Teenagers Robert and Lisa Corsi brought youthful enthusiasm and energy to the El Salvador Blitz Build. “This is awesome – a very different experience from anything else I have ever done. I would definitely recommend it to everyone,” Robert says. “It’s really cool to see it all come together and be a part of something like this and help a family. I definitely want to stay involved and do more in the future.”
Brother and sister Robert, 17, and Lisa, 19, live in Oceanport, N.J. He’s a high school senior who’s being recruited by various colleges for his skills as a baseball pitcher. Lisa is a college sophomore who would like to study in Italy. This past summer she visited Spain, Greece, Egypt and other countries.
“I love to travel and I love helping people. This week in El Salvador is just incredible. It’s not what I expected – it’s so much better,” she says. “I have these two passions and I believe you learn so much when you travel. I feel like I am so blessed that it’s my job to give back.”
They both have paying jobs back home: He is a restaurant busboy; she works in a bagel shop in the mornings and is a waitress by night. And they both volunteer in other ways. One example: sending canned food to soldiers overseas.
When Lisa read The House that Love Built, a book about Millard and Linda Fuller’s life story, she was hooked. She and Robert signed up for the El Salvador blitz soon after.
“It’s absolutely incredible seeing all the people and seeing it all come together. I am definitely coming back,” she says.
Robert feels the same way. “This is a chance to see the world and how other people live. And it’s a real good way to help out and make a difference,” he says. “You hear about the poverty in other countries like El Salvador, but you don’t understand it until you see it. Now everything I complained about back at home seems so trivial.”
–David Westerfield, Community Renewal International, reporting for FCH.
