UUSC is partnering with the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) on a joint volunteer trip to Haiti, January 21-28. In the post below, trip participant Casey Aspin shares thoughts on working at the eco-village with local members of the Papaye Peasant Movement (MPP). The UUA-UUSC Haiti Volunteer Program is made possible through the contributions of UUA and UUSC donors and a generous grant from the Veatch Program of the UU Congregation at Shelter Rock, in Manhasset, N.Y.

Day Three

The morning began with a discussion between the UUSC delegation and the people we came to work with — the families who live in the pilot eco-village being built by the Papaye Peasant Movement (MPP). They came from all sections of Port-au-Prince, strangers to each other brought together by the need to escape tragedy and find a new life. After the teeming tent slums of Port-au-Prince, you can't help but be happy for these 10 families, each with two to four children. The eco-village is the Haitian equivalent of Little House on the Prairie. These are urban people learning a new lifestyle, and they seem confident and hopeful. Their lives won't be easy — the trip to Hinche to sell any surplus goods is not exactly a joyride. The roads here are more like boulder fields than roads. Our SUVs get by, with us being thrown around quite a bit. But people going to market are on foot or donkey or motorcycle cab.

Once the lengthy and formal introductions were over, with the eco-village leader expressing great gratitude for our work and interest in what UUSC is, we finally got to work. Everyone was pretty excited, and we set about it like we meant business — hauling rocks, mixing cement, sawing boards, and handing boards up to the guys on the roof. Everyone was busy the rest of the morning - which isn't easy when you are trying to keep 14 volunteers, three translators, and three drivers engaged (plus four UUSC staff).

I would say we were pretty amazing in what we accomplished were it not for the Haitians, who worked long before we got there and who knows how long after we left. They never stopped for water or food. I don't think I've ever seen people work this hard. Ever. Some live in the village. Some are day laborers. I worked with Joel, one of the latter. He stayed seven years in the Dominican Republic learning a trade (electrician) but couldn't get work. He returned to Haiti and hasn't done much better. He said you have to pay to get work. I haven't been able to learn more about that. He has a wife and daughter in Hinche, and I think he walks round trip. We were sawing wide planks of mango wood into narrow boards that were probably destined for the roof of the community building arising next door. Mango wood is very hard. Many of the tools I brought are being used, but the saws are no match for the mango wood. We get through it mainly by the means of Joel's brute force. I'm pretty slow, but I like giving him a break. Rev. Justin and Mike Carpenter (fittingly) are cutting boards next to Joel and me.

After lunch we visited a peasant house. Keep in mind that calling someone a peasant here is a compliment. They are the workers who seek to live life in harmony with each other and the earth. What we could learn from them! Our tour guide was a young man who is very ambitious to improve his lot in life. He's a model MPP member — solar panels on his very modest house, tire gardens, roof-fed cistern to extend the growing season, rabbits, chickens, and guinea fowl. And fire in the belly. The saddest part of the visit was a walk through the parched fields (no rain here since October) to visit a small tire garden behind a house with no livestock. Three girls (in ninth and tenth grades) live there with their mother. Their father left four years ago. They walk two hours each way to school. The oldest wants to be a doctor, but they are in arrears on tuition and she can't afford textbooks. She says if she has a notebook, she will copy lessons from someone else's textbook. Her face was so sad that we all wanted to figure a way to help. Of course all requests must be funneled through MPP so we don't encourage a culture of dependency.

After the tour, we drove down more mogul roads to Bassin Zim waterfall. I think I was too tired to enjoy the visit. We walked high above the basin to a cave accompanied by many young boys (and some not so young) who were pretty eager for money. The cave was beautiful and eerie and ancient — unsurprisingly a place where spiritual leaders convene.

UUSC is partnering with the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) on a joint volunteer trip to Haiti, January 21-28. In the post below, trip participant Casey Aspin shares thoughts on the first two days of the journey to help rebuild the community and lives of earthquake survivors in Haiti. The UUA-UUSC Haiti Volunteer Program is made possible through the contributions of UUA and UUSC donors and a generous grant from the Veatch Program of the UU Congregation at Shelter Rock, in Manhasset, N.Y.

