Dan Coleman

A key part of every Global Village build is when we take time to say goodby to the people we have worked with over the past days. In our case it took place last night. Earlier in the day, as I mentioned in my last blog, we had participated in the inauguration of 15 new homes. Now we would return to our hotel afterwards, and once again, go this other event.

We arrived about 9 PM at the community center in Recreo where we were met by many of same people we had been with earlier in the day. (The above is somewhat rambling, since I have just returned from work and am a little frazzled). A large asado (Argentina barbeque) was set for what much have been 70 to 80 people. Habitat had prepared a certificate for each one of us, and the master of ceremonies, Mariano Moreno, also the head of Santa Fe Habitat, first called on a different family member or some else involved in our build to present to each of us a certificate and a Habitat leather bookmark. Later a local band played some music. Another emotional experience. We were home by midnight.

Today, at the worksite, began as it usually does, with a few of us working on finishing the Ramirez home and the remainder on building the new house as well as clearing the ground for even another house. However, as Frank later noted, we started to flag. Maybe because of the previous evening, maybe because it was the last day, maybe because we were kind of finishing up come tasks, anyway it was time to wrap it all up. We had our usual box lunch at noon, and then left early for the hotel, after, of course, saying goodby once again to a few people who had become our good friends in the past 10 days or so. Tonight we will dine for the last time in Santa Fe. On to Buenos Aires tomorrow.

Today we had a new experience. Periodically Habitat will officially dedicate a group of houses, and it was our luck to be here when this took place. Fifteen houses were dedicated at about 4 PM today, all of which are located in the area where we are now building Habitat homes, including the Ramirez home that we are finishing up. Attending were all 15 members of our brigade, the director of the Habitat Argentina and other local and national Habitat staff, the Mayor of Recreo and of course the 15 beneficiary families. There were the usual speeches, mostly short, and the various Habitat brigades that had worked on these houses were thanked. While we had probably done much less on these 15 houses than previous brigades we just happened to be there so we received many acolades. Frank was our designated speaker for the group and he made some appropriate remarks in Spanish, as is his wont, doing a great job. I was asked to come forward to receive a present on behalf of the brigade, a locally made basket with some food goodies including some salami, which we will eat tomorrow night before going to dinner. Afterwards we kind of mingeled around, while munching on a local favorite, torta frita, which is a fried bread dough. For my fellow Georgians, it is like corn bread but made of flour and then deep fried. The neighborhood ladies had made it over an open fire in the front yard of the Ramirez home just an hour or so before the event. I believe everyone in the brigade felt honored to have attended this event.

I mentioned earlier in this blog that we would eat the salami the next evening. Since the first evening in Buenos Aries, we have been getting together before dinner to chat and snack and, of course, enjoy some Argentinean wine, that is, most of us. It seems like someone or two of us will buy some wine, perhaps some cheese and crackers, maybe some salami, and we will meet in the hotel room where breakfast is served, usually between 6:30 and 7PM. It is not really planned or organized, but it sort of happens. People just wander in as they will, and sometime around 8 usually, the wine will have been drunk, the food consumed and our stomachs will tell us it is time to eat. So off we go to dinner, always at a different restaurant.

We might not do this tonight, simply because we were late leaving the build site due to the event I just described, but also because we are going to our going away to dinner in less than an hour. I will tell you about this tomorrow night.

It is Tuesday today and most of us continued preparing the foundation for a new house. We discovered yesterday that the recipient will be a young mother named Edith.

We have been working along with her for the last two days; shoveling, leveling and tamping. I have been very impressed that she has politely, but firmly, made her wishes for her new house known to the architect in charge. For example, she supplements her income by growing flowers for sale and she asked that her house be moved 10 feet closer to the street so that she would have a larger garden. She told me about her plans for a porch, a second door and her front entrance, and I was struck by her sense of hope.

Her house will take about one month to construct using the 3 ft. by 3 ft. concrete panels Paco mentioned in an earlier ´blog´. The house will be 400 sq. ft. with 2 bedrooms. Each bedroom will be 10 ft. by 10 ft. and there will be a small bathroom with a shower.

The design of the house allows for easy future expansion for another bedroom. In addition, I particularly liked the location of the doors and the windows because they will allow refreshing breezes to flow through every room.

The house will cost $8,000 US to build and Iris will have a 15 year mortgage at 0% interest, which will require monthly payments of $50 US.

After work today we had a tour of other Habitat houses in Recreo and were shown former construction techniques using hollow red clay blocks, referred to as “bricks". Habitat started using the concrete panels because the labour costs are about one third of the labour costs of the brick houses. The local affiliate built a house as a demonstration project for people to view and they currently use it as an office.

By the end of today, four concrete panels had been bolted into a precast column, forming the first corner of Iris´s house. The house she dreams about is becoming a reality. I can´t wait for tomorrow!

