About Teams
Who? The average team that Hogar de Vida hosts is 10 people from the USA for 10 days. However, some who come to serve are individuals, or couples, or groups of 5, 7, or 14. They come for a week, sometimes two. Most, but not all are from the USA. People contact us, fill out an application, communicate back and forth with Hogar de Vida to set dates and define projects, pack, and travel. Then the fun begins.
How? Some of them ask for support from their church, some raise money through a lemonade stand, and some just ask Daddy for the cash. However they can, they get the plane fare. They also need money for the project they'll do and this is coordinated before they come. Project income is essential for the operation of the mission.
When: The high season for teams is June to August during summer break in the USA, although some teams come in the spring and fall.
What do teams look like? Some are church youth groups and some are all adult. The "all guy" teams come to do grunt work like mix concrete, pour sidewalks, sweat and get grubby. Some teams are co-ed. The "all girl" teams come with the express purpose of loving the staff in the form of massages, toenail painting, hair-do's, gifts of jewelry and perfume. And just recently came a new kind of team - two families with two Mommy's, two Daddy's and 7 kids. That's a great combo for child care for this place.
What do teams do? Teams keep the inside and the outside of the houses painted. They paint the sidewalks so the slippery green moss doesn't sabotage the fun times when the kids race down the hill from House No. 1 on their tricycles using their shoes for brakes. They built the Maintenance Shop. They fine-tune our rebellious computer network, they lay fence posts and install security cameras. Teams get on the roof, sweep the summer leaves off; and clean out the downspouts to welcome the winter deluge of tropical rain.
Best of all is they play with the kids. For hours. Without getting tired and not complaining. Because? THIS IS WHY THEY COME!
The other side of the coin: It's not all about the projects. God brings teams to Hogar for His own purposes. Tim, Dena and Helen share testimonies in the evenings. Many are touched. Snatched conversations from Tim's wheel chair recently resulted in a 15-year old girl being saved and 2 guys giving their hearts to Jesus. Others have been challenged as they s-t-r-e-t-c-h outside their spiritual comfort zone. Teams go home to become child sponsors for our kids, to pray faithfully for us, to get involved at a distance, to fund more projects, and to come again, to bless and be blessed in return.
Are you interested? Let us know.
Helen Smith (HogarDeVida@yahoo.com)