William Penn Life, 1996 (31. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1996-09-01 / 9. szám
J. Page 8, William Penn Life, September 1996 Volunteers build homes, hope in Hungary Crew members of the NFCA-sponsored home use teamwork to raise a gable on the first day the Jimmy Carter Work Project. (Photo by John E. Lovász) Former National Treasurer John L. Lovász stands in front of the Szabó family’s new home, built from the foundation up in five-and-a-half days. Continued from Page 1 sion at the beginning of the week, said another goal was to stress to Hungarians "the importance of housing for low-income families.” The need was evident. On the bus ride from Ferihegy Airport to Vác, volunteers passed through the outer edges of Budapest. What they saw was block after block of high-rise apartment buildings, erected during the communist-era, and now in various stages of disrepair and neglect. More telling were the faces of the residents, their expressions the essence of hopelessness and despair. Contrast those faces with the faces of the new homeowners at the end of the week: faces streaked with tears of disbelief, joy and gratitude. Their smiles expressed more clearly than words ever could the importance and value of decent housing. Habitat also hoped the project would teach Hungarians and other Eastern Europeans the true meaning of volunteerism. "We would like for Hungarians to see how wonderful it is to work side by side with their fellow citizens for a better life,” President Carter said. Each day local residents came to view the work site, curious as to what was happening and wondering why so many strangers, especially so many Americans, would want to help build homes here and to do so without pay. As they walked through the work site on guided tours, the locals gradually came to understand and appreciate what was happening in their town. Many even caught the hit. They asked if they, too, could help. Hammer to nail Changing attitudes, hearts and lives, however, was pushed to the back of the volunteers’ minds when they set foot on the work site Monday morning. Even for veterans of previous Jimmy Carter Work Projects and other Habitat "blitz builds,” the task which lay ahead seemed daunting. The site that morning consisted of 10 concrete slab foundations, each 648-square feet in size, arranged in two matching rows. Next to each "house” lay large, neat stacks of lumber and prefabbed roofing trusses. House #9, the future home of Zsolt and Regina Szabó and their three-month-old son Mark, was sponsored by the National Fraternal Congress of America. Among the three dozen volunteers building the Szabó home were nine representatives from the NFCA and its member societies. Included among the NFCA team were three volunteers sponsored by the William Penn Association: Charlotte Stefanies, a member of Branch 249 Dayton, Ohio; former National Treasurer John L. Lovász; and Publications Editor John E. Lovász. Next door at House #8, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter were preparing for a week of manual labor with their house building crew. Before putting their hammers to nails, the crew at House #9 were briefed by House Leader Paul Beibel, a general contractor from Vermont. Many chuckled in disbelief at Paul’s goals for that first day: assemble and erect the exterior and interior framing, set the roof trusses and gables of both the main roof and the porch roof, complete the underlayment on the entire roof, cover all four exterior walls with concrete board and cover the whole roof underlayment with felt paper. Once convinced the goal was achievable, the house crew broke into smaller groups and set to work. Within seconds the deafening staccato of hundreds of hammers driving 16-penny nails halted all normal conversation. Within minutes the first wall frames were being raised and secured into place. By lunch, all the walls and roof trusses and gables were up. The enthusiasm generated by the morning’s rush of activity were soon to be dampened, literally. The sunny skies that greeted the volunteers that morning were replaced by heavy rain clouds, and the ensuing downpour forced electrical power to be shut off. Yet, even though the drills and circular saws fell silent, the sound of volunteers hammering the underlayment into place still filled the work site. The rain may have been chilling the workers’ bodies, but it wasn’t quenching their hit. At the end of that first day, many crew members said goodnight to House Leader Paul Beibel smiling in disbelief. They had accomplished what he had said they would, save for the installation of a small section of felt paper on one side of the roof. During that first day—and throughout the entire week—the hardest working member of the crew, without question, was Zsolt Szabó. After all, this was his family’s home, and he wanted to know how each