Costa Rica March 2012: The Song We'll Never Forget.

Whenever I really like something, I usually talk it up to a friend and
then, somehow, some way, when I introduce them to it, they aren't as thrilled as I am. The perfect example is a certain song. I absolutely LOVE this
song… right now, in this instant, THIS song is the best, most
meaningful assemblage of notes ever created. But no one ever quite
gets it (what is wrong with them??) and so I go back to enjoying the
song -- a little less than before, sadly -- and I also naively look
forward to the next time I can try convince friends that another song
is the BEST.  It always ends the same way: myself in awe, exclaiming "What do you mean you don’t love it?!"

But then there are these trips.

Finally, something even I can't over-hype...

On our first build day, Ever showed up on site. Ever is a
thirteen-year-old boy with a faux-hawk – a common hairstyle around
here – and he is the son of Ninosca, one of the future homeowners of a
Habitat home in Santa Elena.  Getting his first smile was tough. It
required more than a small amount of effort from our team’s most gifted
entertainers.  But once that initial shell of shyness started to
crack, Ever curiously patrolled between groups of people doing their
various jobs. By the end of the day, he was at ease responding to the
group’s questions and attempts at silliness. He eagerly talked about
playing soccer and rooting for his favorite pro team. He told us he had
friends who would also be moving into the neighborhood and, as I would
have done at his age, he looked away and ineffectively tried to subdue
a grin when asked if he had a girlfriend.

During our second day of building, there were about 15 children,
including Ever, who came over to check out the action on site. I had
planned to save our “cultural exchange” activity for Friday, but after
seeing a group of kids running across the soccer field wearing balloon
hats and flailing balloon animals above their heads, I was reminded
that some plans succeed most when they go astray. I walked over to
find Ken, our very own balloon animal artist, surrounded by more kids,
awaiting their new dogs or giraffes or monkeys. The number of smiles
on our site had, in a day, increased exponentially. It’s a trend that
isn’t likely to change course.

This summer, Ninosca, her husband Johel, Ever, his three siblings
and the rest of the family will move out of a crowded wooden structure
with a dirt floor, one room, and an outdoor kitchen, and into a
sturdy, secure house that will have space for the family and reliable
utility service. Thirty-seven other families will make similar
transitions.

The background music of squeaky wheelbarrows, clanking shovels, and
the laughter of both kids and workers will continue tomorrow, the next
day, and when future Global Village groups arrive to play their parts.
It is improvised, unrecorded music, but it will be remembered. What
it may lack in consistent tempo and hummable phrases, it more than
makes up for in harmony. Believe me, it’s one of the best songs you’ll
ever hear.

--Noah Keller, Global Village Team Leader