Members from the Rotary Clubs of Cochrane, Airdrie, and Brooks spent part of March assisting Shelter Canada build homes for 10 families living in abject poverty.
“We’re hoping that, by what we do, we’ve changed their fortunes,” said Stephen Simms, 54, international service executive at the Cochrane Rotary Club.
For an entire week, 11 Rotarians and two Shelter Canada leaders stayed in the town of San Vicente, in the eastern portion of El Salvador, and commuted 40 km “literally standing in the back of pick-up trucks,” out to the community of Rio Frio at 8 a.m. every day.
They landed on a Saturday night and spent the following Sunday meeting the families and attending church service with them in the evenings.
“We were certainly welcomed with open arms,” said Simms.
From Monday through Wednesday, the group worked in near 40 C weather for up to eight hours each day, constructing the homes alongside the receiving families.
“Anyone who’s getting a home, has gotten a home, or hopes to get a home, is there helping to build along with us,” said Simms.
“We had lots of laughs and we worked hard.”
Lunch consisted of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every day during the construction process.
“After you start working in 37 C heat and you’re starving, they taste real good,” said Simms.
With frames and corrugated sheets made of galvanized steel to prevent rusting, each 5.8- by 5.5-metre house includes a 2.1-metre porch, two doors, two windows with steel shutters, and three interior walls that form two bedrooms and one living space.
“There’s a lot more (people) without homes than with,” said Simms.
Many families have been waiting upwards of four years to receive a home, with majority of the population living out of adobe huts, which are prone to damage from the region’s earthquakes and severe rainfall that can last up to 60 days non-stop in the wet seasons.
“For half a year those people live in mud huts in heavy rain,” said Simms.
“They sleep on what would be deemed traditional mattresses, but those mattresses are sitting right on the mud. “I can’t even fathom it.”
El Salvador has the third highest murder rate globally, attributed to gang crimes in the region.
“I’ve travelled throughout the world into poor areas – I’ve never seen one that seems to be so concerned with safety,” said Simms.
“In San Vicente itself, there’s no structure that didn’t have razor coiled barbed wire up top of every roof.”
Buildings in the city are equipped with steel rolling doors to cover entrances and windows, with many communities fenced in for security.
“There’s still a lot of poverty, even in San Salvador,” said Simms, referring to the country’s capital city.
“I think giving them a home provided them with security that they likely otherwise don’t have,” said Simms.
Many people in the community that worked with Simms lived off less than $5 USD a day, with education levels generally falling between grades three to 10.
“When you surround yourself with the poor, and you see where they are in relation to what you have in your life, it humbles you,” said Simms. “They were smiling, they joked with each other.
“In spite of their circumstances, they were pretty happy.”
The project was conceived two years ago in a collaboration between Beverly Chinnery, president of Rotary Airdrie; Larry Wasylyshen, director of the international services for Rotary Brooks; and Simms.
Chinnery contacted Shelter Canada president and Airdrie citizen Jim Noble to organize the venture.
With more than 15 years in operation, Shelter Canada has constructed nearly 2,300 homes in El Salvador, with 400 alone built in 2016.
“They’re into a routine, they have a process, they have a system, and it’s a very well-defined system,” said Simms.
The clubs earned more than $33,000 through fundraisers and district grants to fund the housing materials for the project, with another $25,000 spent cumulatively out of the individual Rotarian’s personal funds for travel and accommodation.
The group consisted of Simms, his wife, Leslie, Chinnery, three Rotary members from Airdrie, Wasylyshen, four members from Brooks, and two leaders from Shelter Canada.
“The leaders get their hands dirty just like we do. “They don’t just stand back and provide guidance, they’re part of the team,” said Simms.
Because Shelter Canada handled the planning process, the group only met together four times over the past 12 months preceding the trip.
“Even though we didn’t know each other really well, one of the best things you can do for creating a team is put a challenge in front of a collective of people,” said Simms.
Before the team returned home, a ceremony was held on Friday to present the families with the keys to their new homes, along with a bucket of food, cleaning supplies, and other housewarming gifts.
“They repaid us with their smiles, with their appreciation, and the sincerity in which they worked arm-in-arm with us to erect their home and the homes of their neighbours,” said Simms.
“Just seeing the utter joy in giving these people something that they otherwise could not have.
“It will forever live with us and touch us.”
