The Power To Influence Another's Life

I can’t believe how fast these two weeks have gone by. Today is the final day of the build, and we are only scheduled to work for half the day. Once we walked to the jobsite, we all resumed what we were doing from the day before. Kim, Jordan, Annie, Kevin, and I continued to trowel on the second coat of cement mortar to the exterior insulation of the house. The little old lady with HFH Csurgo, who works with Peter back at the office, delivered our mid-morning snacks of various fruit and chocolate pastries, as was the custom every morning at 10am. Once 1130am rolled around, the team started cleaning up and putting away all of the tools to prepare to leave the build site for the last time. The entire team took a final picture in front of the house, before we headed back to the hotel for lunch. I felt sad to leave, while at the same time, happy for the entire experience in Csurgo with Habitat for Humanity.
For lunch, we were served a beef and vegetable soup, cinnamon breads with cream sauce, and pears. Hands down, this was my least favorite meal of the trip. The cinnamon bread pieces were actually the main entrée, so I pretty much only ate French bread and broth for lunch today. I am definitely ready for a change of cuisine once we leave Csurgo. After lunch, Kim gathered everyone upstairs for our last team meeting. We discussed the overall experience and in particular what went well, what could be improved for future builds, and our general feelings about the trip. I thought Kim did a great job with describing what the two weeks would be like in Csurgo, during my first phone interview with her back in April. The Csurgo HFH guys (Peter & Chris) were knowledgeable leaders on the jobsite and helped maximize our time and talent. Shondor and his family (owners of the Balogh Pension) were so hospitable with opening up their homes to the team during our planned outing events. Finally, the two families who worked with us building their homes were extremely grateful and despite the language barrier, the smiles on their faces said it all. Overall, I am glad that I chose this Csurgo HFH Global Village team, and I believe my teammates would agree wholeheartedly. I look forward to participating in a future build with another Global Village team (my choice would probably be somewhere in South America) and would highly recommend this experience to anyone and everyone I know.
After lunch, we had free time until 7pm. During these past two weeks, I have not only undergone a life-changing experience with Habitat for Humanity, but I have also lived a roller coaster of emotions personally. I have been a lost soul for a while now and have struggled tremendously to find myself and to discover what I want and need to be truly happy. Ironically, somewhere along the way, I lost myself and did not stay true to the person that I know I am. Selfishly, I hurt people I care for in my quest for happiness. The pain of this realization is indescribable and unbearable. But I have learned the hard way that the truth will set you free. I still don’t know what my future holds, but one thing is certain, if I stay true to myself and live my life with an honest heart and good intentions, then I will find the happiness I have been searching for. The hardest thing at least for me has been to forgive myself. I can only hope that the people I hurt the most will also be able to forgive me for what I have done, and be open to finding the silver lining in the vast sea of clouds.
At about 2:30p, Court and I took a walk through a part of Csurgo that we had never seen before. It was during that walk when I realized how grateful I was for meeting Court during this HFH trip. I truly believe that people come into your life at just the right time. It sounds strange because I have only known him for 2 weeks, but by offering his honest advice, hugging me when I needed comfort to cry in someone’s arms, and listening to me when I couldn’t hold it in any longer, Court became that person for me. I have learned a lot from him and his positive spirit has given me hope during a time when I needed it the most. His unbiased opinion was just what I needed during our two-hour tour walking, talking, and taking photos of Csurgo. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Court.
At 5pm, I went for my last run around town. During today’s run, I literally felt like I was shedding away some of the guilt, sadness, and negativity. Each day, I learn more and more that my happiness starts with being able to look in the mirror and love the person that I see. Like running, the first step in always the hardest but each subsequent step taken ultimately leads to the desired destination. Once I returned back to the room, I started packing my clothes and getting ready for our final team dinner in Csurgo with the families.
Dinner could have fed an army. They compiled a list of trip favorites to create the final meal’s menu and it included pasta salad, rice, potatoes, fried cheese, chicken paprikash, and gnocchi. Dessert was a chocolate cake in celebration of Annie’s Sweet 16 Birthday. After dinner, various HFH leaders and team members gave speeches and gifts of gratitude. Each team member received a HFH Csurgo ornament as a thank you souvenir. We all stayed longer to talk with the families and each other, reminiscing about the past two weeks and thinking fondly of our time here in Csurgo. The families cried in gratitude for the work that our team accomplished in an effort to build their homes.
During these past two weeks, I have been reminded that people have an amazing ability to influence another person’s life, positively and negatively, intentionally and unintentionally. My life is what it is today because of the people who I have met along the way. I am grateful to everyone who has touched my life in both big and small ways, and I can only hope that I intentionally live in a manner that positively impacts people I meet along my life’s future path.

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