Love this! Esp apropro since it’s National Hispanic Heritage Month! Great way to celebrate Latin culture and give back!

thesrvpost:

“We’re not heroes, but we want justice”.

Hi everyone! So there’s this project going on in 19 countries, mainly Latin America. It’s called “Un Tech Para Mi País” which loosely translated is “a home for my country”. It is a non-profit organization, without any government or religious links, and the idea is to help marginal communities and families become a part of their country’s society (inclusion). The organization runs entirely on the voluntary help of young people, mainly people in college, however they hold special sessions for us youngsters. What we do is raise fund in order to build houses for these families. Each house is about $1, 200, of which the family pays only about 100, bear in mind that these people live in extreme poverty. After raising the funds, a bunch of schools involved in the projects get together and spend the weekend at the shanty town, sleep in classrooms of the area’s school (terrible conditions), eat with the family, and basically live as they do for three days while we build the houses. This is what I did this past weekend. The family who my team was building a house for consisted of a 33-year-old single mom with five, FIVE, children under the age of 18, and she lives on 20 dollars a week, from selling food down at the port. Really makes you put things into perspective, huh? To make a long story short, I feel like a different person know. Not to sound corny, but I honestly do feel like a different person. Before this weekend, my life plan was leaving Peru for good once I was done with the IB. Techo made me realize that there is still so much left to do, and someone has to stay to do it. As a wise man once said, “If it’s not me, who? And if it’s not now, when?”. My grandparents on both sides of the family are Holocaust survivors, and they came to Peru after losing everything but each other. They were always all so grateful to Peru because the country had taken them in and given then the most comfortable of lives. I know that if my grandfather was still alive, he would want me to stay and give back a little to the country that provided my family with safety, security and stability. I owe it to my country to do something for that 22% of the population that lives in extreme poverty. I will stay and help. Techo encouraged this decision for I lived with other kids who think the way I do about this situation, kids who’s social awareness is way more developed that you would expect from 16-17 year olds. I saw the power of group work for real, actual coexistence. It is pretty comforting to know that somebody else cares. Enough ranting, enjoy the photos (: .