Pedro (or Peter, as I am called back home)

After skipping a couple of days, I (Dan) am back with an update since Friday. Yesterday marked the half way point. No real problems, no accidents, no sickness. Just a few blisters and scrapes, and some sore backs (Frank´s particularly), thats all. May this week be the same.

Friday night we went with our foreman Mariano and his wife Mecha to a restaurant along the river bank. Naturally most of us had local freshwater fish, one called a boga and another that no one could really pronounce but sounded like ¨suburu¨; anyway that is the name we gave it. Both were very good, and we all felt healthier after having eaten too much red meat the first few days. We are very fortunate in having Mariano to supervise our work day. He has a great sense of humor and is always very concerned about our health and security. He makes sure that we have plenty of water to drink, that we put on sun screen lavishly and that we take back to the hotel just what we brought with us to the site.

Saturday was a day off and we took a trip to the estancia (ranch) Las Mercedes, about a 2 hour plus trip from Santa Fe. This is a 9,000 plus hectare (over 20,000 acres) working farm - farm is an understatement - which has about 7,500 head of animals, mostly cattle but also horses, sheep, goats, and probably pigs, although I didn’t see any of the last. Also miles of fields of crops, mostly soybean, but also wheat when the conditions are ripe. The estancia also has vacation cottages and facilities for folks like us who want a day or two off, even though we only spent the day there. After arriving just before noon, we walked around, talked, had a drink, while some of us swam in the ice cold pool water. Then came a lunch featuring, what else?, beef, and the beef came from the ranchs cattle butchered just the previous day and then cooked for us over an oak fire. The lomo (filet) was about the best I have ever eaten, and the chorizo (a New York strip) was almost as good. Needless to say, we overate. But some of us, 9 exactly (but not me) were given a way of working off the pounds we had just put on. So on to the horses, not to eat, but to ride. Those 9 were beyond happiness when they dismounted after about an hour. You had to see it to believe it.

The next day, Sunday, was a day of rest for all of us, but not a day without an adventure. And the adventure was an afternoon jaunt to a local soccer match between one of the two professional local teams and a bitter rival. 12 of us went, and the local team won, so we and the whole town were real happy.

I think this is enough. Maybe I can get someone else on the team to write about today and maybe tomorrow.

No problems on Friday the 13th. actually everything is going smoothly…again the group split up into groups… one finishing Hector Ramirez house the other breaking ground for the foundation of the eventual 40 new homes they have planned. Two of the recipients were among the workers digging…even the neighborhood kids arrived to show us city folk how to dig…it became a contest to see who could move the most dirt.

On the Ramirez house we are down to painting and will soon begin finishing work on the inside… the field for the new homes has been enclosed in a fence…this is mainly to keep out the curious and the petty thieves… we have been warned that any equipment left on site will most lilkely not be there tomorrow.

The fence material is a sort of chainlink wire but a very low grade of wire…when we undid the roll it took many of us to untangle the mess… however our learning curve is steep and we got the hang of it… it aín’t pretty but maybe it will keep the honest people honest.

We will get to see the beginning of the building process which is very different from any houses being built in the USA and Canada… the cement slabs are being delivered on Saturday ( each one weighs 100 kilos!) after excavating the foot print of the house we will put in concrete pilings then level the whole thing with the pre formed and pour the cement slab for the floor…then build the walls from these 100 kilo monsters…lifting should be a “challenge” as there is no mechanical equipment on site and will have to be lifted by hand

Tomorrow we are going out for a ride in the country for some R & R, then maybe some beach time along the river…it will be good to relax because we have been going full out every day…a couple of machines would be nice but will not happen…hand labor is still cheaper than capital investment especially when it is volunteers.

KEEP TUNED, Paco Kelly

It was hot and sunny at the worksite today. The temperature was about 30 degrees Centigrade and there was little wind. Fortunately there was lots of water!

My name is Peter and I am from Vancouver, Canada: the rainy west coast. Our summers are short, mild, and often wet, particularly this year. So I am loving this second chance for summer weather!

We divided into two groups today. One group started painting the Ramirez house, which is nearing completion. The rest of us completed the fence and started clearing the foundation for a new house. Hot, hard work with plenty of rest breaks during which we got to practice our Spanish.

I discovered a trick today for helping me to understand conversations. I was talking to the architect in charge of the project and I realized that if I asked a question every few seconds my comprehension improved dramatically because that ensured I knew what we were talking about. Fortunately for me he was patient and didn´t mind repeating himself several times if required.

Another experience today was digging in the most beautiful soil I have every seen in my life! I grew up on a farm and have dug lots of post holes, but never have I seen soil like this. Recreo is on the northern edge of the Pampas and the soil is black and stone free. The landscape is very flat: a cross between the Regina Plains and farmland around Edmonton, Alberta.

