Sing and Build

“Sing and Build” took place in Recreo and Santa Fe from November 17th - 23rd. Over 50 local, national and international volunteers got together to build in the site of Recreo, next to the families. During the day they worked very hard, in spite of Santa Fe’s extremely hot weather; while during lunch and in the afternoon, families and volunteers sang together with music from guitars. On Saturday there was a music festival in the Luz y Fuerza Theatre in Santa Fe City.

This special event aimed to show, through singing as well as building together, the joy of volunteering. Each working day started with prayers at 9:00a.m, followed by a reminder of the safety measures. During lunch there was singing and dancing and at 4:30p.m the working day ended with more music, singing and dancing. A volunteer from San José, USA taught everyone a Hawaiian “hula-hula” and the local families taught the international volunteers how to dance Santa Fe’s “cumbia”; in addition, Vienna Teng, a volunteer and professional singer and composer from New York entertained everyone with her music skills.

Other donors and sponsors made “Sing and Build” possible thanks to their generous collaboration. These were: Global Village Program from Habitat for Humanity International, San Cristóbal, Casa Martín, Puig y Compañía, Agua Pura, Basani, Hotel Zavaleta, Servicios Integrales and the Iglesia Bautista Nordeste.

On Monday we held the first outdoors show, in the San Martín Park in the Center of Recreo. Two groups of folk dancers from Recreo, a group from Santo Tomé, a group from bossa nova from the Nordeste Church, a folk singer, the brigade singer accompanied by a pianist and the local group “Los del Camino” were part of the show, which lasted for two hours. Recreo’s Mayor and the entire municipal department co-operated and Carina Valli, on behalf of the municipal council, officially declared “Sing and Build” an event of municipal interest.

On Thursday, volunteers were invited for dinner in the homes of the different families. Each family was able to proudly show their new houses and entertain them with home- made food. These were intimate moments of sharing.

On Saturday afternoon, the kids from the families participated in the “Little Bricks” workshop and presented a small play to all the helpers. When the working day was finished the children gave each volunteer a small notebook with a fridge magnet, made with small hands decorated by them, helping everyone to remember their saying “We can also put our hands to work”.

The day closed with an event in the Luz y Fuerza Theatre in Santa Fe City. The folk ballet “Grupo Yapeyú” and “Agrupación El Prado”, the groups “Vocal Santafesino” and “Alta Tensión” took part. At the end of the evening the folk group “Los del Camino” played some “chacareras” with Vienna Teng, the American volunteer who learned the local songs especially for this event.

Finally, on Sunday afternoon “Sing and Build” ended the “build” with a meal of “choripanes”. After a week’s hard work, two complete houses had been finished. It was clear that “Sing and Build” was “more than houses” and that everyone had learned and enjoyed a lot together!