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Crooked cops try to steal joyEdmonton man gets shaken down while on a house building mission in Mexico |
By KEVIN CRUSH, Sun MediaEven crooked cops won’t stop Stephen Keogh from building homes in El Salvador. Since earthquakes destroyed a million homes in the Central American country in 2000, Keogh has been travelling to the country to build a few homes every year brick by brick. But the 56-year-old Edmontonian got back Wednesday from his latest two-month stint in the country a little lighter in the wallet after Mexican cops took him for a ride as he drove through Mexico City, he said. A federal officer stopped him, took his documents and had Keogh follow him to a seedy part of town, where the officer demanded $10,000. Fortunately, Keogh had documents in Spanish that stated what he was doing and so the officer asked for $1,500. “He wanted to go with me to a bank machine and clean me out, but I gave him what I had and he was satisfied with that,” he told Sun Media. Keogh then went to a bank machine to reload on cash and the same thing happened five blocks later – with another officer. Distraught, Keogh stopped at a hotel and swore he wouldn’t leave because he was afraid he would be shaken down again. But he said the Mexican staff at the hotel were so wonderful to him that he pressed on and eventually reached El Salvador without another problem. Even with the shakedown, Keogh says his mission is made worthwhile when he sees a happy new homeowner. “Everything is worth it, just to see the joy on that family,” said Keogh. “The thing is the devil didn’t want my truck and he didn’t want my supplies and he didn’t want my money. What he wanted was my joy. If you don’t feel joy going on a mission, you’re useless. But I ended up with more joy. I went down there this time and the people down there just became so much tighter and I had so much joy.” After Keogh’s first trip eight years ago, he’s been returning to Las Lajas and Chacarita in El Salvador to build concrete brick homes which, while only about 40-square-metres, are sturdier than the adobe homes that fell apart in the earthquake and the shanties most people are living in today. He’s managed to build 21 homes by himself and has been training the locals so that they can learn a trade. Last year, he joined with Joseph Wysocki to create the non-profit organization Sticks and Stones organization. On Friday, he stopped by St. James Catholic school to thank the students who raised $6,200 for Sticks and Stones. “It was one of those projects where it took on a life of its own. The children weren’t asked to raise money, they just said they had to do something,” said principal Sandy Gillis. kevin.crush@sunmedia.ca
June 20, 2008 More photos of makeshift housing - How you can help - Home
STICKS & STONES - CANADIAN NGO - ALBERTA BASED NON-PROFIT COMPANY BUILDING HOUSES IN EL SALVADOR |
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