Day 5 Tired and Sore

Tired. Very tired. It was also very rewarding to look back at photos of where we started and where we are today. We even had to add scaffolding in order to reach the top level of bricks today.  

We moved over 44 buckets of sand, 12 buckets of stone, 6 50lb bags of cement mix, and 25 buckets of water. This made 2 piles of grout that was used to add 3 rows of bricks and 1 3/4 piles of cement flooring that covered the whole inside floor of the house. After the piles were made (by hand mixing it all together with shovels) we had to carry it by the bucket-full (very heavy) to the team member laying bricks or to the mason smoothing the floor of the house.

We laid the cement floor in the one house: mixing the stone, sand and cement was incredibly difficult. Then you add water and it just gets even worse. And we added an additional 3 rows to the other house.  

2 truck loads of bricks were brought from the storage area up to the houses today. I stood on the truck and literally lifted and handed over 400 bricks to people running them to the correct places.

After work today we visited the rest of the village. There were many other Habitat houses half built throughout. We also saw where some new houses are going to be started. 

We asked why they didn't finish the houses before starting new ones. It seems sad and mean to make people sit in their old house and look at their new almost ready house. The answer, however, made a lot of sense: normally Habitat recipients have a small mortgage to pay at the completion of their new house. However, this community is too poor to pay even a small amount. Instead, in order to qualify for a house they must donate their time and commit at least one family member to helping to build all the houses for the community. So they try to get all the houses to the same point before moving onto the next step. This keeps the incentive to help up. If they finished each house as they went then when they got to the last houses there would be fewer and fewer village people helping out their neighbors.   

I am truly exhausted and sore today. We have a half day of work left for tomorrow. I am not yet sure if we are continuing with the houses or going back to making bricks like the first day. Either way I don't know how I'm going to lift another shovel but I will find a way to make it happen tomorrow!!! 

As for tonight, I just took my swim in the ocean and I am sitting in the sun relaxing now. I am looking forward to dinner and sleep soon.