It was 9:30 in the morning and everyone was already drenched with sweat. Miss Khadija and I were busy clearing away a site before we began digging the foundation for a kitchen. Old chunks of concrete crumbled in our hands like brown sugar as we tossed them aside into a pile of refuse.
“It’s funny,” I said to her during our tea break, “back home an Omani would pay a Sri Lankan to do this work. And here you are, sweating it out as a volunteer. That’s pretty cool.”
We were scattered around the village in pairs or threesomes. The work was, well, backbreaking. It all went something like this: dig trenches, carry rubble or roof tiles, mix cement, pile bricks, wheelbarrow sand.
All the while the families worked right alongside us. This was perhaps the most rewarding part of the day, because already we’re feeling some connection to these people. One of the families prepared our lunch–a Sri Lankan spread. After school let out in the early afternoon the worksite was flooded with children, all come to say hello and see the latest group of volunteers.
[It’s important to note here Habitat’s slogan—“A hand up, not a hand out.” All of these families have a financial stake in the home (a loan) and they are expected to contribute their labor as well. Habitat is not a giveaway program.]
There was a lot of cheer and tired faces around the table tonight as we sat down to pizza at the guesthouse. Those older folk in the group have begun wondering how our bodies will respond in the morning, while the kids seem eager to get back to the projects we left today. All in all, I’d say it was a very good day.
Heinrich leads by example
Himesh digs a foundation
Yours truly helping to pour a foundation
Renzo and Mr. Provencher play cricket during some downtime