Day 2 - Friday

Growing up in Windham, NH we never really realize how lucky we actually are. From having the simple necessities that we take for granted everyday, such as filtered water, warm showers, and a roof over head all the way to bicycles we ride, cars we drive, and technology we use every minute of our lives. Reality hit today when we drove up the narrow, dirt road to a small trailer home filled with water damage and falling apart.

As soon as we stepped foot out of the car, three little kids, a baby, a set of grandparents, and a very supportive friend emerged out of the hot, dirty house. Two young girls, Karen and Kyanna, covered in dirt with giant smiles ran up to all of their new friends, while the young boy, Derek, shied back with a machete (weed-whacker to him) in hand. Spending time with the children, they brought us to their toy box filled with a football, old computer keys, and a doll head. With the little that the girls had to play with, they used everything to their advantage, laughing, and loving life, having each other to play with. Derek, not wanting to play with his sisters, loved throwing the football, and tried to play with any one of us that was willing. All four kids were taken from their mother and father a little while ago and put in their grandparents home. With this big change, the kids had seen a lot more than the average 5-year old should see. Still, through everything, the young kids had smiles on their face, love in their hearts, and dreams of their own.

Although playing with the children was fun, work had to be done to better their environment. The house is a single wide trailer with an addition added in the back. Unfortunately the added room was full of water damage, had no solid foundation, and was not able to be lived in anymore. Throughout the day, everybody worked hard taking down the addition by knocking out wood, pulling out nails, and separating the usable wood from the non-usable wood. Because of those that braved the roof work in the 93 degree weather, we were able to knock that whole part of the house down and put in 6 footings for the new room that is to be the continuous project of this trip. Sadly, we are not here to fix the surroundings of the house, which consist of a 60 degree drop, leading to the edge of a cliff. With no fence blocking off the side of this house, the children, playing as far to the edge as they can on the rocks and clothes line and making each and everyone of us cringe, weren't very safe. The yard is filled with dead grass and remains of burnt objects, causing for an even more unsafe place for the children to play.

In our group discussion after getting back from the site tonight, Kimball brought up a good point. We were all comparing what we have and what they have, talking about how we grew up with bikes and basketball hoops, and how they are growing up with machetes and little plastic toys. Kimball looked at it in a different way, talking about how even though we look at our childhood as "normal", they are very likely looking at theirs as "normal" and are's as "weird". Thinking about that, the two girls were two of the happiest, most talkative little girls I have seen, which just backs up his point that even though they may not have what we have, they still have the same kind of happiness and love for life.

- Melissa Cino