Day 10- Friday- Saying goodbye

Our team accomplishments:
Ground leveling for 10 units
Gravel bedding for 10 units
Rebar tying for 10 units
Concrete pouring (slab) for 10 units
Hauling of sand 669 sacks
Hauling of gravel 688 sacks
Hauling of concrete hollow block (CHB) 955 blocks
At least 30% of 10 units, equivalent to almost 4 complete houses.

Our last trip to Navotas...This parade was not for us.... Or was it?

Wrong in many ways....

We learned a few days ago that we were not scheduled to work on Friday, but it was pretty much a no brainier for us to head over to the site for one final goodbye. We came bearing gifts, which were the least we could do for a cause that is so important to us. Those workers have a lot more homes to build, and in the few short days that we were hauling sh!t, we thought they could definitely use a couple more wheelbarrows.

We also put together bags and bags of clothes, shoes, and toiletries for Cherry and the other partner families and the workers. Interestingly enough, it seemed that we all considered our work gloves too important to leave to just anyone. Most of us gave our gloves to the fathers of the children who worked right next to us. I gave my gloves to Shanel and Nonoy's father, and could only come up with the words 'your kids are great'. By giving him my gloves, I hoped he realized how special i thought his children were and I hoped that it gave him a little encouragement to keep fighting for a better life for his family.

The workers only make about 250 pesos, or $5 a day, some made 350 pesos. I knew that coming into this trip, but hearing it from Cherry made it a lot more real. 250 pesos will buy about 2 containers of rice and some vegetables and 2 containers of water, barely enough to get by. Many families can only afford to have meat or fish a couple times a week. It is a hard life for the workers. They do not have work boots, they pour concrete in bare feet. They do not have Bobcats to transport building materials; they have a cart, a couple wheelbarrows, and empty bags of cement. They do not have OSHA standards, but they do have families to support. It is a thankless job, and I can only hope that when they saw us dancing, laughing, working hard, and snapping pictures at every spare second, they felt our gratitude for the opportunity to work next to them.

We had the pins made for each of the kids that worked with us because they don't get to see themselves very often. Digital cameras are the coolest thing to these kids because they get to see what they look like. We want them to be proud and know that we think they are all beautiful, inside and out. Leon got the kids basketballs, which we entrusted to Cherry, and the Singapore girls got the kids Angry Birds t-shirts, which were a big hit.

Saying goodbye to the kids was really hard, they probably took it better than most of us did. A lot of children came over once word got out that we were giving out gifts, but of course a special place in our hearts goes to the kids that were there every day. The kids that held our hands after every trip to and from the rock pile. The kids that jumped on our laps no matter how hot or sweaty we were because break-time for us meant play time for them. The kids that screamed and shrieked with joy when our van pulled into Navotas, and ran after it wishing us goodbye and waving when we left. We leave them hoping that they someday understand how much joy and inspiration they brought to the lives of 9 energetic (but not as energetic as them!) travelers... That they understand that they are good kids. I have to stop talking about this or our driver will notice that I am becoming a hot mess.

Our last dinner as a team was at Mango Tree, the awesome Thai place we checked out only because they had 5 free beers if you spent P1999, which we easily did. Cassandra and Joan asked some great thought provoking questions... What is your greatest memory? We all thought that hearing Cherry's words of gratitude were special. Leon remembers the moment when someone noticed that he was tired and set him up with some wire cutters and gloves so he was able to continue to contribute to the team effort. I also mentioned my experience of the first day when we had to level that rocky foundation. I just thought to myself 'wow this sucks', but persevered with motivation from others. Joan also asked us if we could share one story, what would it be. My thoughts immediately went to the spirit of all of the people that I met. How they were curious, but so very welcoming. We also talked about meeting each other, and how we had preconceptions about each other that we threw out once we got to know our teammates. Needless to say, it was a very nice farewell dinner, even without bottles of Red Horse.