At the beginning of the past two summers, Fredis Guillen Ayala participated in a workcamp along with fellow students as part of a youth ministry program sponsored by the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, VA. These overnight camps emphasize service, faith, and fellowship.  His task in the first year was to replace windows in one house and in the second year he installed vinyl flooring in a house that was in significant need of repair. Fredis said, “My job was to keep everyone motivated and hydrated because that week was one of the hottest of the summer.  As the leader, I took responsibility to keep my group’s (morale) up and hyped so that nothing bad happened to them.”

Fredis had two goals for his time at the camp. His primary goal was to help people out with their home repair needs and thereby give back to his community. His second aim was to follow the guidelines of the camp and to live one week without his phone. He expresses pride that he achieved both goals. The no-phone policy initially worried him since he admits, “My phone is an addiction.”  But, by the last day, he started to question, “Do I really need my phone back?”  The camp experience helped him become much less dependent on it.  After the camp, he did go back to using his phone, but not nearly as much.

Fredis and his team worked hard and were able to finish their flooring project in four days, faster than expected.  “We felt so accomplished but something that made me sentimental was that the owners came to us the last day and expressed their gratitude towards us. They had tears coming down their faces knowing that their home would now feel like real home. Coming back from camp made me realize who I wanted to be in life: someone who helps his community and gives back.” In support of this, his current career goal is to work in construction, either building new custom homes or rehabilitating old ones.  In each case Fredis is eager to work closely with each individual customer to build a home in which that owner or tenant can get great satisfaction.