Habitat Build Day #1

The site is a long bus ride from the city....at least 1 1/4 hours or more, depending on traffic. It is hard to imagine driving our big bus of 40 plus volunteers with all the motorbikes and tuk tuks flooding the streets and darting around, but the driver did great. Even getting the bus around corners of narrow intersections. Arrival scene:

When we arrived in Oudong at 8:30 after leaving our hotel at 7 a.m., a great welcome was in store. School children lined the long walkway, girls on left and the boys on the right, all holding flags and singing and cheerful. It was easy to be overwhelmed by the appreciation they had for us.

JOHN, NEIL AND MARCY
SHOW OFF THE NECKLACE
 GIVEN BY OUR GREETERS.

Local women along the greeting line placed handmade necklaces on each of us. Then, a orientation meeting followed after which, we walked with our homeowner to house #22. Our team was divided between two houses with 15 at this house the six others working on #17 with volunteers from other teams. Three team members went to work on the farm, plowing the earth behind an oxen and planting young seedlings. And one more, to the community center where he worked splitting bamboo and setting up.

STACKED BRICKS WAITING TO BE A WALL.

HOMEOWNER SOPHA
PLACES THE FIRST BRICK OF THE BUILD

MANY HANDS, MANY BRICKS, MAKE A WALL.

GARY SETS THE FIRST OF THREE WINDOWS

A concrete foundation and floor plus the first two rows of brick were already laid. Our goal was to complete a total of 10 rows including putting the three windows in place. Temps were in the high 90s but we managed to finish the assigned work and headed back to our home hotel at 5:00.

 Long day.

Satisfying start to the Build.