Janie White’s favorite part of building a house is mixing cement.

Just don’t tell her husband, Duane.

She only enjoys this activity when she is volunteering in El Salvador and has no intentions of doing this at home. 

For nearly two decades, White has returned year after year with the El Salvador North America Village Network (ESNA), a Des Moines, Iowa-based nonprofit that connects rural El Salvador villages with North American communities to improve the social, economic and health conditions in El Salvador.  

Through ESNA, she has helped build homes, paint churches and deliver food to families in need.

Judy Simon, left, and Janie White, right, provide for this young author's college education.

 A JANIE OF ALL TRADES

White, 69, has traveled to El Salvador annually since 2007. She made her first trip with her church through an organization called Seeds of Learning.

“I had to get the atlas out to figure out where the heck El Salvador is,” said White, “but I said, ‘You’re not going without me.’”

That first trip took her to the village of Copapayo, where rotating teams worked to build a school. One group would raise walls about 4 feet high. The next would add another 4 feet. A final crew would finish the roof.

“We built a classroom way out in the middle of nowhere,” she said. “There were probably six or eight groups, and we’d all go down for two weeks.” 

When the director of Seeds of Learning left to work with ESNA, she followed him. 

“I’m glad I did, because Seeds of Learning has since pulled out of El Salvador,” she said.

Beth Sherry will be 71 when she returns this July for her 15th year. She used to work with White and eventually decided to go after hearing about the trips.

ESNA trips do take a certain kind of readiness: an open mind, a willingness to work and enough physical ability to lift, carry and walk uneven roads. Knowing Spanish can help, but it’s possible to get by without it.

When she meets people in the communities where she works, White is upfront about the language barrier. 

“My Spanish isn’t great. I live in the United States, but my heart lives here with you,” she tells them.

BUILDING HOMES AND HOPE

The work varies on a build day, depending on how many tools are available and how many people are on site. Building areas are small, so volunteers take turns, trading shovels and tape measures for breaks.      

ESNA works with community leaders to identify which families will receive the next home and which community projects are the highest priority. Volunteers like White and Sherry help raise money for tools and materials.

Sherry Mixes cement with another team member. 

 The homes are generally about 20-by-20 feet, built with concrete floors, metal siding and metal roofs. Doorways and window openings are framed and can be secured during storms, but the openings do not have glass.

Built to keep beds, clothing and food dry, the structures often serve as shelter and storage more than full-time indoor living space, since many families spend much of the day outside. In many villages, families share amenities such as composting toilets or cookstoves. Both ESNA and its volunteers raise money to pay for these resources. 

ESNA volunteers do not stay in the villages where they work. They stay in hostels or bed-and-breakfast-style rooms, with meals that often feature local cuisine.

Volunteers start at 8:30 a.m. Each day begins at a local church with a blessing, song or reading, often in Spanish. Teams then follow a plan led by a guide. Workdays end early when rain threatens since village roads can become difficult to travel.

Janie White hugs a pre-schooler wearing a handmade pillowcase dress made by volunteers.

MEMORIES THAT STAY

Through the years, White has come to know communities well enough to watch children grow up and pursue college. She met her favorite “son” Nuan in Suchitoto—a town that “stole her heart.”

“We’re building relationships. It’s fun to go back and see the same faces that you saw last year,” said White.  

Some memories are light. Her husband Duane still laughs about “the beer story” from a night in San Salvador, when their leader, Guillermo, took the group out for pizza.

“Guillermo said, ‘Have you ever tried this type of beer?’ I said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘Would you like to?’ and tells the waiter to go across the street to the brewery to get us a couple of beers.” 

Other memories are heavier. Sherry recalled her first encounter with abject poverty, when a woman who cleaned for the group called on her day off to ask for help.

“She asked, ‘Can I borrow $5 to buy my friend’s little boy a casket?’” Sherry said.

Beth Sherry with community leaders.

 She also recalled a moment after a home was finished, when a woman laid down on her new floor.

“She laid a little blanket down so she could lay on her beautiful floor that she was so proud of,” Sherry said.

READY TO TRAVEL?

Over the years, White has taken more than 175 volunteers with ESNA, including an 11-year-old who traveled with a parent. Volunteers of all ages can participate.

“It’s something you can do if you’re healthy. The work is as hard as you want to make it,” Sherry said.

This summer, White will lead a Grand Junction group traveling July 5-18 to El Bebedero to build two houses, deliver food to those in need and experience the country’s culture.

For more information, contact her at [email protected]. Donations can be made at ESNAVillages.org. 

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