Costa Rica Team #2, Day 3 – When Enough is Enough

Guest Blog by Kristen Wollin and Louise Stenberg, 
Global Village Team Members 

Our team of 12 has been staying closer to town this week, at a site in Buenos Aires working on the final phase of a home for Maria, an 84-year old woman. Several of us are Global Village Rookies and are just learning the ropes of these builds, but we also want to show that we can hold our own. With so much experience in the group, it can be easy to be intimidated, but everyone has been encouraging and helpful as we abide by the pace of the process together….learning that enough is enough.

The idea of “enough” seems to be a universal theme for us, first in preparing for this trip and now while on the trip. “Do I really have enough time off of work?” “Did I pack enough underwear?” “Have we mixed enough concrete?” “Are these clothes clean enough to wear again?” And most often, “Am I doing enough?” The answer to it all? Yes.

The work day on site has been a dichotomy of being so demanding, there aren’t enough hands or bodies to get the project done, and slower times when there are too many bodies trying to paint the same wall. Add to that the distraction of cute kids running around trying to help and the day stays interesting!

Balancing the amount of work completed with the amount of cultural interaction (with the family you are building for and with and experiences in the community and culture) is another challenge. What are we here to do and experience? What amount is enough?

“Right now in the moment I am going to do what I can, with what I have & what I know, from where I am & that’s enough.”

This has been an amazing experience and many lessons have been learned. The most important one: The appropriate length of this blog? This is enough….