Building homes in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala

"Working from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for five days, we built three houses. Together with the villagers, we mixed concrete by dumping the ingredients on the ground, adding water, and mixing with a shovel and our feet. Then we'd form a chain and pass buckets of concrete down to the trenches. Some of the smaller kids helped us move cinder blocks, carrying them as far as they could, just so they could participate. I've never been around that kind of poverty for an extended period. You see what people do to survive on a daily basis, and it hits home that this is their reality. You can write a check to a worthy cause, but you don't see the impact of what you've done. On service trips, you see minute-by-minute the difference you're making." -- Jared Simmons, 29, Cincinnati, Ohio