19 People, 12 Days, 1 Country.. The experience of a lifetime.

Exactly one week ago, I was waking up for the first time in 12 days in my own bed at home. Normally after a vacation, people cannot wait to be home to sleep in their own bed. However, I felt the complete opposite. I missed my single bed in small room of Centro de Formacion. I missed my two roomates, and I missed waking up to a warm breakfast in 30 degree weather with my DSBNi team.
Everyday, I think about El Salvador. I think about Jose, Oka, Noel, Freddie, Rosa and everyone else that became a new friend. Everytime I go to get a drink of water, I remember the women carrying waterjugs on their head, travelling back and forth from the dirty riverside. Each time I have a hot shower, I think about waking up to the cold showers we had while we were down there.. and I turn the temperature down a little bit. Every conversation or simple hello I have with one of the DSBNi members, I recall what they taught me, and how they helped me.
I know it's been mentioned before -- the selfish feeling we all get because of what we have taken out of this experience. But that's because it's completely true. Setting out to "change the world, one act of kindness at a time" was our goal. We were going to build a house in a poor country, and help the poor people... No. That's not what we did. We learned about these people we labelled "poor" and "unfortunate", and are now able to give them names. They are not poor, they are hardworking, and proud of what they have. Unfortunate? Not at all. There were constantly smiles plastered on the faces of every Salvadorian we walked past. I respect each and everyone of them with all that I have, and I miss them so much.

Jose, Oka, Carlos, Frankie, Elias, Noel and Marciella: They taught me to just let loose, have fun.. play a game of "Mika", the popular game of tag, with your best friends. They showed me that despite the language barrier, we could be connected. After 6 Days of simply playing games with these kids, we were the best of friends. As we were leaving the buildsite for the last time, we shared our tears with them. I didn't think they'd care we were leaving.. or understand we weren't coming back. Seeing these kids cry made me feel as though I was a part of their life, and in turn they became a part of mine -- and will never be leaving my heart.

Carlos and Alberto, our masonry help on the worksite: These men taught me about hardwork, which I was not prepared for. Non-stop, these men would build, teach, laugh and interact with us. We all had a common goal: To build a house. They just helped us reach our goal by showing us a work ethic that is not commonly seen here in North America.

Rosa, Erica, Patty and all Habitat and GV members: Seeing how happy, and how passionate these people were about there job helped me realize something about my future. Whatever you do in life, you must be happy doing it. Money doesn't matter.. and it can't buy happiness. Each of these workers were giving there lives to help other people, and inspiring others to do so at the same time.

Cruz-Ortiz Family: Showed me family value. Mrs. Cruz-Ortiz was always looking out for her family, and making sure they were looking out for each other. She took care of 10 kids, and it was evident she loved each of them with all of her heart. I loved seeing how close the brothers and sisters were with each other, and also how the family opened their home for neighbourly visits. All of this together made it impossible to not see the love and closeness of Salvadorian life, and how important it is to keep you happy.

DSBNi students: You have all changed my life. Each and everyone of you have taught me something about myself. The bonds we have created-- although they may not have been extremely evident at first-- are so very strong. I loved meeting all these new people, learning about you was so interesting. But the way we were all able to care so greatly for each other was amazing. We went into this as strangers and came out as family. Thank you so much for being there, doing such a wonderful thing, and giving me 10 others to love and trust for the rest of my life.

DSBNi leaders: You made this happen, and I can't thank you enough for that. Each and every leader on this trip became one of my friends, that I respect and am inspired by. I'd also like to say that I greatly appreciate the trust you had for us, and the respect you gave us. You changed 11 teenagers lives.

The blog could go on forever. But scrolling up, I realized I've already written quite a lot of scattered thoughts. Everything is still so confusing to me, and it's hard to write it all down. One thing I do know however, is that this trip changed my life.

Adios from my last blog post..
Kayla Kuyvenhoven
Grimsby Secondary School