Day One

The hotel where we stayed the first night has a grotto of sorts with a cannon in the middle, surrounded by cannon balls, rusted shackles, and chains. Two pairs of shackles on one chain. A few pretty plants. In about 24 square feet in front of the clean blue swimming pool. I'd like to say Haiti is full of such strange juxtapositions of its brutal past with its sparkling present — not so.

We drove through Port-au-Prince today on a disaster tour of sorts. We saw the tent city that spans the Haitian equivalent of the national mall in Washington; the cock-eyed, collapsed National Palace; the shell of the Catholic cathedral; more tent cities; throngs of people everywhere. It's hard to understand how people survive in such dire and depressing circumstances. Hard to see a small child picking through garbage and piles of rock rubble everywhere. People packed into tap taps (colorful Haitian buses) like cord wood. There's also a frenetic energy — people are resourceful and appear to carry the Haitian equivalent of a minimart on their heads. It's as if Port-au-Prince could be a bustling, exciting city if the government could only manage to provide things like housing, water, proper roads, garbage pickup.

Day Two

The day began in the mesmerizing presence of Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, founder of the Papaye Peasant Movement (MPP). An agronomist, a populist, a leader, a visionary, a problem solver on a large scale. After nearly 40 years, MPP touches more than 100,000 lives. With the team he has built, there isn't anything this group can't do.

We saw cisterns that hold fish — water from the tanks better fertilizes the fields. A low-tech solar-cell recycling room (facility would be too strong a word) that provides power for schoolchildren to do their homework (an improvement over the smelly predecessor, gas lamps). Solar cell power the pumps that provide well water, and they also charge radios and, of course, the omnipresent phones. Goats that formerly died of a parasite from eating their own feces are now in elevated cages. Their poop is collected along with that of rabbits and chickens — the better to make rich compost to nourish the soil. And then there are the worm-compost gardens, and the wastewater from showers that is filtered and used on gardens, and the fruit-processing facility (it was three rooms, not one), and the pharmacy. The list is endless.

One man's love of peasants manifested in hundreds of ways that help people live sustainably and with dignity. These people work incredibly hard — Chavannes hasn't made life easy for anyone. But he has helped them obtain land, tools, knowledge, and a sustainable lifestyle. Another agronomist gave us a tour of the two lakes MPP has had a hand in creating (and stocking with fish for peasants to catch). He made it clear that the MPP leaders see the peasants as the heroes. The leaders are eager for us to meet the people with the calloused hands and weather-beaten faces. One of the things Haiti (at least MPP) has over America is celebrating and revering the people who do the work. In the United States, they are at best hidden, at worst vilified (particularly if they have brown skin).

I am grateful to Priscilla Osgood and Nuala Carpenter from the Main Line Unitarian Church in Devon, Penn., for making this trip happen and to the UUSC organizers for exposing us to so much in so little time. Thank you, thank you. And tomorrow, we work! 

In preparation for Justice General Assembly (June 20-24, 2012) in Phoenix, Ariz., the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) have jointly organized three service-learning trips to the U.S.-Mexico border with UUA partner organization BorderLinks. Rev. Eric Cherry, director of the UUA's International Office, is taking part and offers his thoughts on this joint service-learning trip.

The first trip will begin on Tuesday, January 24, and continue until January 27. The delegation is led by UUA President the Rev. Peter Morales, who encourages UUs throughout the country to participate in one of the service-learning trips planned for April and May with BorderLinks. 

During the trip, the group will learn about and work with the following organizations:

• Scholarships A-Z: A network of students and advisors working to make education accessible for all students. They help connect students to available resources and train them to be their own advocates.
• Samaritan Patrol (aka Samaritans): People of faith and conscience who patrol the desert at the U.S.-Mexico border on a daily basis during the hot months. At least one member of each patrol is a fluent Spanish speaker, and one is, ideally, a medical professional. Patrols carry water, food, emergency medical supplies, communication equipment, maps, and packs for travelers containing items necessary to survive in the desert.
• The Restoration Project: An intentional ecumenical community that blends faith and action through social-justice work. They sponsor the Greyhound Bus Project, giving hospitality to recently released immigration detainees and providing them with information and resources.
• Hogar de Esperanza y Paz (HEPAC): HEPAC is a sister organization to BorderLinks and a community center in Nogales, Sonora. Programs offered at HEPAC include adult education and training classes, and the Child Food Security Program, which provides lunch to children and education for their families on nutrition and gardening. HEPAC also is home to a women's cooperative that produces jewelry that raises awareness about deaths in the desert.

