Christ has no body on earth but yours,

no hands but yours,

no feet but yours.

Yours are the eyes through which

Christ's compassion for the world is to look out;

Yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good;

and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.

- Saint Teresa of Avila

Habitat in Sante Fe, Argentina

This year's Global Village build will take place in Sante Fe, Argentina - a mere 6 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires. When the Salado River overflowed its banks into the City of Sante Fe in April 2003, more than 30,000 families were affected. According to estimates by UN experts, the impact on the province's gross national product was as damaging as that of the earthquakes in El Salvador. Prior to the flood, the city already had one of the highest poverty indexes and housing deficits in the country. A quarter of the city's inhabitants already lived in substandard housing settlements surrounded by garbage dumps and contaminated waters. Theft and violence, along with the contamination, are the biggest threats to decent living in Sante Fe.






Habitat Build

Habitat Build
"If I had a hammer......"

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Auschwitz day

To the right is the sign that the prisoners saw as they entered the camp "Work Will Set You Free"
Above, Cory places a stone of rememberance at the spot were so many were shot to death. Below left show how staggering the numbers were. Below right is one of the many suitcases that were gathered from the prisoners as they entered the camp.













Then there is the team on the tour and lastly a look of the bleak surroundings the prisoners faced.



Quite a heavy day today. We toured the Auschwitz concentration camps. Even though we have studied this in school and I have been to Dachau, this tour was something that just has to be experienced. It was surreal, moving and disturbing all at the same time. I have trouble even typing the words to explain this day - those of you who know me best know I am never at a loss for words, but at this time I am. The tour seemed to have an effect on each person in the group. However, two of our group are Jewish and as I watched them, understandably this had an even greater impact on them. It hurt to see them affected so much more by the experiece. As hard as this all was to see, I think it important that we remember this aweful event from the past. We must not forget that this happened. We have world events today that although don't match the numbers, represent the some of the same evil that the concentration camps did. Although, I don't think ANYTHING compares to the inhumane treatment that these people received. They were de-humanized from day 1. Everything done seemed to have an underlying tone of psychological torture. As our group talked about this we all had a really hard time wrapping our brain around the fact that this many people could be that evil. Needless to say, it was a very quiet bus ride on the way back to the hotel. We will be ready for physical exhaustion tomorrow more than the emotional exhaustion of today. Didn't think we could bond more than we already had on this trip, but conversations after the tour proved that we could. What a day.
More to follow.....
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