I am very impressed with the involvement of the community in the project and congratulate the local Habitat para la Humanidad affiliate.

Hasta luego.

The team is getting into the swing of things, still eagerly volunteering for such jobs as digging deep fence post holes with an ordinary shovel! Jobs one might think twice about attempting at home. We will complete a fence around the entire new property tomorrow.
today we were introduced to two newly chosen homeowners who arrived on their “bicycletas",¨pitched in, and worked with us the entire day. Their presence makes our work more meaningful.

It has been very sunny and warm, and although being out of doors is a treat, sunscreen and agua are essentials. Luckily for us we have a wonderful group of female Habitat homeowners who take very good care of us, providing water and snacks and chairs when we need a break.

Today we were able to make excellent progress toward finishing one home. The end work involves standing on a tall ladder and filling in cracks with concrete…a difficult feat when the cracks are high on the walls. Some sanded the outside of the house with stones so the paint job will look smooth and nice. It will be fun to see the final result.

Our muscles are tired but we are feeling good about spending each day together and accomplishing good things.

The hotel has superb hot showers which go a long was toward revivng our bodies and spirits.
Hasta manana. Deb

All arrived safely in Buenos Aires. After the night of the 14th in a BA hotel, a mini van arrived at our hotel late morning on the 15th to take us to Habitat Argentina´s main office there, where we had an orientation meeting, a few empanadas (individual meat pies) and drinks. A commercial bus then took us that afternoon to Santa Fe, the town where we are to spend the next 10 days building houses.

It is now a little after 6PM on our first day of work here. It was a relatively short work day since we had to go first by the local Habitat office for a brief meeting, but we did get to the site by about 10AM. It is in the nearby town of Recreo, about 10 miles from Santa Fe. Our foreman is Mariano who was as good a guy to work with as we could ever expect. He put us first on doing some finishing work on an almost complete house, essentially some yard work as well as chipping out some cracks in the concrete panel walls and then refinishing them. We will paint later. But, in the afternoon some of us walked over to a new site just two blocks away which is a green field big enough for some 40 new units. So, we will have a chance to start on work on a brand new home or homes. First is the need to fence in about a quarter of the site for the first 10 homes. So we started to dig post holes. Tomorrow we will continue to work on this green field, and according to Mariano, we will work harder and longer. So far, no problems or injuries.

This may be my last blog for about a week. Some of our team are leaving early for Argentina so they may not be able to access the internet; hence the reason I won’t be blogging for a while. With one exception, all the rest of us are arriving on Sunday, the 14th, and will travel with me from the airport to our hotel in Buenos Aires. For those arriving on the 14th, someone carrying a Habitat sign will be standing to your left as you exit customs. Or you may see me. Regardless we will be there. There is a cafe nearby in the airport where all can have a delicious coffee to wake you up. I will also lead you to an ATM where you can obtain some pesos.

Our program for that afternoon is open. Frank and I have talked about the possibility of visiting the San Telmo Market which is open only on Sundays. Or there might be a polo match at the nearby San Isidro Hipodromo. Or a peaceful rest at the hotel is another good option if you are still weary from the long flight.

On the 15th we will check out of the hotel in the morning and travel by mini bus to Habitat’s offices located nearby to attend an orientation meeting, starting at 11:30 PM. There, Habitat’s staff will talk to us about a number of matters including Argentina itself, the HFH Argentina’s program and policies, its stance on donations, our build in Santa Fe, etc. A lunch of empanadas and wine (or soft drink) will be served as well. I will also try to send off our first blog from Argentina. Afterwards the bus will take us to “El Motivo” bus station where we will board a commercial bus for the 6 hour ride to Santa Fe.

The next day we are up early and off to work. Have a safe flight.

Some of you have asked about laundry facilities. If we stay in the same hotel where the last Habitat team stayed in September, then I understand that there is a wash and fold laundry just five blocks away. You can walk there one evening, leave your bag of clothes and then pick them up all nice and clean the next evening. You might want to bring an old pillow case with you to pack your dirty clothes in for the walk over and back.

Someone else asked if we had to bring towels and linens along with us. My answer was a resounding NO. We will be staying in clean and well equiped 2 or 3 star hotels where everything we might expect in a hotel of this type is available.

Travel as light as you can. The more you bring the more you have to carry, and as you know we will be in and out of three hotels plus a long bus ride to and from Santa Fe.
Another thing. You have Medical Travel Insurance to cover health problems as well as get you back to your home if something really dire happens. This cost was included in the fee that you paid to take this trip. So don’t do anything extra with respect to medical travel insurance.

Finally, about airline travel. I saw on TV the other day that more than one million bags were lost, damaged or delayed by the airlines in May, June and July of this year alone. So, put this in your pipe and smoke it.