Please follow stories from the journey over the next week.

The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is partnering with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) on a joint volunteer trip to Haiti, January 21. In the post below, trip participant Kara Smith of UUSC shares her thoughts on the progress made so far and on the journey to help rebuild the community and lives of earthquake survivors in Haiti. The UUA-UUSC Haiti Volunteer Program is made possible through the contributions of UUA and UUSC donors and a generous grant from the Veatch Program of the UU Congregation at Shelter Rock, in Manhasset, N.Y.

I boarded the plane for Haiti this morning. As I packed and readied myself for the trip, questions ran through my head in a continuous loop, mostly about what it will be like two years after a massive earthquake struck.

Last Thursday our team was readying ourselves, going over logistics and schedules, and we paused for a moment of silence to reflect on the two-year commemoration. As I said a prayer for all those who perished and for those who survived, I said to myself, "This is why we do this work."

Since the earthquake, UUSC has worked with partners as they work for a just recovery. I am privileged to work for an organization that understands the meaning of the human struggle for human rights. It is about helping one person at a time, treating them with dignity and compassion as we build together for a better future.

Today I am on my way to meet some of the amazingly brave and powerful people whose blood, sweat, and tears are part of the mortar of rebuilding Haiti — and making it a Haiti in which all who struggle for voice, agency, and inclusion in the recovery process are respected. We will visit with partners in Port-au-Prince who are working to ensure sustainable access to food, providing skills trainings and income-generation projects, and helping protect women and girls from gender-based violence. Then we will head to the Central Plateau to work with the Papaye Peasant Movement for a UUSC-UUA JustWorks service-learning trip.

I feel truly privileged to be a part of this journey, through the work that I do at UUSC and the opportunity to stand shoulder to shoulder with our partners on the ground. I invite you to join our webinar From the Ground Up on January 26 at 7:00 p.m. (ET) to hear a bit more about our trip and UUSC's work in Haiti.

UUSC was excited to partner with the Unitarian Universalist Association on a joint volunteer trip to Haiti, December 3–10. In the post below, trip-leader-in-training Nicole McConvery reflects on lessons learned in Haiti.

Cruising down the recently paved highway connecting the Central Plateau to Port-au-Prince, we drove through a land that's bursting with life and movement. As we cut through the mountains and golden light of dawn, catching breathtaking glimpses of vast lakes, rolling hills, and industriousness of all shapes and sizes bustling along dusty paths, I reflected on the preceding week that we had spent in Hinche: mornings hauling rocks side by side with Haitians; afternoons meeting with the resourceful and inspiring minds of the leaders of the Papaye Peasant Movement (MPP) who are changing lives and shaping the future of their country one tire garden, eco-village, and youth program at a time; and nights in fellowship and reflection with our brood of thoughtful and energizing trip participants.

It almost felt like a dream even though it was probably one of the more "real" experiences I've ever had. And, like dreams, I've been finding it difficult to articulate what I experienced to everyone back at home; there's still much to process. But I'll try to unload a few of the things I've been contemplating since I returned to Boston last weekend.

Haiti is the most densely populated country in the Western Hemisphere and reading that as a quick fact versus experiencing it firsthand are two very different things. With so many people concentrated around one urban center, you can see and feel the struggle for space and resources all around you. It was market day as we drove back from Hinche, and the roadside depots were overflowing with buyers and sellers who come together once a week to negotiate life's essentials; gaze upon this intimate slice of life from the true 99 percent and then contemplate the luxurious, gross absurdity of the stampede at Black Friday a few latitudinal degrees north.

As we walked through the streets of Port-au-Prince, I kept imagining a hybrid of Los Angeles and New York City; the devastating earthquake that razed this island nation in 2010 could just as easily have struck any of our precariously unprepared coastal metropolises. I was reminded of and humbled by the fragility of life all around me here, home, and everywhere, inspired by the resumption of life in the wake of such massive loss. And I thought a lot about the constant waste of resources that abounds in my country, state, city, and home kitchen.

