has worked as an ice cream vendor at a high school from 9am-3pm Monday – Friday for the past 15 years. Each morning he walks to the town center where his ice cream cart is parked and pushes the cart along a bumpy dirt road about a mile to the school.
Willy sharing with us his ice cream and his story.
Though my encounters with Don Willy have been brief, he is never without a huge smile and a humble heart. As the recipient of an Esperanza house, it is expected that at least one member of Willy’s family is at the worksite helping to make blocks and construct the home. When our group arrived at the worksite today, not only did we meet Don Willy, but also his daughter and her two children, who will be sharing this new home with him. Even the youngest grandchild, no more than 2 years old, helped in construction of the foundation, carrying rocks no bigger than his little fist to his Grandpa, who received the help ever so patiently and placed the rocks in the foundation trenches with the most delightful smile..jpg)
Construction begins for Don Willy`s home!
Don Willy`s daughter and grandson. 
Both the grandsons at the worksite.
Carrying rocks to be used in the foundation.
Building a foundation. Together.
Not only did Don Willy`s family show up for construction of his home today, but so did more than 30 members of Esperanza`s four Oaxaca community groups: Los Olivos del Sol, Cacalote, El Venado, and Rio Grande. Each community group is at different stages of preparation for the construction of their Esperanza homes. All have purchased land to build on, and many are in the process of saving money for construction, which will begin in January or February 2011. The Rio Grande community is in the process of making 2400 Ado-blocks for each home to be built in their community, as you saw in day 1 and 2 of the blog. The Los Olivos del Sol community, of which Willy is a member, has begun construction on the homes! Today we helped to dig the foundation trenches of a man named Maoru`s home, as well as pouring the floor of Willy`s house!
Willy preparing the floor for the concrete pour..JPG)
Katrina with members of the Los Olivos del Sol community: Rosa and her children.JPG)
Members of the Cacalote community showed up to help in construction of Willy`s home.
Members of the Los Olivos del Sol community begin a bucket line in preparation for making the concrete floor of Willy`s home.
Deana and the Cacalote community get in on the bucket line..JPG)
David, Andrew and Dan..jpg)
Even Willy gets in on the bucket line..JPG)
Eduardo passing concrete to Deana and Dan.
Erin preparing sand for the cement mixer.
Pete getting the buckets of rocks ready.
Dan loading the cement mixer.
Eduardo mixing the cement.
David loading the final product.
Manuel, Los Olivos del Sol member and soon-to-be-Esperanza house recipient, pouring the floor.
The hired mason attending to the finishing touches.
No comments:
Post a Comment