The Coppins of Manchester, Vermont
Karen Coppin had not planned a trip for three to El Salvador in her family’s 2008 budget. But when her twin 16-year-old daughters both said they wanted to go to the Fuller Center Blitz Build, she could not say no. After all, when Millard Fuller spoke at their church about it earlier this year, she felt a stirring
in her heart, too. “I always wanted to do something like this – I’m a nurse and it’s in my blood. And the timing was right,” she says. “It’s the right thing to do.”
Twins Jennifer and Karla arranged time away from school (they are doing homework after their physical work at the construction site) and are getting quite the education in El Salvador. They are part of a group of nine who came from the First Congregational Church in Manchester, Vermont. Their church also sponsored a house for Manuel and Melida Ramirez and their children, Karen and Melvin.
“We had never traveled and I was excited to come down here. I love it. I wish we could help everyone here,” Karla says. “It definitely is an eye-opener to come here. I didn’t think it would be this bad.”
The twins both play soccer, ice hockey and lacrosse at their school, which helped prepare them for the demands of the hard labor of house-building. They couldn’t prepare for the heat – it is snowing back in Vermont and over 90 degrees in El Salvador – but they are thankful to be shoveling mortar instead of snow.
“I love being with all these people. They’re all here for the right reason and it makes me feel like a better person. It makes you want to stay longer and do more,” Jennifer says.
“This experience makes me want to tell more people about it. I’m happy here. Maybe next time we can do this in Nigeria or Armenia or another country. If you have the opportunity to help people, you should. For me, it’s kind of about finding yourself and you have to get out there to do that. And you learn the difference between your needs and your wants. I have realized I don’t need as much as I thought I did.”
–David Westerfield, Community Renewal International, reporting for FCH.