Anytime I found myself lost in bewildered or guilt-stricken thought, a kind hand on my shoulder or a contagious laugh echoed in the cabin of our van and pulled me back; I remembered I was not alone in my experience. Probably the most significant lesson that was reiterated throughout every aspect of my time in Haiti was the absolute necessity of community — to survive, to process, to thrive — in this life. I compared the lightness of load bearing in the company of others with my arguably solitary day-to-day existence back home; I thought about the pervading sense of alienation that abounds in the first world, where neighbors are strangers and car culture is a description of interpersonal relations. It's not sustainable. And without the social net, the interdependent web of existence that can catch and carry us when we fall, there is no future. But in Haiti, I saw people pulling together, fashioning homes from refuse; I saw farmers and leaders at MPP planting gardens in chaos, laughing and hugging and living. In Haiti, I saw a way forward and richness of spirit that we can all learn from.

UUSC was excited to partner with the Unitarian Universalist Association on a joint volunteer trip to Haiti, December 3–10. In the post below, written on December 9, participant George Wootton reflects on time spent working with the Papaye Peasant Movement (MPP).

I came to Haiti with memories of seeing a devastated country two weeks after the January 2010 earthquake. Although our first night's Port-au-Prince lodgings shielded us from the remnants of that natural disaster, the damage was obvious just by traveling in this city. On this trip, though, I've seen a very different Haiti. 

On December 4, we packed into two SUVs and ascended into what Tracy Kidder referred to as mountains beyond mountains. From Port-au-Prince, we drove mostly uphill for less than three hours on a well-constructed road into the Central Plateau. (We were told that pre-earthquake, this same trip took eight hours. My compliments to post-earthquake construction.) We drove through the lower plains, wide fields of grass and scattered trees, rising into the foothills, passing small homes made of various materials, from tarps the cinder block. People were sitting by the road in the Haitian heat, watching us pass. We traveled through busy villages, active with markets, shops, and houses too close to the road for my comfort; pedestrians; animals; and smaller vehicles, from human power to donkey power to fossil-fuel-energized horsepower. We passed into a land of rolling hills, lakes, streams, and lush low vegetation.    

At midday, we entered the MPP complex in Papaye, Haiti, a series of buildings that support organic farming, classes, and housing for a few residents and the many people who come here to learn. At MPP, we are surrounded by trees — palm, Haitian oak, locust, and many others I can't identify with hanging pods and ripe, round, luscious-looking fruit. The deforestation of this country is hard to imagine here. This place is alive with growth — physical, educational, emotional. Sounds of people living, roosters crowing, dogs fighting, insects, Haitian music, and construction can all be heard at various times during the day and night. 

Our days have been busy. Mornings have been spent at the eco-village, a group of 10 recently constructed 3-room homes that house families who have left the difficult life they experienced in Port-au-Prince. Although not without its challenges, their new lives in this UUSC-sponsored village have brought opportunities for earthquake survivors to learn many aspects of organic farming, construction, and community living. I respect, though, the trauma that necessitated this transition. (One resident of the eco-village said that although he was willing to talk to us about the earthquake, he did not want to revisit those difficult memories.)

Our work has involved helping build a community center in the middle of the circle of homes. We have carried rock and cement by hand and, if we are lucky, by one of the two wheelbarrows in this community, although this was rare.  We have poured cement, built a door, planted trees, and cleared vegetation. One of our members, Sally Beth, called on her experiences in Mali and Uganda, to teach village residents and volunteers alike how to construct and use a wood-burning stove far more efficient than the cooking facilities currently being used in the village. This will have a huge impact on the lives of these people. 

In the afternoons, we have visited with representatives of MPP groups — men, women, and youth — all who explain the empowerment gained through the vision and energy of Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, a charismatic man in his mid 60s who has fought for the rights of peasants throughout his life. We have toured the health clinic and canning factory, and we've visited the home of a local resident and talked about the changes in his life since MPP was founded. We have seen waterfalls, lakes built for aquaculture, farming cooperatives, techniques in organic farming that anyone in the United States would be proud to show off, played soccer with a local youth team, and danced to a Kompa band during the festival of the Immaculate Conception in Hinche. 

I've made friends with people from all over the United States who share my need to understand how healthy Haiti can be and who want to participate in this healing. We have learned, in conjunction with our Unitarian Universalist values, new ways of understanding how we can respect the inherent worth of all people, respect the interdependent web of all existence, and explore our search for justice, equity, and compassion in our human relations. 

