This morning I attended my first ever roof party. I’m not sure if it’s just a Huaycan thing or if it’s Peruvian thing, but when people earn enough money to complete the final stage of building a new home, they throw a big party. Everyone is invited: family members, friends, neighbors, random gringas that teach English…

The celebration isn’t just fun and games though. The men who come to the party are actually the ones to build the roof. They spend the day making cement and building a roof out of it, while the kids and old folks watch from the shade and the women cook an enormous amount of food for everyone. This particular roof party was extra-special: they hired a band.

Rather peculiar, right? Just imagine walking past a construction site where approximately 30 men are building a roof as a band plays in the background. These men aren’t necessarily “construction workers” though. They just happen to know the owners of the house, in this case Elena–a wonderful woman whose 6-year-old daughter is in one of our English classes–and her husband, whose name I don’t know. Some of these men were young and wearing flip-flops; some of these men were old and looked as though they shouldn’t be working so hard; all of these men were donating their time and physical capabilities to help a family get a real roof over their heads. Many of these men probably don’t have a real roof over their own heads. It was really beautiful.

As if their willingness to help accomplish this huge task wasn’t enough, they all stayed after the pulley broke very early into the day. So instead of using a pulley system to haul cement up to the roof, they physically carried buckets of cement up and down two ladders that they propped against the side of the house. They formed a giant assembly line: people shoveled rocks and sand into the loader, which mixed it into cement; people shoveled the newly formed cement into buckets; people hauled the buckets up the ladders; people received the buckets on the roof; people poured the cement where it was needed; people threw the empty buckets back down to other people who then re-filled the buckets. They worked together, patiently and in sync. They even laughed.

At the end of the day, when the roof is finished and everyone is full of food, the “godmothers” of the roof (selected by the homeowners) place flowers in the shape of a cross on the roof. They then break a bottle of champagne and spray everyone below. Why? None of us are really sure. Perhaps it’s some sort of expression of gratitude. Like, this roof was built by a community and now let that community celebrate together the gifts that Christ has given: shelter, family, friends, work, food, health, each other. Or maybe it’s just an excuse to break open the champagne. Regardless, it’s amazing to see how people with next to nothing will gladly help out their neighbors, who also have next to nothing. They’re all in this life together, and they’re all going to help each other make their way through it.