A passionate drive to make a difference led one woman to pick up a hammer and a nail and head to Costa Rica, determined to help construct homes for people in need. The friendships she discovered and the gratitude she experienced gave her life new purpose.

Fellow readers,

We all have dreams of making a difference in the world. Often, though, we find it's not necessarily the sense of courage or passion that guides us to action, but rather being at a point in our lives where it's feasible and simply makes sense. For years toiling in the high-tech industry, I regularly pondered the idea of doing something in the world that improved people's lives. This interest finally gave way to looking into a new type of vacation one year when I felt that I had earned some real time to get away.

My intent was to volunteer to assist women and children in the challenges they faced due to lack of education, limited resources, and political oppression. But it wasn't until I learned about an upcoming journey to Costa Rica on behalf of Habitat for Humanity that my dream became very specific. Habitat is a non-profit organization that seeks to eliminate world poverty and homelessness and make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action. Their Global Village program features one- to three-week international trips that give participants a unique opportunity to become active partners with people of other cultures. I was profoundly inspired by the program's approach; they literally construct more positive futures for families in the world community by providing their lives with a critical and important foundation.

I joined ten other people -- all from different places, all with different backgrounds, ranging from medicine to teaching to plumbing to my own marketing credentials. We were all strangers for less than 24 hours as we came to know each other quickly, sharing stories about each other's unique attitudes on life and our common interests in improving it for those who needed help. And though our days were simple -- living in close quarters at the Foundacion, a schoolhouse located in the remote village of San Ramon, and working on the job site all day for almost ten days -- we couldn't have been more satisfied.

The concrete block and mortar homes we built didn't seem like much, but the four families for whom we built them were unbelievably appreciative. We spent our days mixing mortar and concrete by hand, laying concrete brick, digging sanitary tank ditches, and sawing these little pieces of wood used for framing -- pretty grueling work in upwards of 90-degree weather. Many Costa Ricans -- they call themselves Ticos -- joined us in the hard labor as well, expressing such an amazing sense of gratitude for our work. Although most of us only speak a little Spanish, language truly wasn't a problem for us. The Ticos we worked with taught us words throughout the day. My favorite? "Listo," which means ready or finished! We shared many emotional moments during our two-week stay as we were constantly reminded of the life-changing power of what we were doing.

Of course, the trip wasn't all about work. On our third day, we visited Villa Blanco to experience a cloud-forest canopy tour where we were harnessed in gear and zipping across cable lines strewn about 300 feet above the forest floor. Our guides were these younger men who loved to tease me, not so funny when their idea of fun was bouncing the cable lines where I sat dangling. You can imagine my face in that photo! We also had an overnight trip to Volcan Arenal, where hiking and hot springs were the only agenda.

We wrapped up our work in Costa Rica with a special evening celebration with all of the people whose lives we touched. The village celebrated us as the "Valentine Brigade," only fitting since our trip was in mid-February.

I will never be able to put into words how inspirational those Costa Rican days felt, surrounded by energetic new friends and partners. It was one of those transformative life experiences. I've learned how incredibly generous people can be and what little effort it takes to make a tremendous difference. The Ticos whose homes we helped build are so poor but so happy, certainly a good lesson for us all.

Nowadays, toiling away again at work is spent not dreaming about making a difference but, instead, planning my next trip as part of Habitat for Humanity's Global Village.

Megan Prentiss

Seattle, WA

The above piece was originally published in a GoodLetter from GoodThings, Inc., which published weekly stories of people's constructive actions on the web from 2000 - 2003.  It has been refreshed and updated for your current viewing pleasure.  Enjoy.