Kyle Hepp

April 27, 2010

I was sitting here wasting time not packing before we leave for Peru. I was on Facebook and one of my friends’ statuses showed up as her joining a group in memory of those who have passed from the class of 2002 at my high school. I clicked on the group. I thought there was one person who had died from my graduating class. I was wrong, there were several — at least 5 in that group alone.

The one that I already knew of, Anthony, of died our senior year. He would have graduated with me, but he didn’t. It took our whole school a long time to get over that and in fact, I’m not sure we ever did — it’s become a part of the collective conscious of GHS. Anthony wasn’t my best friend or anything like that, but I liked him, we were friends. He was friends with everybody. He was that kind of guy — full of life. I think about him all the time. It’s actually weird how much he crosses my mind now in death, because he certainly didn’t cross it that often in life. But I think of him so often and I wonder what he would be doing if he were still alive — something great, I’m sure, because he was great.

But I came to grips with that. There will always be an ache in the pit of my stomach whenever I remember Anthony, but I’ve made my peace with his death and when I think of him it doesn’t hit me hard anymore.

Then today I found out that these 5 other people from my graduating class have also passed away since we finished high school. I barely knew any of them at all, except for one, who went to school with me from elementary on if I remember correctly. That’s not to say we were good friends — but still, I knew him. He was my age. He was a nice person. We said hi to each other in the hallways. I hadn’t seen him since graduation and now I never will. He was my Facebook friend. Just months ago there were posts back and forth from him to his friends and vice versa. Now his wall is filled with condolences.

I had no idea. And I still have no idea what happened, but whatever it is, I’m sad. I hate the thought of getting to a 10 year high school reunion and having people from class not be there because they’re gone. Looking at that Facebook page just knocked the wind right out of my sails.

Life is too short. That’s all.

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I am proud to say that not only are my clients cool, they are good people too. And they are changing the world.

Keri and Christian have started, what I feel would not be an understatement to call the most ambitious undertaking by any 23 year old I’ve ever met. Christian, who studied architecture, designed a home that self heats and cools and it’s not that much more expensive than the viviendas sociales (houses) that the government currently builds for low-income families.

They are currently in the process of building one of these self-heating/cooling homes for a family (full description of the family here) who lost everything in the earthquake. Keri and Christian are doing it with the help of donations, but they’ve put in a hell of a lot of their own money too. Not only that, but they’ve put in a lot of blood sweat and tears into this project as well. Keri is working as the jefa de obra, or foreman of the construction site. She’s been out there with a shovel in hand, digging a hole in the ground, pouring the cement, building a home for people, who only a few weeks ago, were strangers to them.

And the master plan is that eventually, they would like to see the government of Chile completely replace viviendas sociales, with their viviendas pasivas, as they’re calling the house that Christian designed.

This family, in three weeks, will have a home, not a temporary home, but an actual functionable, permanent place of residence that won’t fall down when the next massive earthquake strikes Chile that is ecological and economical. This family, in three weeks, will have a roof over their heads because of Keri and Christian.

Keri and Christian make me ask myself, “What have I done today to help someone, to make this world better?” Ask yourself that question honestly. If you’re like me, the answer might make it a little harder to sleep at night. I hope you see these photos and feel inspired, like I did when I saw what Keri and Christian are doing, and want to help.

For more information on their project, visit their website or their blog for the most recent updates on their progress.

Here’s the family, minus one son, in their almost finished vivienda pasiva!

Their daughter Moira showed me where they’re sleeping — like most families who lost their homes in the earthquake, they’re in a makeshift tent covered with plastic to protect them from the rain, the whole family sleeping together on a mattress on the ground.

The cool thing about this project is that the family is active participants — every day that they’re not at work at their day jobs, they’re there alongside Keri and Christian, helping build their new home.

Their current home below:

And what will soon be the inside of their vivienda passiva:

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April 25, 2010

We leave on Wednesday for the Amazon cruise that we won. I am beyond excited. Spending $400 dollars on vaccines and then feeling like walking death is a small price to pay.

Our flights are Santiago to Lima, then Lima to Iquitos. Iquitos is the largest city in the world that’s not accessible via road. What a claim to fame. I’ve heard mixed reviews on the city itself, but unfortunately we won’t have any time to explore. We arrive and get whisked away to our boat as soon as we get there. On the way back we don’t have any time to spend hanging out either. We fly back to Santiago for a day and then the next night leave for the U.S.

If the blog has any readers in Iquitos, keep an eye out for us. I’ll be the one who looks like this:

And Seba will look like this, but with shorter hair:

Photo credit: Mario Testino for Vogue UK.

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