Businessman's vision to help quake victims mobilizes community

Mennonite Central Committee
Monday, 4 June 2001

ALTONA, Man. One person can make a difference.

That's what Ray Loewen learned when he set out to raise funds for El Salvador, following an earthquake in the Latin American country in January.

The Altona car dealer's Build a Village campaign, done in partnership with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), triggered a wave of donations across southern Manitoba. By early May, donors had given $240,000 Cdn./ 156,000 U.S. to Build a Village--enough for 80 homes. Approximately $3,000 Cdn./$1,900 U.S. pays for one home.

"The village has grown now to more homes than we would ever have imagined," he says.

Loewen's inspiration came in a series of attention-grabbing jolts back in January. Two days before his daughter Kristin was set to leave for Guatemala, as part of Canadian Mennonite University's School of Discipleship, they were shocked by TV reports showing Guatemala and El Salvador hit by an earthquake.

The January 13 earthquake, which was followed by another quake a month later, and continuing aftershocks, hit El Salvador hardest. The earthquakes left more than 1,200 people dead in El Salvador, and approximately one million homeless.

A few weeks later, Kristin wrote about a family in the jungles of Guatemala who had hosted her student group. "She said, 'You know, Dad, these people have almost nothing," he recalls. "But she said, '...Everything they've got they're willing to share.'

"And that email had a huge impact on me as well," Loewen continued. "Surely, we should be willing to share as well."

He decided to raise money for MCC, which plans to help rebuild more than 400 homes in El Salvador over the next two years, and encourage others in southern Manitoba to pitch in too.

Loewen says he had initial doubts about his project, but was swept off his feet by the immediate interest of others. His careful fundraising plans were thrown out the window. "We've spent all our time just running to keep up with God's plan and not going according to our plan," he says. "This is about what God has planned."

Five-year-old Annika Enns-Dyck was one of the people who caught the vision. When she overheard her parents Ted and Darlene talking about donating money for one house, she wanted to help too. "Because I wanted to help build a house and build a village," she says.

She dumped the contents of her piggy bank and counted approximately $100 in change. She kept a few coins to buy candy and gave the rest to Build a Village.

Loewen also tells the story of a Low German fundraiser in Winkler. Because of a mix-up in communication, Loewen hadn't realized the April 28 event was a go until a week before it was scheduled to happen. He and the organizers scrambled to get tickets printed, posters put up and the word out. Details simply fell into place.

"Come Saturday night, we had 500 people pack the Winkler elementary school for a Low German drama," he says. Approximately $17,000 Cdn/$11,000 U.S. was donated on that one night.

The next Monday, Loewen settled into his chair at West Park Motors in Altona, which he owns, and braced himself for what surely would be an anti-climatic week."Within five minutes of each other, I had two people walk into my office and each drop off a cheque for a home," he says, adding he hasn't set an end date for Build a Village.

"We're going to go with this for as long as God want us to go with this," he says. "It's obvious the need in El Salvador is not going away any time soon."

Reconstruction is now underway in El Salvador. MCC is working with partner agencies there, using as much local labour as possible. It has also invited eight short-term Work and Learn teams to come from North America to help. Loewen is considering joining a Manitoba team heading to El Salvador in July.

He says people often become overwhelmed by all the needs around the world. But he believes that with this project, people "realize they can make a big difference in the lives of one family.

"People know that every dollar that comes in is going straight to El Salvador."

This has also been a life changing experience for Loewen. "I've realized there's a lot of things in life more important than selling cars and trucks," he says. "I think it's been a really energizing, a really exciting project to be a part of.

"I wouldn't trade a minute of it for anything else."

For more information, or to contact Mennonite Central Committee, see their website at: www.mcc.org