Habitat for Humanity Build
Santa Fe, NM - May 18 - 30, 2009

We have talked for a long time about doing something more with our travels than just moving from place-to-place seeing the sights.  After looking at a number of alternatives for "giving back" we decided to become involved in Habitat for Humanity (HfH) build project.  They ask for a modest commitment of two weeks of your time participating on project(s) constructing homes for people could not otherwise own a home of their own.  These projects are ongoing in many areas of the U.S. and for that matter around the world.  We thought it would be a good match with our traveling lifestyle.

On the evening of May 18th we drove across town (while braving the evening breezes through our still missing passenger side window) to Hyde Park Road to attend a welcoming dinner hosted by a HfH local volunteer.  We met our fellow Care-a-Vanners and were briefed on the Oshara Village build, what to expect and safety precautions.  The next day we were on the job by 8:00 am meeting with Maurice, the construction director, and getting our assignments.

We worked with five other very interesting couples from California, Florida, Illinois and Texas.  During our two-week commitment we developed a great camaraderie with our new friends, which made the hard work fun and rewarding.  We also worked with very helpful and infinitely patient local volunteers and had an opportunity to meet the families that were buying the homes on which we worked.

Speaking of hard work.  Oh my gosh!  There were some days we were so exhausted we could barely move by quitting time.  Our duties included installing shelving and molding, painting interior and exterior trim, staining porches, cleaning the houses and the worksite, digging postholes and building fences.  We both wore out two pairs of gloves and our hands were sore and stiff from pulling and tying wire for the miles of coyote fences.  Well… it seemed like miles.

On the evenings we had enough energy, we gathered with our fellow volunteers for dinner, drinks and lively conversation.  By the end of the two weeks we all had a tear in our eye as we said our good-byes.  We will absolutely participate in another build, and can only hope that it will be as rewarding as our first.

Our work was done, so on May 31 we headed north on Highway 285 for a leisurely trip through the San Luis Valley of the Colorado Rockies on our way to visit Susan's sister in Denver.