Clay White Volunteers to Build Homes in Guatemala
9/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who doesn't like Clay White.
By all accounts, the 44-year old head coach of the Seton Hall men's golf team is friendly, helpful and a good teacher that demands results both on the course and in the classroom. He has a smile and an infectious laugh that make people naturally gravitate towards him. But by his own admission, he didn't like the person he'd become.
"I was a very self-centered, selfish person," Clay said. "Too many times, I would let the little things in life drag me down. I wouldn't say I was consumed, but I'd certainly say I was conscious of the things I didn't have. Like most, I put too much emphasis on materials things."
So Clay and his wife Kelli did something that has changed their lives ever since. For the last two years, the Whites have partnered with "From Houses to Homes," a philanthropic organization that builds homes and provides health and education in an attempt to revitalize disadvantaged communities in Guatemala. The Whites heard about the organization from their church, which had organized charitable missions in the past to the country.
"Admittedly, one of the main reasons I wanted to go was so I could learn how to fix up my own home," Clay said. Even after I had made the commitment to go, I was looking at how I could benefit from the trip. Now, I realize it wasn't about me or just building a house for someone, it was about helping someone and bringing joy to a family and community in need."
When the Whites got to Guatemala, it was evident almost immediately that the normal creature comforts of life in New Jersey were a far 2,000 miles away. The volunteers stayed at a hotel, which was much closer to that of a hostel, and included community bathrooms. Their trips to and from the work site consisted of crowded, bumpy jaunts in the back of a pickup truck.
Once they got to the work site, it was made clear that this wouldn't be an episode of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." The Whites, four other church volunteers and two Guatemalan workers would construct a 19 x 13 cinder block one-room home with a tin roof for a grateful family of seven. The only power tool they used was a saw to cut the rebar. All of the cement and mortar was mixed by hand and the heavy lifting was reserved for their arms and backs.
"Before I left, I thought I'd learn some skills I could take back home, particularly electrical and plumbing, but when we got there, and you saw that there was no running water or electricity, it amazed me that in this day and age people were still living in these conditions," Clay said. "It was an immediate eye-opener for us."
So for a week, the Whites and the rest of the group of volunteers went to work. The church stayed for two weeks and built a total of eight homes. All volunteers paid their way down there and made a $500 donation, of which all of the house materials and salaries for the two Guatemalan workers was paid. That's $3,000 worth of materials and labor per house. It's not quite the property value of homes in South Orange, but to those families who had been living in tents, it's a new start.
"They have so little and are so happy, and we have so much more, but often aren't as happy and take what we have for granted," Clay said. "We'd think their conditions are terrible, but they're so happy and so grateful to have a home being built for them."
Edgar
One of the Guatemalan workers, who the Whites had worked with during both visits, was a gentleman named Edgar. He had a house built for him and his family just years before. Edgar's father and brother walk an hour and a half to and from work each day. They work from dawn to dusk in the fields under the baking Guatemalan sun for a meager 25 quetzales per day. That equals about three and a half American dollars. Edgar himself, doesn't make much more building homes.
"I've never met a group of people so eager and willing to work hard," White said. "Their daily chores are a grind, and yet they have such a healthy sense of gratitude, kindness and peace about them. It's hard to see people work so hard for so little, but it's also incredibly inspiring."
Edgar doesn't have a car, nor does anyone in his family. During some small talk one day at the job site, an astonished Edgar asked Clay if he had one.
"I think too many people assume that everyone has a car," Clay said. "I didn't have the heart to tell him that at one point Kelli and I had three. And yet, there was a time that I had the gall to complain about the type of cars I had."
The Community
As the week wore on and the house neared completion, a genuine love and camaraderie had formed between the volunteers and the native Guatemalans. The church sponsored a pickup soccer match for the volunteers and workers, and even a pizza party. Many locals in the small city of Antigua partook in the festivities.
"We went down and just completely fell in love with the people," Clay said. "By the end of the week, you realize you're not just building a house, you're almost becoming a part of a new family. You get to work basically side-by-side with the family for the week and really get to know them."
Neither Clay nor Kelli speak fluent Spanish, but kindness is a universal language. Kelli is a first grade teacher at Tinc Road School in Mt. Olive, New Jersey, and despite the language barrier, the neighborhood children immediately gravitated towards her.
"Once a teacher, always a teacher," Clay said. She does such a wonderful job in connecting and communicating with the children.
Seton Hall Athletics' partner in gear and apparel, Under Armour, learned of Clay's trip and generously donated several boxes of gear that the Whites were happy to distribute throughout the week and after the soccer match.
"The workers and children were so thankful for the gear," Clay said. "Everyone was so excited. I gave Edgar the clothes I had worn and washed the day before and he was so incredibly appreciative. It was truly heart-warming."
The Ceremony and Return
It is tradition at the end of the week, when the house has been completed, to officially hand the keys of the new home to the family taking over in a small ceremony. This year, the honor went to a newly humbled Clay White, whose eyes filled with emotion when talking about it.
"My team asked me to hand the keys over, say a few words and essentially dedicate the house to the family," Clay said. "It was such an honor and a very emotional moment for me. I think it was a very fitting end in what was a week of transformation in a sense for me personally."
The Whites returned to New Jersey with a renewed sense of humbleness and appreciation for the truly important things in life.
"Kelli and I have found that we get way more out of these experiences than we could ever give the families we're trying to help," Clay said. "They get a house, but we get so much more in spiritual enlightenment and perspective. You realize you don't need to have the best house, or the nicest car."
So even after traveling to Guatemala twice, the Whites have no plans on changing their summer "vacation" plans.
"We'll definitely continue to do this," Clay said. "This isn't about learning new skills, or so nice articles can be written about you... it's about making a difference. It's to help. It's to bring smiles to people's faces. It's to genuinely understand and put in perspective what is and isn't important in life. You come away so fulfilled spiritually and emotionally. There's nothing that I've done in my life that has been more satisfying to me personally."
"I think the experience has truly changed me."