square inch was put together. By 8:15 p.m., after flood lights had been turned on to illuminate the work site, Zsolt was ready to call an end to that first day. But before he left, several of his fellow crew members asked him for his thoughts. Even though he spoke no English, his face clearly expressed what was in his heart. "I’m at a loss for words,” he said through an interpretor. "It seemed to grow out of the ground. My wife will faint when she sees this tomorrow.” Turning up the hit His wife Regina was not at the work site Monday. Instead, she was at a local hospital where their son, Mark, was undergoing medical testing. As the week progressed, the house crew learned that the infant was afflicted with a kidney disorder. His doctors were going to wait two months to see if Mark’s condition would correct itself as he grew. If he wasn’t better by then, they would decide if surgery was necessary. Word of Mark’s condition was treated by the house crew as a test of their hit. Each day, before work began, the crew prayed for the Szabos and for Mark, as well as for the hit and guidance to complete the task at hand. Beginning with the second day and with each succeeding day, fewer and fewer hands were needed to work on the house itself. Some volunteers became frustrated by the lack of work, but soon resolved to help complete the project in any way they could. Many went to work on the fence crew which had the unenviable task of erecting fences and gates around each house. Others set about removing debris from the work site and searching for needed supplies. Even for those who found themselves with little to do grew more excited as the week went on, realizing that, indeed, 10 wonderful families were going to have their first homes by the end of the week. By 5:00 p.m. Thursday, the crew of House #9 had made sufficient progress to be able to quit early that day and enjoy dinner at a local söröző with the entire house crew and the Szabó family. It was a festive evening as crew members shared stories and told old jokes. But the highlight of the evening came when NFCA President Thomas Sheehan presented the Szabos with a gift from the NFCA: a doorknocker engraved with the name "Szabó.” Overcome with emotion, a tearful Zsolt thanked everyone for making his family’s dream come true. The dinner provided an emotional and spiritual lift for the house crew, a renewed sense of energy they would soon come to need. House Leader Paul Beibel had said earlier that Friday would be an "easy” day. One shudders to think what he means by a "hard” day. While a few crew members finished trim work and painting inside the house, the rest of the crew helped with the back-breaking job of landscaping the surrounding property. Earth that had been packed down solid over the previous several weeks needed to be broken up with pickaxes and redistributed with shovels and homemade rakes. Then top soil was distributed by the wheelbarrow load and a gravel driveway laid down. All of this had to be done by 3:00 p.m. when Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter were to visit each house for a group picture with the house crew and homeowner family. While waiting for the Carter’s arrival, the crew of House #9, filled with the joy of completing their assigned task, broke out into spontaneous singing. They serenaded a crowd of onlookers (and, as it turned out, the entire work site) with a variety of spiritual, patriotic and popular songs. It was more than fun, it was a perfect way to reflect the energy, enthusiasm and hit that drove this incredible project to its completion. Finishing touches The William Penn Association can be proud of the role it played in supporting this project. In addition to sponsoring three volunteers, it also donated $ 1,000 of the $50,000 the NFCA needed to raise to sponsor House #9. William Penn member Margaret Brown, 79, of Branch 226 McKeesport, Pa., was also a project volunteer, serving mainly as an interpretor. The crew of House #9 benefitted from the building and interpreting skills of László Lipoczky, a member of Branch 19 New Brunswick, N.J., who was representing the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America. Plus, House #9 was aided by brothers John and Bob Vincze, originally of Bridgeport, Conn., whose father was a member of the William Penn. And, finally, a word of thanks to the city and people of Vác. Vác is a lovely town filled with Baroque-style buildings and churches whose beauty was matched only by the warmth and hospitality of its residents. The dormitories which housed the volunteers may have lacked some of the comforts of home, but the caretakers and housekeepers could not have been more accommodating and friendlier. By the end of the week it was difficult to say goodbye to this charming town. But, at least the volunteers left knowing that hit was alive there.