Tomorrow we head back to Port-au-Prince. We will get on airplanes that will carry us to Alabama, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Utah, and Idaho. We leave, still searching, but with an experience that has been life changing. I am inspired by what I have seen, both in my fellow volunteers and in the Haitians who are building new lives. I look forward to carrying these sights, sounds, and lessons to my Utah UU congregation and to my next trip to this changing country. 

UUSC is excited to be partnering with the Unitarian Universalist Association on a joint volunteer trip to Haiti, December 3-10. In the post below, participant Bradley Korb describes the trip from Port-au-Prince to the training center of the Papaye Peasant Movement (MPP) and the transition from despair to hope.

We're in Haiti and making excellent progress with our work at MPP's eco-village near Papaye in the Central Plateau! Today is our second day working at MPP, and it has been an experience that I will never forget. I have experienced a range of emotions during these first few days, from sadness to hopefulness.

We spent the first night in Port-au-Prince on Sunday before driving up to the MPP training compound in Papaye. In Port-au-Prince, we saw the impoverished conditions in which the Haitian people live and also the vast destruction that occurred from last year's earthquake. I don't know what Port-au-Prince was like before the earthquake, but the city looks like a war zone now in some areas, and many people are struggling to meet their basic human needs of safe food and water that we Americans take for granted. But at the same time, we saw many people attempting to resume a normal lifestyle by buying essential items from street vendors, which helped others in their attempts to make a living.

While driving the 2.5 hours from Port-au-Prince to Papaye, we continued to see impoverished people going on with their daily activities along the highway while people zoomed by on their way to other destinations. While it was clear that the people we passed were very disadvantaged, I did see a few signs of hope along the way. One image that stuck with me was of a man walking home from church wearing a suit and carrying a trumpet. I imagined that this man had played his trumpet at his church service and that many people enjoyed his music. This gave me hope that the human spirit is resilient and continues to insist that life be enjoyed even if you live in the nation with the fewest resources in the Western Hemisphere. Even with this sign of hope, I arrived in Papaye feeling a sense of despair for the abject poverty that I saw on our drive.

However, our first day of work at MPP's eco-village turned my sense of despair into hope. During our first day, we worked alongside residents of the 10-home village, helping them build the foundation for their community building. It was gratifying to experience the community that these former residents of Port-au-Prince have developed and the ownership that they have taken in their new village and their new neighbors. We experienced a sense of community that we don't typically have in the United States. Even though these people have next to nothing, they have each other and are dedicated to helping each other make the best of their lives. That experience was both gratifying and reassuring.

It is with hope for this impoverished community in Haiti and hope in the future of humanity that I look forward to my remaining experiences of our visit to Haiti.

The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is partnering with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) on a joint volunteer trip to Haiti, December 3–10. In the post below, trip leaders Nicole McConvery of the UUA and Evan Seitz of UUSC share their thoughts on the journey to help rebuild the community and lives of earthquake survivors in Haiti.

After months of planning, we can't wait for the volunteers to arrive for our next JustWorks experience! As trip leaders, we've arrived safely in Port-au-Prince, and it has been nonstop preparation for the arrival of participants ever since. Last night, all the trip leaders met at the hotel and went over last-minute logistics. It is great working with the team, including UUSC Haiti Emergency Response Manager Wendy Flick, who has over 10 years of experience in Haiti. We reviewed the flight itineraries of our volunteers and are ready to pick them up at the airport tomorrow.

We have a great and diverse group of volunteers on this trip, thanks to the generosity of UUA donors. Ten Unitarian Universalists from nine states will be working to construct a community building at the eco-village site, a project of UUSC's partner the Papaye Peasant Movement (MPP). Located several hours outside of Port-au-Prince in the Central Plateau, the eco-village is providing sustainable homes and livelihoods for 10 Haitian families displaced by the earthquake — and establishing a model for future villages that are already being planned.

On the UUA-UUSC joint JustWorks trip for youth in August 2011, we helped construct the final two homes in this village. Now all 10 homes have been constructed, the families have moved in, and the first crops have been harvested. It is an exciting time! The community building will be used for communal agricultural activities, trainings, and social gatherings.

