Hand up or hand out? by Ken Hendriks

Today was our first build day. Three days six teams 36 houses!  My 15 year old son Sam and I are newbies.  This is our first time in El Salvador and our first build this morning with Shelter Canada.  A friend of mine at home who is a strong Christian questions whether going to a third world country to give a handout makes sense.  Today I will find out. 

The build starts awkwardly. Sam and I are like deer in headlights.  We don’t have a clue what to do.  Our team leader Dan and team members lead us through some simple tasks and all of a sudden we are in the mix.  We are helping build the house! The locals jump right in and start digging the foundation. We are all working on the house together, locals, the family, our team and Shelter but there is still a sense of people working independently.  There are road blocks.  Large rocks difficult to remove, some challenges with the doors, a misplaced hole.  The family receiving the home watches with a mix of excitement and reservation.  They have been waiting a long time for this home. The father is ill with kidney failure, they have a son who lost his sight at birth who also happens to have a healthy twin.  The house will hopefully help with his health and improve their overall situation.  It is both heartwarming and heart wrenching.  But there is HOPE !  We finally finish our first build. The father proudly places his Shelter number above his doorway and congratulations are given.  God is good!

We are an hour and a half behind schedule.  I am exhausted! And we have a second build this afternoon.

After a short break for lunch we are off to site number two.  The single mother Maria, who is receiving the home is ready for us and jumps right into the fray to work side by side with us.  The work goes faster.  Sam and I are now seasoned veterans😊   Everyone starts to work together as equals, side by side as a cohesive unit and things are going faster.  But it is very hot.  We lose a team member to the heat.  It just makes everyone more determined. And then our day completely changed.  Sam and I had the opportunity to interview Maria and her son which is customary with a Shelter project when someone is receiving a home.

Maria has been praying to God for a home for eight years.  The father is not in the picture.  Was in prison and died two years ago. He was not a good man.  Her son, Sahir is 14 and in grade 7.  Only a difference of one year from Sam sitting beside me.  I see Sam in his face. He has a great smile.  I wonder if we exchanged places would I have her faith in God?  We are a gift from God she says, and she is truly blessed by us and our team.  I am humbled and overwhelmed with emotion.  We all have tears in our eyes.  Maria tells me one more secret.  She has been praying to God to bring her a “good man”  I reassure Maria if God can bring us from Canada to build her a home than I am pretty sure he will bring a good man into her life😊 Maria has gotten away from going to church. My son reminds her God is everywhere, not just in church.  As long as you  believe in him and put your trust and faith in him he will be there for you.  Maria shares her dreams for the future.  With a new home she can lock and leave unattended she wants to start her own business selling local goods.  Maria has hope for the future for the first time in many years and so does her son. We close our interview with a prayer and I give Maria a big hug and don’t want to let go. God is good indeed!

We go back outside and the walls are going up.  Things are happening fast.  A local teenager eyes the drill in my hand.  I call him over and ask him if he wants to drill? He has been helping all day but not with power tools.  He smiles and happily takes the drill from me.  I hand him the screws and he drills them in.  We laugh as we fumble with the screws and change the bits clumsily, the blind leading the blind. Trying to communicate with single words and sign language.  We work for a half hour together putting on trim and by the time we are done there are three other locals working with me to get the job done.  Working side by side as equals.  We finish the job and shake hands and slap each others shoulders like old friends.  The house is complete.  We present Maria with her Shelter number to put on the house.  Her son climbs the ladder and carefully places it with pride.  We take our photos and Maria is so full of joy and hugging her son with a smile as wide as the ocean.  I give her another hug and don’t want to leave the site.  Maria requests a final prayer by our group inside her new home. I reluctantly leave knowing that tomorrow we have the privilege to do this all over again.

Hand out or hand up?  Today 12 families lives will be changed forever.  This week 36 families!  They now have HOPE! There are many many stories of people like this who were given a hand up and it changed their lives forever.  Not just their lives but the lives for future generations as well.  There is nothing wrong with giving someone in need a hand up. It can happen in El Salvador and it can happen in Niagara After all are we not ALL God’s children?

Indeed it was a very good day! 

by Ken Hendriks