Habitat Flashbacks

I haven't quite gotten back into the swing of weekly posting. But considering I only wrote once in the entire year of 2010 I'm still feeling pretty good about myself and my updates.

Habitat flashback #1 was attending the wedding of my friend Nan. She was the team leader on my first ever Habitat trip to Guatemala back in 1998 and the one who encouraged me to become a leader of the trips, not just a volunteer. She's a fabulous, enthusiastic, energetic woman and, getting married at 70, quite the inspiration.

Habitat flashback #2 was provided thanks to Facebook. I am now connected with a young woman who I met in 1998 on my 2nd ever Habitat trip to Ilo, Peru. We worked with her family to build several houses in their neighborhood. She, her mother and her brother were one of the families I grew closest to over the course of the trip.

The day before we left, the volunteers said goodbye to all the families and made our preparations to return home. The morning we left, she and her family came to our hotel to say one more goodbye. It was full of tears and hugging and promises to stay in touch but then I got back to life in the US and didn't expect to ever hear from them again. Wrong.

Thanks to the power of Facebook, I'm reconnected to this young woman and have an update on her family. Her brother is still in Peru going to school and playing in a band. She and her mother have moved to Spain and she is working and studying environmental management. It is beyond fabulous to hear from her again and know that things have worked out well for her and her family.

These are the kind of encounters that make me think it may be time for another Habitat trip.