A day in the life of an El Salvadorian...

manual labor

Here's some of the work we did in El Salvador. You'll note that most of it is very labor intensive, which saves on costs.

We would get to the job site around 8 am, the masons were already there and working since 7 am. We'd take breaks at 10:30 and 2:30, lunch at noon, and leave by 4 pm. The masons were still working until 7pm, at most, getting paid $3/hr.

Each house takes approximately 6-7 weeks to build, and costs roughly $7k. These were very simple 2-3 bedroom houses, about 500 square feet.

Some 80% of the El Salvador population lives in inadequate housing...whether nothing, or a tin shack, or a house that will collapse in the next earthquake. That's more than 500,000 houses. Forgive me if my numbers are off, but that's just a gauge to give you an idea of the conditions there!

manually mixing concrete

cutting blocks for the roof

manually unloading sand for the floors

leveling floors with sand and water

$84 tin roof

exterior of the house we worked on

safety first?

a finished exterior

finished interior

finished interior

typical porch...with laundry and drying beans

work hard, play hard!

Food in El Salvador

We've had to practically beg for authentic El Salvador cuisine! The first meal we had a few puposas a piece...12 of us are that meal for $16. Puposas are tortillas stuffed with cheese or beans or meat...a mix between pizza and quesadilla. Our next two dinners were italian though. Pretty funny. 

I thought it'd be easier to be vegetarian here so those making meals could save money and stock me up on beans and rice. Turns out it's easier to cook the same for everyone! So still I've eaten some hen soup (perfect for a 90 degree day right? :) 

Yesterday someone on the job site cut down a banana plant...which is actually not a tree, but closer resembles an herb! Lifespan of 9 months. Crazy right? And plantains are more of a starch like a potato than a fruit. Anyway, this is probably the first time I've ever eaten a tree ripened banana, as those in the states are all shipped in green and gassed to ripen. I think it was sweeter, and was a perfect pocket size!

Team 10

Meet Loris, my roommate for the week! She is a cheery and chipper ray of sunshine. Must be because she's so friendly and chatty with everyone, listening with genuine interest to their stories and asking to hear more to get to know them!

She's a warrior with her shovel...what wonders she could do moving compost on our farm! And so modest. I should take notes.

El Salvador

So it's not usual for me to follow in my brother's footsteps or anything. I just coincidentally was in band and took French and worked at the same bank he did when in high school. Thankfully I wished up and didn't follow him to Iowa, land of GMO corn. But now that he been traveling more, his trips have peaked my interest. For the past couple years he's volunteered for habitat for humanity in Central America. With my travels last year, it was a no brainier when he invited me to join this year in El Salvador. I wasn't exactly sure where this tiny country was located, but knew it was time for me to give back for my previous travels. 

So here are a few pics from our intro days so far...work starts tomorrow!

paying it forward

Update! Today (Tuesday, Jan 7) is the final day for online donations...muchos gracias!
.....

My travels are taking a different twist this February. Time to pay it forward for the goodwill and hospitality I received from so many strangers last year.

Consider helping me bring homes to our brothers and sisters in El Salvador with any amount of donation!

http://share.habitat.org/shannon-dils-gv14503

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