Habitat for Humanity in Mexico
Gail Selfridge and Eydie Yemmans Share Their Adventure
Alumni Story by Gail Selfridge
Gail Selfridge and “Alisse” make friends with one of the locals.
My Leader Dog “Alisse” and I have had quite an adventure.
Alisse’s puppy raiser, Eydie Yemmans, invited us to participate in a Habitat for Humanity project building a house for a low income family in Mexico. My first concern was Alisses’ safety. I was given the option of working on the project and leaving Alisse behind, but I didn’t want to be without my Leader Dog for ten days. I decided we’d go together.
The project was in Guayabitos, in the state of Nayarit. Jan Van Wulfen, a Leader Dog puppy raiser that joined us as my sighted partner, arranged for a crate for Alisse to stay in while I worked on the house. The crate was in the shade and she had bottled water to drink and toys to play with.
All the locals helping with the project were curious about Alisse.
They wanted to feed her, but after learning she had to eat special food, they reluctantly only looked at her. During one of our breaks, I walked with Alisse up a road that went past our site and the people were fascinated to watch her take me around piles of stones. When we weren’t working, we walked to an ice cream store and other sites around the area. Alisse even got to swim in the ocean.
We went to Puerto Vallarta for a few days at the end of our trip. I swam with dolphins - a fabulous experience. The entire trip was a wonderful adventure for us. People sometimes asked about Alisse, but we were never prevented from entering any establishments or from doing the things we wanted to do. The people in Mexico were very friendly to me and my Leader Dog and also very interested in how we worked together.
Puppy Raiser Story by Eydie Yemmans, Leader of Habitat Build to Mexico
The Habitat work crew poses with the family that will be living in the house once it is complete.
When a person who is blind and a Leader Dog become one unit, they are amazing to behold. I went to the airport to meet Gail and Alisse. Both of them remembered me immediately. I hadn’t seen Alisse since she and Gail were teamed. What a celebration!
I was very proud that Alisse always made Gail her first priority. I was very proud of Gail as she worked on almost every job available at the build. One job was shoveling sand onto a screen for sifting to remove the little stones. We placed Gail in front of the screen and helped her to “see” where it was. She then shoveled sand onto the screen while another person sifted. Once I tried to help her figure out how to shovel more efficiently. I was so pleased when she told me, “That works for you, but I have to figure out what works for me.” What a reminder of her ability to adapt to new situations!
Next, we had to carry and shovel a very big pile of stones, of all sizes, into certain areas of the site. We guided Gail to an area of stones where she sat down with several other workers and filled buckets so the rest of us could carry them. Once, a large delivery of blocks came, Gail stood in line with the rest of us to help unload them. What a trooper!
Everyone in my group, and the family and friends of the people we were building the home for, respected Gail and Alisse. They would assist Gail in getting around the build area and were amazed with Alisse’s abilities and devotion to Gail.
I wouldn’t have missed this experience for anything.
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