La Ceiba changed me forever.
Nothing has ever opened my eyes more than my Global Village Youth Program trip to La Ceiba, Honduras, in May 2006. I have been involved with Habitat for Humanity for the past five or six years. I’ve helped build homes in Connecticut, Maryland, Maine, South Carolina, and Rhode Island. But in Honduras I experienced a foreign country with a culture vastly different from my own; witnessed firsthand an immense need for volunteerism; and helped deserving, low-income families to build and purchase their own homes.
This decision to participate on the trip was spur-of-the-moment. I had heard about the Global Village Youth Program as a member of the Habitat for Humanity campus chapter at Eastern Connecticut State University, where I am a student. I looked into it, applied, and soon found myself preparing to leave. Thanks to my great family and friends I was able to raise enough money in just one day.
Smiles and Soccer
No one on the team knew what to expect in La Ceiba, but when we finally arrived we were surprised at how nice our eating and living situation was.
My team was made up of people from all over our country. Most were college students, but age didn’t matter when it came to the friendships we formed. Soon enough, working side by side, our entire group had chemistry. We quickly became family.
On the first day of work, there was a little bit of a language barrier. My teammates and I knew very little Spanish, and many of the locals did not speak English. But smiles and laughter were a good enough source of communication and eventually it wasn’t a problem. Just as we were willing to learn a few Spanish words, our new friends were willing to learn a few words in English, each side sounding pretty clumsy.
As the day went on, we worked hard moving cement blocks and buckets of dirt and cement mix, making sure to take breaks to apply sunscreen and drink plenty of water. Our days were packed with work and play, but no one ever seemed to be tired.
The two houses we worked on had only foundations when we started. By the time we left, we had filled the foundations with dirt and built a substantial number of the walls. This might not seem like a lot, but the homeowners were very appreciative.
The two women of the separate households were there every day to work as well. We got to know them. Each had big dreams to make a difference. With their new houses, their dreams seemed to be reachable.
On our breaks, the children began to want us to play soccer with them. This quickly became routine. Every one of them was very talented with the soccer ball. They would try to show us tricks, but none of us could keep up with them. We would dance to the reggaeton music and sing along to the songs we knew.
More and more children from the neighborhood showed up. They were so eager to help us get the house built. It seemed that most of the children were somehow related—siblings, cousins, and friends of friends came to help. Without them we would not have been able to accomplish as much as we did.
We were also able to have some time to play and experience La Ceiba culturally and environmentally. We knew that this might be the only time we were going to be in Honduras.
The Value of Volunteering
After I returned home, I realized I had so many material things that I didn’t need. My friends and family would tell me how they wished to do a trip like the Global Village trip some day. It has made me see that there is always time to volunteer anywhere and that it is always appreciated by someone.
I plan to go on other Global Village trips in the future. This summer I hope to lead one of my own. I can’t emphasize enough how inspiring the trip was as a whole and the way it has helped me see the world.
JULIA HERCHENRODER is a junior at Eastern Connecticut State University in Glastonbury, Conn., majoring in communications and minoring in anthropology. She has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity for a number of years and is a member of American Humanics, a campus group that works with local not-for-profit groups.
