My Alternative Spring Break

By Amy Schilit

    Before leaving for Alternative Spring Break with USC Hillel, I could not even place Uruguay on the map. I had no friends or family in the country, no connections, only lots of anticipation.
    We worked together with Uruguayan Hillel students at several non-profit organizations throughout the week. The first place we went to was a “merendero,” which is similar to a soup kitchen. A couple ran it with money from their own pocket and fed children from their community after school. They explained that many “merenderos” were shut down because of the economy. We did not just serve food, but made a carnival and played the same games that we played when we were younger with the kids.
The next day we began building houses just outside of the city, but it felt like a different world. The organization we volunteered for is called “Techo Para mi Pais,” which means a roof for my country. Its mission is not only to construct houses for individual families, but build up entire neighborhoods in many Latin American countries. What is so amazing about the organization is that the families have to work and pay one hundred dollars for the house and build it along with the volunteers.
The streets of the neighborhood we went to were covered in mud and filth and many of the homes were falling apart. We were building a house the size of a two car garage for an entire family, but it would be elevated so the kids did not have to play on their dirt floor and not only had an actual door, but a lock. In one family, the mother could never get a job because her old house did not have a lock and when she left all their belongings were stolen.
The family that my group worked with had lots of family living in the neighborhood, who were all were eager to help out. We began by digging holes into the ground for the base of the house. Before lunchtime the mother, Lilia, took a few of us to pick up her kids, Carla and Lucas ages six and four, from school. They were quiet but greeted us with the customary South American kiss on the cheek. Lucas tried showing off by climbing up a tree while Lilia showed me Carla’s schoolwork. She was so proud of her daughter’s good grades and told me how she was such a serious student.
It upset me that many of the older kids I talked to no longer went to school. One of the mothers explained to me that she had eleven kids so her fifteen-year-old daughter had to help work instead of continuing her studies. I hoped that Carla would continue her studies. There was a low ceiling in this neighborhood, but through the work of “Techo,” these kids got to see firsthand the benefits of sacrifice and the importance of working hard toward a goal as their parents did to build a home for them.  
When we got back to their neighborhood, we shared lunch together with their entire extended family on the floor of their new house, and then got back to work. It didn’t feel as though we were working for them, but rather quickly becoming a part of their family. The next day when we picked the kids up from school with Lilia, they came running towards us wanting us to carry them home.
Our language barriers did not even separate us as we came together overcoming all the obstacles of building the house. I had to do a double take when the father, Carlos, came over to give us a hammer and said the English word for it with a huge smile on his face. We finished just as it was getting dark on the second day and before we left presented the family with a framed picture we had taken the day before for them to put up on the walls of their new home.
It was incredible working with this family and being a part of their life even if it was only for two days. We started off with dirt and concrete and ended up with a home for Lilia and Carlos to raise their kids.

Inspired by our week in Uruguay, our ASB group plans to work to raise money for the “merendero” we visited. In the future we want to organize other community service activities in the area and try to work with “Techo” again in Mexico. If you are interested in helping out please contact me at Schilit@usc.edu.