They told us we'd be building houses. A little mortar, some bricks? No problem! We arrived to our worksite and were greeted by Habitat officials and volunteers from the local community. The woman we were building for is widowed with five children; she cried when her story was being translated to us.
Our construction advisor, Lebo, quickly divided us into groups with specific tasks. One group was assigned with moving cinder blocks around the base, another transporting water to make cement, mortaring the blocks, leveling the dirt on the interior of the structure, and another still to mix cement to the right consistency. All of the the tasks seemed simple and approachable when they were first assigned. We soon learned however, that building a house is a lot more complicated and strenuous than one might expect. Everything we were doing seemed to be wrong. Our water jugs could not be carried on our heads (in fact, many local women were called to assist, gracefully carrying the water on their heads with finesse. Despite our best attempts, this level of water water carrying could not be unlocked.) Mortar could not be spread as evenly and thick as the local men showed us. Cement was not only difficult to mix, but also very heavy to our pickaxe exhausted arms. All of the work we were doing seemed to be redone by the more experienced workers.
As time progressed, our skills in house building also progressed (and our arms more toned). After lunch we had it down pat, and a few new workers joined us in the building project. Children had been watching us all day, entertained by us newcomers. They finally came down to visit us and quickly took our helmets and tools to make our jobs easier. A group of boys, hardly taller than the shovels they carried, were carrying cinder blocks for us. Another group was whole heartedly mixing cement in the corner. Throughout the afternoon, we moved them out of the worksite by occupying them with American games and songs like Hokey Pokey.
The group was slightly divided at this point- half working on the house, half entertaining the children. We switched out every so often and got more done as there were less people crowding the worksite. By the end of the day, we had three walls built, eight cinder blocks high-- only three levels shy of completion.
What we accomplished today was only possible with hard work and dedication. But, it is also notable that our short amount of time at the worksite was also spotted with various interactions within the community. Every day has been filled with great beauty in nature, mankind, and dinner. Seriously. The food here is so good.... Dad's burgers may never live up to these glorious dish combinations.
Also shout-out to Palapa Juan, Tim Ruppel, Kent Gutridge, and all other dads out there! Happy belated Father's Day!
-Kaylee Gialamas, Anna Gutridge, Maggie Ruppel