Building homes of hope: the story of Anna and Jonathan

On our first day in El Salvador, we had to opportunity to see the Rosa Virginia community and meet the children. The children in this community were vibrant, but their homes and clothing were tattered. After seeing their community center/school and playing soccer with the children, we began to head back to the mission house. However, Daniel, the founder of CEDEINFA, stopped us a little way down the alley and introduced us to Anna and her son, Jonathan. I had already met Jonathan; he was one of the little boys I chased around for the last hour. His giggle and energy were unmistakable.

Daniel explained to us that he had known Anna and Jonathan for some time as CEDEINFA often worked in the community. When he saw Anna that night, Anna shared that her grandmother said there was no longer a place for her and Jonathan in her home, and they were on their own to find a place to live. As Daniel shared this, we stood in front of a makeshift shelter of tarps and thin, rusted metal with holes in it, which we then learned that Anna had built over the last few days to provide shelter for her and her son. Minutes later, we were inside the shelter to see the beds she had managed to find and home she had set up for them. It was very little, but we admired her bravery and courage. As we prayed over her in the home, I tried to imagine what her last few days must have been like and how scared she must have been. I admired her courage and the strength of a mother to do what was necessary to provide for her son. The little home she had managed to build was not structurally secure and the heavy rains that passed through in the evenings surely leaked through the holes in the metal roof, but she built this out of nothing. What courage she found amidst the adversity.

Over the next few days, many of us had mentioned to Daniel that we wanted to help Anna in some way. So, on our last full day in El Salvador, we got up early and headed to the Rosa Virginia community once more to build a home for Anna and Jonathan. When we arrived, the mission staff had already taken down her makeshift home and dug the holes for the new home we would erect. The day was hot and sunny, more intense than any day we had while in El Salvador thus far, and the work was hard. Many of the materials used were what we would call scrap in the U.S. but were strong and sturdy compared to the home they currently had.

First, we bolted the wood to the concrete footers and tightened them carefully, as to not crack the concrete. We then set the footers by filling in the holes with dirt, erected the beams, and added the crossbeams. To secure the structure, we had three men on the beams nailing it together. The rest of us were pushing the footers and wooden beams to make sure they were level. As I looked around the scene, with my friends hanging from the top beams, I couldn’t help but think how different this was than our construction back home and the number of safety violations we would be breaking in the States. However, we weren’t in America; this was El Salvador, and we were using all the resources we had to secure a strong shelter for a family in need.

When the initial structure was set, we began on the roof. The roof and siding for the home consisted of bright, shiny sheet metal bolted to the wood. Again, we had three men on the roof who led the work and took charge of the job, while others fed them the metal from the ground. It was hot, and the sun’s reflection on the metal was scorching, but they did not complain. They simply embraced the work they set out to do. During this time, my main role was to help Charlie, one of the mission staff, set the footer for the door. Three different times we set the footer, and three different times the structure shifted from the weight of the men moving around on the roof and lack of concrete to truly secure the footers. Alas, we believed we had it secure.

When the roof was finished, we broke for lunch, a respite from the heat of the day and restorative to our energy. To my amazement, when we returned, Charlie had the footer for our doorpost completely dug up again. The bolts of the footer in the doorframe did not allow the door to secure properly, so again we started over. This time, however, there was no one on the roof to shift the structure, and we were able to add bracing around the doorway to make it secure. The door opened and closed perfectly — hallelujah!

As the others began working on the siding, I headed to the carpentry workshop with Cristoval and Bernie for two hours to help the young boys in El Cortez learn how to work with tools. When I arrived back at the construction site, our team was nearly finished with the home and clearly exhausted. From the heat of the sun to the physical labor, everyone was drained.

As a few people wrapped up the final details on the siding and window, I sat down on the curb next to Anna and Jonathan. Anna had sat there all day and watched us build her home. I imagined how humbling that was. It wasn’t long before she began showing me photos of Jonathan as a baby; it was quickly evident that she was a proud mom. Jonathan was a happy kid. His eyes were light brown with a golden ring around them, and he was full of energy like most kids. When he got up for a few minutes, I scooted closer to Anna to see the photos. Upon return, a smile filled his face and eyes. He pointed his little finger at me and wagged it back and forth, repeating “no, no, no, no, no, no, no” with a big grin. I took him in my lap and repeated that phrase while tickling him. We instantly connected and laughed together for the next hour. From tickling to chasing to piggyback rides and picking him up to spin, he would not leave my side. We were buddies, and he was so joyful.

It’s humbling when you think about it. This family and little boy had been through so much; yet kids are kids. They like to play and laugh and run. They don’t need all the things we give our kids today to stay entertained. They make up games, run around and find ways to have fun. They have life that our kids here in the U.S. are lacking due to screens and so much excess. Often, our kids don’t have to be creative; they lack imagination and finding ways to fill their time. They lack “life.” The same is true with us adults. The El Salvador communities support each other. They look out, they make connections, they live generationally and closely to their neighbors. In America, we are all about our individual freedoms and independence. We don’t lean on each other enough.

When the home was finally complete, we said our goodbyes to Anna and Jonathan and then piled in the truck as a crew. We were exhausted, but we were also joyful. We had built a home for a mom and her son and accomplished the work we had come here to do. We came to serve, but I really believe we received far more than we gave. More yet, we found a community in the group of people we came with and friendships that we would take home. In the back of the truck on the way to the mission house, we laughed, sung and enjoyed the breeze of the evening. Hope was built that day, and for more people than just Anna and Jonathan.