With so many countries represented here, this village was a true "Global Village." The largest contingent, about 230, came from the U.S., followed be New Zealand, 114 volunteers, and then Australia. Identifying flags flew from many houses. And in the space between our 2 rows of houses, excited volunteers dug holes and planted 25' flagpoles.
As we talked with other volunteers, it seemed everyone had a story:
....An American couple living in Switzerland and recently married, raised money with their wedding gifts to take their honeymoon on this Build.
....Ann (left below with Nancy) from Australia came, after a granddaughter's wish to join the Build. The Mom was quickly recruited and next Grandma said, "Me too!" Three generations.
....House #26 and House #27 each had mother/daughter pairings. Maraka, Mom Suzanne, Mom Mary and Stephanie.
....And back home, newly born baby boy, Miles, made his first-time grandpa proud.
Norma with help from Donna, visited several teams to find more background stories.
FROM New Zealand, they came because they believe Habitat, "provides a key base for changing lives."
FROM Ireland, team leader, Simon, showed his County Donegal flag, which Donna loved because her family's roots are there. Simon said this was a life changing experience for him. "I had no idea how much I would be impacted. We cannot change the world, but we can change it for somebody." His team was a conglomerate of folks from Ireland, North Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, and Australia.
FROM the house flying a Singapore flag, Joseph said this was a "wake-up call to fill his bucket list with meaningful things. He wants to take photos home to show his kids how some of the kids in the world live. His team also had volunteers from Hong Kong and Canada.
FINALLY, last visit was with the team from Texas. Naturally, they would be flying their state flag. Team leader, Don, said he got started on Habitat Builds because his daughter needed service hours for high school credits. He said, we can't do everything but, .."we can make a little part of the world better."
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