For 7 weeks between Thanksgiving weekend and the end of November I became a fixture in the jewellery room, serving thousands of clients and working with the most incredible colleagues anyone could ask for.
In 2008, my husband, a police officer with the Ottawa Police Services was asked to join a Habitat build in Costa Rica. It truly changed his life, and as I watched him dedicate his time and talents to building homes for families in Central America I realized I wanted to be a part of this too. In 2010 I joined the team in El Salvador and have never looked back. It has become part of who I am, and we are so fortunate to be sharing it with each daughter before she enters University.
Peggy was very enthusiastic about our builds and with great generosity and kindness she offered to provide us with the Santropol coffee sold at the Bazaar. Chris and I brewed the coffee outside the main entrance and all donations from a cup of coffee went to the cost of building supplies for each house. Over the last 3 years we have had almost $4000 donated to builds in El Savador and Nicaragua. This act of kindness has allowed us to realize the dream of continuing our builds, and include our teenage daughters in the experience.
Last year we not only built 2 homes for families in Nicaragua, but we were able to help make bricks at the factory (by hand) and deliver the completed bricks and supplies to future build sites. Our 8 hour days sometimes turned into 10 but we know that our hard work was both appreciated and necessary.
The generosity of the Bakkers, the Bazaar clients and the incredible staff (who collected money and gave it to us on our last day before leaving for Central America) has filled our hearts with gratitude and love. They have been so important to the build, and we thank them all for their kind hearts and generosity.
To find out more about the Third World Bazaar please visit their site. It is an experience you will not soon forget. www.thirdworldbazaar.ca
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