Reflection on Aiden Day Build – House #112 – Carmel S.

We went to the Dominican Republic to help Cambiando Vidas build a house, but in reality, the house helped me open my eyes.  I had been struggling with grief since my son’s death in 2020 and this build was a tribute to him – it was an actualization of one of his last wishes, to go back to the DR and do one more house.  Now Aiden has a house build that was dedicated to him, two houses that he helped to build and this house that made his dream come true.  We were so lucky not only to have a wonderful group of people from the U.S. working together as a team, but the people of the community were amazingly welcoming, sharing and extremely kind. The act of working together was an act of joy for me and I learned what it means to really appreciate people and their teamwork. I’m glad to have had this experience through the eyes of Aiden and know now that he learned his dedication to service by having Jose as an amazing role model.

Carmel Schettino