Today, I am stuck at home in Viña waiting for a letter. The mail box isn´t popular here, so if and when we get something important sent to us, I am on mail duty. I have been informed, however that my team is laying brick as we speak. Luckily, that job must be done by professionals, and I would be no help what-so-ever, so I´m not needed.
Our project is well underway, and it is all thanks to our many generous, awesome, kind, incredible, and did I mention generous donors! I have received and continue to receive so much support for this project, that when I think about it, I am literally overwhelmed.
I´m not going to make any friends with the local authorities by saying this, but Catemu is a really poor forgotten town. It has one of the worst public schools in the country and a really high crime rate. Catemu would be the perfect setting for a Juan Rulfo novel, but we are not in Mexico after one of the bloodiest revolutions in history, we are in Chile in 2010.
When you live in a place with a high poverty rate, you see a lot of bad things. I have seen and heard about a lot of bad thing. One problem is that people are really afraid in Catemu. Just a few days ago, a house keeper was rapped and assaulted in her home that is right next to the police station. If the police do nothing to help you, and being assaulted and stabbed is a real possibility, people tend to keep to themselves and mind their own business when they see bad things happen.
There are people that would say screw everyone that lives there. I don´t need to help them, it is not my problem/fault that those things are happening. Plus, what can I do? I can´t punish the criminals or make the school better. I´m not a police officer or a teacher, so I´m staying out of it.
Luckily there are also the people that get involved (in a positive and peace loving way). I don´t pretend that we are changing everything about Catemu by building one little house. We are making a huge difference in the lives of one family that is easy to see, but more than that we are showing kindness to a community that normally receives none. I think giving hope to a place where there isn´t any really does make a big difference. I know we have received a lot of kindness from this community in return. A neighboring small business always comes over and gives us soda and asked how we are doing. A neighbor rented us his cement mixer at a REALLY low price fixed price and said we could keep it for as long as we wanted without being charged extra. A local store gave us our cement for half price (which saved us hundreds of dollars). These are small gestures, but I know that the entire community is aware of what we are doing.
The truth is that I don´t know how to end poverty and I don´t have a master plan to distribute wealth more fairly in this world. From what I know most efforts to do those two things have been a big huge failure. I do believe though that showing people that making a difference is possible and you don´t need to be an authority figure to do is really important. Things may seem to stay the same in Catemu after this project is over, but if in the end all we did was show people genuine kindness and give one family hope for the future, then for me it was all worthwhile.
Did I mention that our project is a BIG HUGE SUCCESS thanks to all of you? Well it is! So far we have received just under 5000 dollars!!!!! in donations as well as a donation of a cement truck and the cement for the floor of the house. I would like to give a big heart felt thank you to the members of Assumption Greek Orthodox in Madison Wisconsin, the Assumption Philoptochos members, and JOY. The Greek community in Madison is a small one, but I have never met a nicer, more generous, welcoming and friendly Greek community in all my life. Even though I live far away, I am proud to call Assumption my church. I would also like to thank International Professionals for the event they sponsored to raise money for our cause and the members for their individual donations. I would like to thank Cedarburg community and the school district, for sponsoring a fund raiser and giving all the proceeds to us. I know that school districts almost never have money to spare. That is why it is so special that you thought to help us. I would like to thank Jini Danfelt and the Grand Marais community, for their donation as well as lending an ear and giving me practical and very helpful construction/life in general advice. I would like to thank everyone who bought or sold a wrist band to show their support for our cause. Last but certainly not least, I would like to thank my mom. Thank you Mom. Without your support, I wouldn´t have had the courage to even start this project. You put a lot of time and effort into fundraising, and without you we wouldn´t have raised a cent or dug a single hole.
Now I have to stop writing, because I´m all choked up. Thanks again for your kindness and support.
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