Karl Rink, a 25-year-old project manager at Vale Inco in Thompson, spent the end of November and beginning of December in a warm, subtropical climate - but not for some rest and relaxation. Instead, he was working with Habitat for Humanity to build an orphanage for children in need.
Rink has been living in Thompson and working at Vale Inco for almost three years, but is originally from Winnipeg. He says he decided to go on his trip to Paraguay after thinking through his options.
"I enjoy, and I wanted to incorporate that, and I wanted to go where it was off the beaten path; where I could really make a difference and get to know and understand the people and get an appreciation for the culture," Rink explains. "My reasons for going were very multi-faceted, but the main reason was to give back a portion of my time and efforts to those really in need. I also wanted to be involved with an organization that fit my personal values."
Rink says one of the reasons he chose to work in Paraguay is because of how out of the way it is. He couldn't fly directly to the country from Canada but had to go to Chile first and spend a few days there before continuing on his journey.
Paraguay, a landlocked South American country with a population of over six million, with an estimated 30 to 50 per cent of the population living in poverty, according to a 2003 census. Forty-one per cent of people living in Paraguay's rural areas lack a monthly income to cover basic expenses while in urban centres the figure is at 27 per cent. The country is the second poorest in all of South America with a 2007 GDP per capita at US$4,000 and 18 per cent of the population living on less than two dollars a day.
Rink built the orphanage with 13 other Habitat for Humanity volunteers and six skilled Paraguayan workers who did most of the skilled labour in the country's capital city of Asunción. Approximately 520,000 people live in the city proper with 30 per cent of the country's population living with in Greater Asunción.
According to Rink, the difference between life in Canada and life in Paraguay for the people who live there is oftentimes stark. He got to know the children of the country quite well, since they were always around the workers trying to talk and interact with them and playing baseball and soccer with them at break times.
"Quality of life is quite different. Only their large, arterial streets are paved," he says. "There's quite a bit of poverty in the area, which was upsetting because the children are often the consequence of that. We heard awful stories about these kids, being either abandoned or running away or being used. One of the boys at the orphanage who I had been speaking with had been shot a week prior and the bullet was lodged in his chest cavity. It's things like that that really make an impact on you."
Rink took his empathy for the less fortunate in Paraguay and put it to good use, performing manual labour. He and his group had to demolish an existing building by hand and remove all materials in wheel barrels. They then dug the foundation by hand using pick axes and shoves, built the foundation, made mortar, moved a lot of building material and finally began erecting the structure's walls. After that Rink and the other workers were moved to a different orphanage to do finishing touches, such as sanding, varnishing and painting. He says he was amazed at the different in materials, tools, construction methods, schedules and work plans he used while in Paraguay.
Rink says although it wasn't a typical holiday, he enjoyed his vacation very much, and would encourage other people who are looking to make a difference in the world to consider a working vacation.
"I enjoyed my time immensely. The idea about a vacation is you get rejuvenation out of it. I had a different type of rejuvenation than I usually do - mental, emotional and a changed outlook on my own life."
