I met Dori working as a volunteer at the Juan Fe Foundation in Medellin. Camila and I had the opportunity to visit Dori’s home to cook a meal. Dori has the most incredible little girl. Luiciana is five years old, and we had a special bond the minute we met. Dori lives with her sister Sandra in a home with walls made of plastic and wood members with a roof made of corrugated metal.
After buying some ingredients we traveled by bus to Robledo then made the 20 minute hike up the hill to her residence. The kitchen was pretty simple, but had everything needed to prepare a nice meal. I cooked spaghetti with fresh vegetables, ground beef and bacon in a cream sauce. We all found a space on Dori’s bed and enjoyed sharing some time together. Dori shared the challenges of her current living conditions and her desire to one day build a home on the property which had been given to her by Luciana’s Grandmother.
After making the hour long trip to her home, and seeing with my own eyes how she made the absolute best out of difficult situation, I was beyond impressed. Just the fact that Dori would show up to work on time with the most amazing attitude really touched my heart. When you consider raising such an amazing little girl, I felt the need to take some action in an attempt to make things a little better. Everyone in this world needs help from time to time.
We made plans to get the project off the ground the following Monday. I was joined by my friend Daniel and a local contractor named Luis. We made a visit to the local hardware store to buy some tools. We started digging out the area along the front wall to install the rebar to connect to the existing structure and columns already in place. Later that day we purchased the additional rebar, cement and sand mix to needed to pour.
