| Weeks 22 & 23 Volunteer Work in Chiloé The Program Un techo Para Chile (A Roof for Chile) Heather, Travis (the other engineering student from Madison studying here in Chile), and myself went to Home Center Friday morning to buy our rain gear and hammers preparing ourselves mentally for working hard in the pouring rain for 10 days straight. I think that we were all a little nervous (especially Heather who had a bad cold and was convinced that she would probably die of ammonia during the trip) but also excited that we were not only going to have the opportunity to know part of Chile that most foreigners never see, but also that we were participating in a biannual event that has become a cultural pilgrimage for all Chileans our age and knowing that when we come back we would truly be accepted as part of a group and hopefully have many new friends. The promotion and information available about the volunteer programs to build houses for Chileīs poor all over the country during winter break was amazing. There were so many fliers, poster, and displays all over campus that it was literally impossible for anyone to say that they didnīt know about it. However even more impressive than the organization of the event was the eagerness and level of participation of the students and young (between 18-25 years old) of Chile in general. The program A Roof for Chile this winter sent groups of students to 12 area in Chile from the most northern city to the most southern (Iquique, Antofagasta, Copiapo, La Serena, Valpariso, Rancagua, Talca, Chillan, Concepcion, Osorno, Valdivia, and Chiloé) and although I am not sure how many students were in each group our Chiloé group consisted of about 300. Within our 300 students we went to work in about 6 different cities (these groups were named schools because each group slept in the school of their respective city, Heather, Travis and I asked to work in the same school and all went to a very small island of Chiloé named Caguache.) The bus trip there was long (about 14 hours) but painless, because most of it was overnight travel and I slept well. Then we had to take a short ferry ride over to the island of Chiloé and next a three hour ferry ride to our island of Caguache. When we arrived the sun was shining and people of the island were there to greet us. We each marked our portion of the school floor with our sleeping bags (which didnīt leave much room for walking.) Then we all had our first meeting with our community (each community consisted of 8-9 people that would work together each day and had the goal of building 3 houses in 9 days, as a rule of the program friends could be in the same school but not the same community so Heather was in community-azul, Travis-black, and me-yellow.) I liked everyone in my community the first time I met them, I felt accepted and comfortable right away. Each community had two bosses (one female and one male) with experience to lead the group and in total my group had 3 woman and 5 men (1 person from the US: me, 1 person from France: Adrien, and 7 Chileans) so we had a very diverse, interesting group. Life on the Island The island of Caguache has a population of 500 people. It is interesting that Caguache is so far from Santiago and has such a small population that the island itself seems to be living in the distant past due to lack of contact with the rest of the world and poverty. In the school where we were staying there was no hot water and we had electricity only between 6:30pm and 10pm. Also since each of us only paid $30 for the trip we had very simple food (breakfast-bread with jelly, and coffee o tea, lunch or dinner- rice, noodles, or mashed potatoes with hot dogs or canned fish) Although we did get treated to two special dinners one of salmon and another of actual meat. The people themselves generally had a small radio and television which they ran off of batteries. They cook and heat their homes with antique wood burning stoves. They eat a lot of seafood and potatoes since they are plentiful on the island and enjoy their apple wine throughout the day (at least the men of the island.) Everyone wears rubber boots or no shoes at all because even when it isnīt raining many of the paths are 2 inches or more of mud. Everyone knows each other (which seems impossible since many of us donīt even know our closest neighbor but is true.) Lastly even though none of them have the luxuries that have become everyday life for us (gas stove, running hot water, a telephone in the house...to name just a couple) I saw many more smiles on their faces each day than I have seen on any average day in any big city (Chile, US, or Italy.) I donīt think that any one passed me during my entire stay on the island without giving me a smile and saying hello. For my part I didnīt shower for 11 days straight, I ate very simple food and not much of it, I didnīt watch any TV, I worked all day, I walked almost everywhere, I talked to my friends by candle light, and slept on a hard floor in room without heat in the middle of winter...but although it sounds rough, none of it really bothered me at all except maybe the few hours that I couldnīt sleep because I was so cold (which only happened about 3 night out of the 10) matter of fact I really felt quite happy all 10 days. It was nice to come back to my bed and a hot shower though as well, I canīt say that I would have been happy spending the rest of my life there, but at least now I know that I can survive at least 10 days (without suffering) without the material things of my world. Building Homes Since I havenīt worked since I arrived in Chile, I actually enjoyed having a reason to get a little exercise and do some physical labor. I also hardly ever have the opportunity to work outside and so I was extremely happy that we were blessed with good weather everyday. Which was definitely an act of God because it is practically unheard of for the island to go for 10 days without raining in the middle of winter, it usually rains practically everyday during this time or year. Miracle or luck we worked with blue skies and sun everyday. I just did what ever the leaders of the group told me to do and enjoyed the weather, view, and companionship of my team. The only times that I didnīt feel quite happy was when I ran out of work and had to wait for something to do, because I got bored and cold quickly. Thankfully by the third house I pretty much knew what to do and so could find work for myself. Each house that we constructed was constructed exactly the same but each experience itself was distinct, because the recipient of the house received us differently. The first house was for the single man who was living with a neighbor but wanted his own house before he asked his girlfriend to marry him. His mother had us over for lunch and tea everyday and also for dinner twice and breakfast once. Everyday she made a delicious fried bread for us for lunch and tea. Her fried bread was definitely the highlight of my first 3 days on the island. It was pretty humbling as well to eat meals that you know someone sacrificed part of their farm to feed you (she killed two chickens and a baby pig to feed us...I am not used to sacrifices so big being made just to feed me lunch.) They were obviously very happy to see us everyday, very happy to receive the house and most of all to talk with us over lunch, tea, and dinner. Each community had to sleep in one of the house that they constructed for one night, and since the first family was the family that we bonded with the most we chose to sleep in their house. They were in the house when we arrived so we had a very warm welcome and enjoyed a few hours visiting with them before going to bed. Sleeping in the house was a little bit colder than the school, but I slept well.... |