Erskine group builds seventh house in Costa Rica

Spanish language class at Erskine Academy. Below, the crew stands in front of the new construction in progress.
Photo courtesy of Bob Bennett

by Bob Bennett

Helping a student engage in a life changing experience is perhaps the most rewarding part of teaching and as a retired educator I can verify that it doesn’t happen very often. However, for Erskine Academy Spanish language teacher Sonia Stevenson, who for the last several years has been taking students to Costa Rica to build homes for that country’s needy citizens, this sensation has become fairly routine. This year’s effort, which produced the seventh dwelling by an Erskine group, occurred in March and was coordinated by a Costa Rican national with previous experience with the international organization Habitat For Humanity. The March dates might lead to a few questions, but are chosen for a specific reason.

Many of the student participants are active in sports and the March time frame avoids conflicts with Spring practices. Headmaster Mike McQuarrie and the Erskine board and staff have been very understanding of this need, and the students have always kept up grade wise. This time also tends to avoid Costa Rica’s rainy season which could obviously put a “damper” on things as well. There are some other potential problems with this fairly early in the year time since the $6,000 required to build a house must be raised generally right after the first of the calendar year. Local Maine businesses are the general source of this money and this year, they came through as usual. In addition, each participant must raise his or her own funding for the trip. Now for some specifics on this year’s adventure.

Above, the Costa Rican house that was replaced by students of the Spanish language class at Erskine Academy. Photo courtesy of Bob Bennett

Fifteen students and adults traveled to the Costa Rican town of Nosara. Their clients were a couple with a young child. The father works as a night watchman and makes about $100 a month. The mother has two jobs cleaning houses and working at a store. Together, they make $200 to $300 a month, $100 of which was required to pay their rent for one room. As for the new house, all that was in place was a concrete slab. The dwelling is built from panels consisting of studs and sheet metal. These panels are constructed while laid out on the ground, and then are raised to create the walls and roof sections. This almost sounds like an old-time Maine barn raising, although on a much smaller scale. The building site was just a three to four minute from the shore of the Pacific Ocean and the EA group saw many exotic animals in their travels. They were awakened every morning by chanting monkeys. The students also visited local schools disbursing school supplies, practiced their Spanish language skills and worked in gardens to help produce fruits and vegetables. Friendship bracelets were also exchanged from both sides.

This Erskine group, as have the ones preceding it, helped foster a solid reputation as having a great work ethic and genuine passion for what they do and accomplish. This is so much so that there is talk of possibly building three houses next year. There is also interest in creating an EA alumni group from previous attendees. As I said earlier, this and the other excursions to Central America are viewed by all of the participants as life changing experiences. This is true for both the “givers” and “receivers.” The local residents get a new, clean and well-built home and the Erskine students and their adult companions are able to share their compassion, time and skills with those in need; it doesn’t get any better than that.