Build Day 2 – “Joyful Chaos”

On Monday, we divided into two teams to work at the two different sites. “Team Jerod”, working on Rajabu’s home, consists of Deb, Carin, Lynn, Patti, Ashley and Jerod. “Team Kari”, at Patuma’s home, includes Joanna, Jason, Laura, Pam and Kari. We are in a bit of a competition to see who can get the most done on their home by the end of the week.  Our big goal is to get to the plastering stage, as none of the Habitat teams Faith has been in charge of have achieved that yet.

We had a great day today, working hard and getting a lot done. On Rajabu’s home, Team Jerod has 22-24 courses of brick on the outside walls, and has started on the inside walls. They got three door frames and a window frame in. On Patuma’s house, Team Kari has 14-19 courses of brick on each outside wall, and a good start on the inside walls. We also got two door frames in today, which was pretty exciting.

After lunch today, we played a bit with the village kids. Carin brought a bunch of Frisbees and we had a great time teaching the kids how to use them. There are so many kids, and they all want to catch and toss the Frisbees. They all chase them and try to get them to toss back to us. There is much laughter and smiles amongst the children. Joanna aptly called it “joyful chaos”. It truly warms our hearts to be able to spend time with these children and see the pure joy on their faces as they play, and also to share our time and labor with those who have so little. After just two days, the people have warmed up to us, and we so enjoy working side by side with them and laughing together.

When we first received the bios of our families, we learned about their current inadequate housing. Rajabu, his wife, and his two siblings who were orphaned in January 2015, stay in a small one bedroom house with a thatched roof lined with a worn out plastic sheet. He said, “the hardest thing we have to endure is when it is raining. We just sit and wait for the rain to stop. We then drain the water out and sleep on the damp floor. If there is dry ash, we spread it over the floor to at least make it dry.”  Patuma , her son, and her two orphaned grandsons are staying in a small one-room shack made of sticks, grass and thatch, since her home collapsed due to heavy rains. When it rains, the room becomes flooded, and she has to spread a plastic sheet over the wet floor so they can sleep. She said, “I had a house and things were at least okay but after the rains destroyed it, I am no longer free and I am not comfortable living this way, my children are also not free. When it rains heavily, we just sit and wait until it stops.” Neither of the families have a toilet structure because they collapsed. Rajabu’s family uses their neighbors, and Patuma’s family uses the bushes. What struck me and made me really sad is that both caretakers said ‘when it rains, we just sit and wait…’ What a helpless feeling that must be.

Knowing these conditions, one of the best parts of Tuesday was as I walked away from the house for a bit, and looked back to see Patuma resting on the pile of bricks, watching everyone work on her home. I’m not sure what she was thinking, but I just felt so happy for her, and so grateful that we could help in some small way.

We left our work sites tired, but satisfied that we put in a good day’s work. After a meaningful team reflection time, we had dinner, and finished up our day with a fun game of spoons.

Kari

Pam and Jason working on a wall

“Team Jerod” – Jerod, Carin, Patti, Ashley, Deb and Lynn

“Team Kari” – Laura, Kari, Jason, Pam and Joanna

“Joyful Chaos” – playing frisbee with the kids

Where’s Ashley…?

The village chief came to see our progress

Patuma watching the building of her new home

Ashley and Laura at sunset

Playing spoons