What Makes a House a Home?

“What makes a house a home?”

An interesting question that always helps me put things back into perspective, especially when I become obsessed about the things inside my house instead of focussing on what truly matters. So what does truly matter?

I believe, what’s important is having a space that provides a sense of safety, belonging, freedom, community, permanency and acceptance for me and my family. A space where you can feel safe from the elements whether they be natural or man-made. A space where you belong – even on your worst days. A space where you can let your guard down and just be yourself. A space that’s part of a bigger community that you can become a part of. A space that you know will always be there for you. A space that gives you confidence and a feeling of pride.

That’s what I believe makes a house a home. And, that’s what inspires me to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity here in Winnipeg and soon in Guatemala. What an honour and a privilege to build a house for a family so that they can build a home.

A little geography

This is the backdrop of our build site - the department of Alta Verapaz. Wow!

Here's what I've learned about the area:

• a varied terrain ranging from mountains to lowlands
  
• humid forests
• home to orchids, white monkeys and the quetzal - Guatemala's beautiful emerald green national bird
  
• locals grow mostly corn, beans, coffee, and broccoli
• cardamum is an important crop for export
  
• the climate in November is cool and wet

We will be working with the Habitat affiliate out of Coban, a 5 hour scenic bus ride from Quatemala City. Coban is the capital city of Alta Verapaz and is about 1,300 m or 4,290 ft above sea level.

Aidan, my 8 year old science & nature guy, wants to know what kind of bugs & snakes I'll find and if there are any berries to pick. Unless you know, I'll have to get back to him on that.

Habitat in Armenia

Habitat for Humanity works around the world giving deserving families the opportunity to get decent, safe and affordable housing. To me, the following story is a perfect illustration of what Habitat is all about.


A Decent Home in Armenia

Sargsyan Hrach (50) and his wife, Susan (48) have raised their family of four in very dire conditions in the mountainous village of Khachik. Their home did not have a kitchen and a decent bathroom.

After decades of bearing the heavy snowfalls and the long wet months, the roof of their home could serve them no more and allowed water to leak into the rooms.

Only after their two girls got married, and the two sons, Artak (22) and Arthur (18), started helping out their parents with the work in their fields, could the family start improving their home. With the help the Sargssyan’s received from Habitat for Humanity Armenia, the family now has a decent toilet and a kitchen, and more importantly, thanks to the new roof, is looking forward to spending a dry winter indoors.

“Finally we have a decent home. We hope Habitat will be able to help each and every Armenian family in need for better housing conditions,” Hrach said.

To join in the battle against substandard housing in Armenia, join the Global Village trip going to Armenia October 18—31, 2009, being led by Murray and Jan Coates. For more information and to apply, please visit http://habitat.ca/tripschedulec235.php?PJID=134 or contact the Coates at m.coates@shaw.ca.

Collect the Whole Set

I just got my Global Village Habitat T-shirt. Woo Hoo!

So far we have several white ones from previous builds here in Winnipeg, a red one from Darryl's adventure as team leader this year and now, a green one.

Blue is usually for the homeowners so we won't be getting one of those, but there's still yellow, orange, purple, pink etc. I wonder what we'd have to do to add those to our collection?

After all, it's really all about the T-shirts!

Why Guatemala?

Considering all the places in the world, why choose Guatemala?

The fact is, I didn't really know where I wanted to go. Until one day...

I read about Healthy Horizons Honduras run by a Winnipeg couple who have been helping an orphanage in Honduras . As I read the article, I wondered if this could be the way to fulfill my mission. I visited their website and was so impressed by their work that I emailed Steve and Sharon about the potential of joining their trip.

They replied and said there was an opening.

That's when it hit me - I could actually do this.

That's also when reality kicked in and I got scared. Suddenly going to a developing country in the throws of a political coup with a small, independent group of people didn't sound so good.

So, Honduras was out. But my curiosity about Central America and my desire to go was at an all time high. I just needed to find a place that was somewhat more politically stable and a project with a larger organization that has a lot of experience and connections should anything go wrong.

Meanwhile, Darryl (my husband) and I were making plans to once again volunteer for the Building Blitz for Habitat for Humanity here in Winnipeg.

You see where this is going, right!

Just like you, I put two and two together, checked out Habitat's Global Village program, submitted my application and two days later was contacted by my team leader Greig about going to Guatemala.

And that's how Guatemala became my destination.

You're Going Where?!

I've always known that one day I would travel to a developing country to offer my help in some way. But that was all I knew. I didn't know when it would be, what it would be, where it would be or how it would happen.

Now I know. This November I'm going on a Global Village Build with Habitat for Humanity to Guatemala. I'll be going on my own with a team of people from across Canada for one week.

That's all I know - for now. When I think about it, there are still a lot of things I don't know:

I don't know anything about Guatemala. (I admit, I had to look it up.)
I don't know Spanish. (Will that matter?) (How quickly can someone learn Spanish?)
I don't know how to build houses. (How important is that for a house build anyway?)
I don't know how to tell my mom I'm going to a developing country. (Yes, I'm 40 years old and still concerned about what my mom will say!)

Despite the unkown, I am really looking forward to going. And, I'm looking forward to sharing my journey in this blog.