I think we all understand the meaning of exhausting days, and all we have completed is a half day of work! Today we started with an orientation from Ann, our trip coordinator in Manila, there were some really interesting things we learned...
-There are 4 million homeless families in the Philippines.
-Each home we build costs about 240,000 pesos to build. That's about 5600 dollars.
-We are building on a plot of land meant for 500 houses, about 120 have been built (or started) so far. The mayor provided the land, and the future residents will not need to pay a mortgage, but will be required to put in 400 to 1000 hours of sweat equity.
-Most homes will accommodate a family of 5 to 7 people.
-The houses in this development are reserved strictly for the people of Navotas.
-Most of the children here do not go to school because their families cannot afford it.
-All donations made for this trip are put into a trust to be used specifically for HFH projects in The Philippines.
Jun is our project engineer, the boss man. He actually remembers (as do some of the children), my friend PJ, who came in November to volunteer on his own. The kids there all ran to the vans cheering when he arrived, they call him 'Daddy'... He and all of the workers there are so unbelievably strong. They carry bags of concrete on their heads while we struggle to carry one bag with a partner! And Terry, who is one of the partner family members who we are working with, was everywhere at once. Offering us water, cooking, helping us haul bricks. She is one amazing woman!
Task 1- transfer hollow blocks across the site. This was crazy fun because all of the children in the area were having such a blast helping us. They loved pushing the cart and jumping around on it like they were superman. They used the assembly line we started to stack the bricks next to the homes being built. And they were strong, fearless and tireless, not to mention completely sweat free, while the rest of us were dripping sweat!
Task 2- Level this plot of land so that it is even at 2" below the top of the concrete block. This was my first 'are you kidding me?' moment. But we went for it, with shovels and wheelbarrow, doing our best. The kids were far less enthralled by this activity, although a couple tried to help. We worked at this for a short while before it was time for merienda (snack) and then it started down pouring so we had to call it a day.
Task 3- mixing mortar! Hope the rain doesn't interfere with the mix too much....
To us, the wheel broke, let's get a new one. To them, fix the wheel!
Break time in the rain
What's for lunch
Power line repair in a rainstorm?!
The ride home...
No comments:
Post a Comment