We're happy to report that this is the first time in Haiti for trip leader Nicole, who is part of the UUA's International Office, as well as for fellow trip leader Erik Mohn, the UUA's young adult spirituality and service consultant as well as a consultant for UUSC's College of Social Justice. Evan remembers being quite nervous his first time in Haiti, which was also his first time leading a trip for UUSC. If Nicole and Erik are nervous, they certainly don't show it!

That's it for now; we need to go get some rest. Our first set of volunteers arrives at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow, and we want to be bright-eyed to greet them! We're so looking forward to another powerful experience working with Unitarian Universalists and MPP in the unforgettable countryside of Haiti's Central Plateau.

UUSC was excited to partner with the Unitarian Universalist Association on a joint volunteer trip to Haiti for youth and young adults, August 20–27. In the post below, participant Rebecca Burns reflects on her time in Haiti, why she didn't want to leave, and what she is taking home with her.

Saturday morning we left Haiti to return to home. It was an emotionally charged day, mainly because I really did not want to leave. I feel an incredibly strong connection to the country and to the people I met. The landscapes we saw were gorgeous — green fields lined by a continuous chain of mountains in the distance, posing a contrast to the bright blue sky that would quickly turn to gray and fill with clouds as a rainstorm approached.  On the morning of our departure, I saw the most beautiful sunrise over the mountains — the first sunrise I had seen while there. The nights were no less spectacular as the sky filled with stars — more than I've ever seen before — as though someone literally threw glitter into the air, and it stuck. I loved the morning drives to the eco-village site, as we bumped along the deeply rutted and washed-out roads to a soundtrack of compas music that fit the scenes perfectly.

Not only were we witnessing a spectacular landscape, we were also watching scenes of daily life in rural Haiti: women carrying large bundles on their heads; young boys riding donkeys strapped down with firewood; young girls filling water jugs at a nearby spigot; people selling fruits and vegetables along the road; the lotto stands that lined the roads with their bright colors; goats and cows tied to shrubbery; three people piled onto a motorcycle as we sped past in typical Haitian-style driving; and more than anything the faces we saw, some smiling, all looking at us with curiosity.

Each day we would arrive at the work site to more curious faces that would smile and beam "Bon jou!" as we greeted one another. The work, though simple, was rewarding. We moved rocks in an assembly line to the men who were building the foundations of the homes. Often the children would join alongside us in the lines. The location of the village was phenomenal - lush banana and mango trees, views of the surrounding mountains and a nearby river.

The families that will be living there were advocates of elderly rights in Port-au-Prince and were arrested because of that. Chavannes, the founder of the Papaye Peasant Movement (MPP) and an inspiration to all of us, heard about this injustice and, when they were left homeless after the earthquake, invited them to move to Papaye. One of the men told Wendy, one of our trip leaders, that they feel as though they are in paradise because they can grow their own food and will never go hungry again. I felt so happy to be a part of making that dream come true for them.

That is in essence why I did not want to leave. I wanted to continue working with them in solidarity. I wanted to continue to learn from Chavannes and all of the groups we met through MPP. I wanted to continue to experience the simplicity of life there. While I am still adjusting back to normal life, I am comforted by the realization that I can share my experience of a hopeful and inspiring Haiti with others and continue to learn about and support this country that made such an impression on me. As I saw the same sun setting as my plane landed back home I thought about how we are all one people, regardless of our nationality, race, or gender — and despite the distance I felt from the people I met, I understood how deep our connections to each other and our earth truly are.

UUSC is excited to be partnering with the Unitarian Universalist Association on a joint volunteer trip to Haiti for youth and young adults, August 20–27. In the post below, participant Sydney Weddleton reflects on the power of common goals.

Throughout my time thus far in Haiti, I've been struck by the extreme differences from back home. Everything from the landscape to the language to the living conditions I find myself comparing to what I see every day. When we traveled to our work site for the week — an eco-village being built for Haitian families — I continued to focus and process these differences.

We went out and began an assembly line to move rocks around the house-to-be to build the foundation. As we worked, some of the children began to come near to where we were working and watched us. After an invitation from one of our translators, one little boy joined in the line next to me. As time went on, the little boy kept working. My mind began to think again of how different the motivation this young child had than what I usually see.

I was pondering this as I realized what I was missing — the similarities of everything new I was seeing. Yes, there were many differences around me, but across all our divisions — age, race, country, language, history — we were in that moment simply human. Common goals and strength overcome any differences and divisions, and we are whole and one — together.