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Ralph Herbst and his ukulele
at a Falmouth Wall Raising
Volunteer Spotlight
Ralph Herbst has been volunteering with Habitat here on Cape Cod since 1999. Prior to that, he had an experience that he likes to share to explain why he decided to volunteer with Habitat on Cape Cod.
Ralph's church was sponsoring a mission trip, and he decided to use a few days off from work to join, helping to build Habitat for Humanity homes in Nicaragua. This was in the late 1980s, and at that time the country was engaged in a civil war. Ralph vividly remembers the first thing he saw flying in to Managua, the capitol: two machine gun encampments at the end of the runway. Half of the city's infrastructure had been damaged by a previous earthquake.
The first night his group slept on cots in a church hall. Then they were driven in trucks - standing up - to the job site in the countryside. There, they slept in partially completed Habitat homes. Each volunteer was assigned to a different family, who hosted them for meals.
The job at hand was to make cinder blocks. Volunteers dug sand from the river and collected stones, which would then be mixed with concrete to make the blocks. The homes they were constructing were made from concrete slabs, reinforced with concrete columns designed to withstand earthquakes. The roofs were wooden with thatched leaves, nothing too heavy in case they fell during an earthquake.
Despite the fact that they were working in the "beastly heat" of July, Ralph found the work rewarding because "We were helping people move from straw huts to a home that could withstand an earthquake. It was a huge upgrade for them. The houses would have mosquito netting on the windows rather than a house filled with smoke to keep out bugs." He was also impressed with the Nicaraguans he met, both for their work ethic, and their commitment to help one another.
As hard as this trip was, Ralph says he is glad that he did it. Many people who work on homes overseas say the same thing: the work tires you out but at the same time brings an enormous sense of accomplishment - expect to be exhausted but happy.
Nowadays, Ralph works on Habitat homes here on the Cape. "I knew that building homes here in the States wouldn't be that difficult after this experience - it's a Utopia by comparison!" We have to agree - at Habitat on Cape Cod, we make every effort to treat volunteers right! Find out for yourself - contact Dawn Walnut to learn more about volunteering. | 
