Imagine that you left your home at 6:30, without breakfast. Imagine that you worked the whole day, from 8:30 am to 7 pm, having eaten only a little rice and beans. Imagine at half past eight in the evening, how hungry and thirsty you would feel. Just take a few seconds to visualize the situation.
Now imagine that you and your team of 6 are given play-money, an amount around 100 Pesos Mexicanos (roughly 5 Euros). You are asked to buy dinner for the whole team with this amount of money. You can smell the hot dogs, which are already prepared; you see the chillies and the tomatoes you could add, if you and your team had enough money of course. Because although you give your very best, there is no way to satisfy everyone’s hunger and thirst. You give up after having calculated a while, considering that it might be easier to go to sleep.
To end the activity, you are told that the amount you were given was the exact daily income of the family whose new house you had began to construct that very morning. Perhaps it gives you just an inkling of how the family feels every day.
The family my team was constructing for consisted of 7 members who were living in the only room of their house, made of old wood and plastic, with just enough space for three beds. The father works at a construction site, and the mother cleans for an agency. The oldest daughter living in the house is a single mother with an one year old child; the three younger children no longer go to school but neither do they have work at the moment.
It is Friday morning, my team and I (surprisingly I was given the responsibility to lead the team, despite having only participated in 1 construction thus far) are arriving at the plot where we ought construct the house but the ground is totally uneven. Because it is the family's duty to provide a balanced plot of land (according to an earlier signed contract that agreed requirements to build the house), the organizational team decides not to start the construction. It was a frustrating moment, because I felt how much this family needed the house. But nevertheless, my team is divided up to support the other units.
In the night we are told that the family prepared the plot in just one day (an effort which we wanted to recognise) so we decide to begin the construction the following day:
Now imagine that you and your team of 6 are given play-money, an amount around 100 Pesos Mexicanos (roughly 5 Euros). You are asked to buy dinner for the whole team with this amount of money. You can smell the hot dogs, which are already prepared; you see the chillies and the tomatoes you could add, if you and your team had enough money of course. Because although you give your very best, there is no way to satisfy everyone’s hunger and thirst. You give up after having calculated a while, considering that it might be easier to go to sleep.
To end the activity, you are told that the amount you were given was the exact daily income of the family whose new house you had began to construct that very morning. Perhaps it gives you just an inkling of how the family feels every day.
The family my team was constructing for consisted of 7 members who were living in the only room of their house, made of old wood and plastic, with just enough space for three beds. The father works at a construction site, and the mother cleans for an agency. The oldest daughter living in the house is a single mother with an one year old child; the three younger children no longer go to school but neither do they have work at the moment.
It is Friday morning, my team and I (surprisingly I was given the responsibility to lead the team, despite having only participated in 1 construction thus far) are arriving at the plot where we ought construct the house but the ground is totally uneven. Because it is the family's duty to provide a balanced plot of land (according to an earlier signed contract that agreed requirements to build the house), the organizational team decides not to start the construction. It was a frustrating moment, because I felt how much this family needed the house. But nevertheless, my team is divided up to support the other units.
In the night we are told that the family prepared the plot in just one day (an effort which we wanted to recognise) so we decide to begin the construction the following day:
I am not exaggerating when I say that it was one of the significant moments of my life when we finally could hand over the house to the family. The cousins were dancing in the house, all family members were smiling and so grateful and the mum asked when they would be allowed to move their beds into their new home. An unforgettable moment.
At this point I want to thank my team, who did fantastic work (we constructed the house in two days instead of three), the family for having constructed with us and having cooked for us and TECHO México for this unique experience! GRACIAS!
You want to become active or passive part of TECHO? In summer, there are a lot of activities (, and throughout the whole year donations (unique or regular) are welcomed
At this point I want to thank my team, who did fantastic work (we constructed the house in two days instead of three), the family for having constructed with us and having cooked for us and TECHO México for this unique experience! GRACIAS!
You want to become active or passive part of TECHO? In summer, there are a lot of activities (, and throughout the whole year donations (unique or regular) are welcomed