“My wife has never asked much of me, only that I stay close to home and to come back to the children by sundown. But after the earthquake, I felt that I was needed elsewhere too. So I decided to come here and help rebuild. My skills would provide relief to the many nuns who live here. And it is not the first time the nuns have lost their homes. Many of them have not been able to return to their homeland after the border closed. They have been separated from family and friends. As time has passed, they have found comfort living in this monastery surrounded by pine trees and foxes. This is their home now. I have spent a lot of time with the nuns and they have become like family. And to rebuild these houses makes me feel like I have done something good in my life. I know what it means to have a home. I also know what it means to not have one. To be able to sit by the kitchen fire while you stretch your body, to eat warm rice with family while you sing songs of happiness and cry tears of hurt is the meaning of life for all of us. So I am happy that the nuns finally have shelter, a little place that they can call home. I feel like I have contributed to their life and not just my own.”