Hi, my name is Sam D. from Colorado and I’m writing to tell you about our community service — we’re building Compassion Houses for families in the Binh Thuan village who have lost their homes because of floods. Ten days into our trip, our group of 16 was split into 3 groups and assigned to our respective work sites. On the sites, we met the local craftsmen and the families we would be building the homes for, and received our first instructions on how we could help. The local craftsmen insisted on laying the first of the bricks to ensure the stability of the walls, so we carried the bricks from the pile to the interior of the foundation. After some time, the workers’ confidence in our group increased and we were each given a section to lay our own bricks. I think everyone realized the difficulty of the process as soon as they began, but with the translated help of the professionals, we each developed our own technique and the home started to take form. Every day we take a break around 11 to escape the heat, and make our way to a house for lunch and time to relax. We spend the much deserved rest playing cards and music and, on the harder days, napping. Once 2pm comes around though, it’s back to the site to pick up where we left off. Our days end with a trip to the local beach to cool off and toss the football around, followed by a scenic bike ride home.

– Sam D.