Dan Coleman

The shouting is over. Most of us are now back at home and back doing those things that we did before we set out on our Argentine adventure. So, as one of the co-leaders on this build, I would like to share with all my thoughts one week after the event has passed.

I am truly grateful that everyone returned home safe and sound. Despite spending so much time on a construction site with its inherent dangers, and in a foreign country with its unknowns, no one was injured or harmed in any way nor did anyone suffer anything more than minor health problems, and only three of us at that. And most of us ate what we wanted, including green salads with unpealed tomatoes!

I also think that everyone really had a good time, whether it was on the construction site or in our free time. There was a lot of laughing and joking around. I still remember Deb’s whoop when she heard something that really tickled her. Or the round of laughter when Frank told a story about one of his many past adventures overseas - always embellished, of course. Or just the wide grins all around when Laura came up just the right word or comment about something we had seen or done. It was, to say the least, a very compatible and happy group - or at least it seemed that way to me.

Finally, I know that what we did in the town of Recreo was a good thing, something that we can all be proud of and remember for the rest of our lives. For two weeks, we fifteen personified the term volunteer and what it means to care and give.

And this is only the start. I know that all of the members of this team will be on a Habitat build somewhere next year. Right?