A Community Coming Together
From the Ground Up | Restoring Hope for Cristian
On February 23, after an impactful weekend at the Deporvida Total Athlete Congress in Paraguay, a young volunteer sports leader returned home with excitement ready to grow his soccer school, and to impact the lives of many kids in his community. His world was shaken after returning home, as his house burned to the ground that next night.
As members of TeamUp, sitting around the lunch table resting from a morning soccer clinic in a different community, we were informed of the tragic news. Athletes who had built friendships with Cristian that weekend and years previously, were gutted and immediately asked, “what can we do to help?” We collectively reached out to our faithful supporters who were following our two-week journey in Paraguay and Peru. In a matter of a few days we raised just over $3000 dollars to help Cristian and his family rebuild their home.
After hearing the news that night, a few of us took an hour drive that afternoon to visit the site and to see how TeamUp could participate in the rebuild. Upon arrival, we were amazed at the progress that had already been done to clean up the rubble. Even more incredible was the number of community members that gathered to help get this family back on their feet. Cristian was there and gave a big hug to one of the athletes he had met at the Congress three years ago. You could see the comfort and inner peace he felt that we were there to love and care for his family.
Cristian lives with his mother in their very small house, and it wasn’t just their own that had burned down. There was a small neighbouring house that stood in front of Cristian’s home that too had been destroyed by the electrical fire. Many would have never realized there was another house in front with how small of an area it occupied. It immediately became our effort to rebuild homes for both of these families.
The next morning the bricks and materials arrived and it was all hands-on deck. It was awesome to see the TeamUp students and staff, working together with members of Deporvida and the local community to create an assembly line for the passing of the bricks. Piece by piece, we transferred hundreds of bricks to the foundation of the new homes. This was a special time being together in community. The language barrier didn’t matter, we were all on the same page to get the job done. Laughs, smiles and stories were shared along the way.
Unfortunately, we had to fly home to Canada the next day and could no longer help in the physical labour of building these homes. 6 weeks later the construction is still in progress but continues to look better and better. The measures of COVID-19 have slowed the process down, but community members are determined to finish the job. We wanted to provide you with this update on the current progress of the home and thank all of those who donated to this cause. Because of your contributions, we were able to supply all the materials for both houses and help Cristian and his mother get back on their feet. We can’t wait for the day to show you the completion of these homes, but more importantly want to say a BIG thank you for Teaming Up with us and many others to bring hope and restoration to this family and the surrounding neighborhood. Thank you so much. Until then, stay safe and healthy!
