Who are the Carpenteros and Friends?
In November and December of 2001, two groups of volunteers from Calvary Christian Reformed Church of Flamborough went to the isolated community of Pushtan, El Salvador to rebuild homes destroyed by earthquakes.
After living and working in Pushtan, these 'Carpenteros' realized it was not enough to just rebuild some homes and then return to their comfortable lives in Canada. Much more needed to be done to meet daily needs and break the cycle of poverty.
In partnership with the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, the Carpenteros committed to support up to 60 community credit cooperatives throughout Honduras and El Salvador.
Since the original work team went to Pushtan in 2001, the Carpenteros have continued to send one or two teams per year to help build adult training centres, and more than $200,000 has been raised to support self-sustaining small businesses through the local community credit cooperatives . The main fund-raising events are the Spirit and the Sport Christian Celebrity Dinner held each September, and the Valentine's 'Bistro Carpenteros'.
