Building
Community Habitat for Humanity a Home for Many and a New Story for Many More
THE JFK SPIRIT
By: Nilli Silberstein
Expanding Habitat Jose, one of the leaders in the community sits down next to me as the community and the students sit down at the long table to enjoy a warm meal. Even though hours have been spent in the hot sun building the house, the noise level rises as they laugh and talk about life, and Jose has to raise his voice to tell me his story. The students sit around me and the community members, with their bowls of hot chicken soup and rice resting on the wooden table and the freshly made tortillas sit rolled
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g to Habitat for Humanity oru.mx. If you are interested in donatin ase email nsilberstein@jfk.ed participating in the project, plei are group. Students, Parents and alumn welcome to join our in their hands. Jose’s house is one of the three houses we are working on this weekend. Don Jose is 24, married to Maria de Jesus with one son, Jesus Eric who is three years old. He smiles as he talks about his job at a small business in Celaya. A few other men from the community gather around and sit on the floor around me ready to tell their stories and listen to mine. As students and community members sit close together around the table and Jose and I remain immersed in our conversation, there is no division between genders, social class, or city of birth. The community is never hesitant to open their arms to us, share their stories, their food and their love. Habitat for Humanity is an organization that originated in 1976 and now extends to the remotest corners of the earth. It is a non-profit organization that seeks to eradicate homelessness in the 90 countries it participates in, one house at a time. The John F Kennedy American School of Queretaro has participated by sending 11 and 12th grade students to build homes in Guanajuato for the past 5 years.
Construction is not the only activity that is done in the community. The social service combines helping the community build homes, sharing dinner with them, and leading workshops in nutrition, self-esteem, soccer and cooking. Students step onto the bus feeling that they are going to make a difference, and get back on the bus having changed their way of thinking and realizing how much we can learn from other people. Aura Romero, a 12th grader states that “People feel swell and understood and the community has the advantage of being noticed and supported, it’s beautiful to see humans helping humans.” Ana Paula Villasenor, a 12th grade JFK student explains that “Sometimes when doing social service, we believe that our work is insignificant and doesn’t make a real difference. By being here, you realize that even if you are not able to build a hundred houses with your own hands, the fact that these people feel they are being paid attention to is very motivating. They want to know that we care, and that does make the difference.”
The social service combines helping the community build homes, sharing dinner with them, and leading workshops in nutrition, selfesteem, soccer and cooking.
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