Carlos Pacheco / TECHO El Salvador
TECHO all my skills. I was a boy with a lot of energy, and TECHO believe in me—the volunteers decided to believe in me.”
Pacheco is 22 years old and a nursing student. Her first contact with TECHO when she was 17, and since then, her volunteer experience has been an adventure that has transformed—and continues to transform—her life.
His sister was already a volunteer with TECHO invited him to learn about the organization through a fundraising drive. At first, he didn’t want to participate, but he eventually agreed, and that experience marked a turning point. Connecting with so many young people and realizing that all that work had a purpose—to make a difference in the lives of families in different communities—made him become completely immersed in the activity. They spent hours and hours on the streets, under the sun, with a single goal: to fill as many donation boxes as possible. As he tells us, his heart was filled that day, too. “I wanted a TECHO T-shirt; I wanted to feel like I was part of the volunteer effort.”
After that fundraiser, in early 2018, he was invited to a construction site. That experience burst his bubble and made Pacheco stop looking the other way and face reality. The extent of poverty in the country was much greater than he had realized. That day, the construction work took place in the rain, and everything became very difficult. The family that was to receive their home lived in a high-risk area, on the edge of a ravine, and was living in extreme poverty. “From that moment on, I said to myself quietly: if I don’t want to see these situations, I have to change them.”
Pacheco told us that he firmly believes that nothing ventured, nothing gained. And that day, he came out ahead because he met a family that changed him and made his desire to stay with the organization grow even stronger.
From that moment on, he became a very active volunteer, committed to fundraising efforts, taking charge of various locations, and striving to make a real, positive impact on others. Year after year, he led drives in different parts of the country and came to understand that success does not depend on the specific location or region; what matters is the attitude, enthusiasm, and energy you put into it. From that point on, he mobilized people at his school and university, striving to create an increasingly large-scale and extraordinary drive.
“I plant a tree and the very next day I go to see if it’s sprouted yet. I’m impatient and anxious. And when we collect the money from the fundraiser, within the same year I can already see the impact it’s going to have. Because at TECHO invest, we carry out projects, and we can all be a part of that.”
“At TECHO come to get dirty, get wet, eat on the ground, and work as a team with the volunteers and the communities.”
He is currently a crew leader, and after six years on the job, he has lost count of how many homes he has built. Pacheco feels that, through his work in construction, it is not he who makes an impact on the families, but rather they who make an impact on him, and that he learns something new from each one of them.
TECHO the families changed my life. I intended to go there to transform their lives, but they ended up transforming mine. They taught me to recognize my mistakes, to improve myself, to make the most of my ideas, and to appreciate many things that I had previously overlooked.”
For him, one of the best things about visiting these communities is talking with the residents and hearing all those stories behind them that we don't know about.
Spending time with the children is another thing she loves about the organization. “The children in the community have an impact on my life that you can’t even imagine; they’re the reason I choose to stay at TECHO every day.”
Some time ago, TECHO Salvador launched a program to provide school support and academic tutoring for children. “Being able to spend time with the children was magical. It was wonderful to help them understand that it’s okay to feel sad or angry, to validate their emotions, and to grow into the people they want to be.”
“El Techo is about experiences, stories, and connection. Listening, being vulnerable, opening your heart.”
The Pacheco of 2017 has grown a lot; he is self-aware, responsible, and always grateful that his sister “dragged” him to that fundraiser. Today’s Pacheco recognizes that he is in a privileged position; he is aware of the poverty in the country and on the continent, as well as the rights and duties we all have. He also considers himself a more open-minded person.
“I learned to accept myself as a person; TECHO a diverse organization. Being able to interact with diverse people and learn about their experiences has helped me become more open with myself. I never felt excluded or judged; we’re all different, but there’s no difference between us—we can all do everything and move forward at the same pace; no one is better than anyone else.”
“When I joined TECHO very young, and along the way I made many friends in the communities. Now that I’m nearing the end of my studies, I’m often at the hospital and run into many of these friends and neighbors I haven’t seen in a long time. The children from the communities are now teenagers, and our reunions are always full of warmth—we’re always happy to see each other. For my part, I always treat everyone with the same care and respect, making them feel like family and always bringing a smile to their faces.”
TECHO my safe place, my happy place. It’s where I can grow, feel at peace, and feel accepted by everyone.”