Habitat for Humanity

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Blogger Becca

A few thousand bricks, a local community keen for a new house, and about 12 munchkins desperate to show off their ENTIRE wardrobe - that's our Habitat for Humanity experience here in Dhaka!

Mum, Dad and Owen are here and they wanted a real "Dhaka experience".

So, instead of the normal Christmas, our family decided to do a service based Christmas instead. We chose a Habitat for Humanity build in a Christian community outside of Dhaka. A group of families within the community get together and helps build each other's new homes. I didn't know this but the local families actually have to pay back the cost of the materials used in the build: I always assumed that the new house was a donation.

We left Dhaka city early-ish after a quick breakfast and had the WORLD'S MOST INSANE car trip. I thought I was going to die (literally) and the air in the car was so thick I could hardly breathe!

When we arrived on site, I spent most of the morning being the star attraction - a girl breaking massive lumps of rock and clay? People (OK, men.) were fighting each other for front row tickets.

After a lunch (cold) from a (Chinese) take away restaurant (an hour away), I set to work watering 4 thousand bricks. Yes, watering them. 4,000. By hand.
The bricks needed to be moist so when they were used in the foundation they didn't crack. It was actually a lot of fun even though I was disappointed not to be actually building.

After the bricks were suitably drippy, I was allowed to do some of the mortaring. That was cool, made me feel like a real brickie!

By about 4pm the locals had had enough of us and sent us on our way!

Most of the locals spent the majority of the day staring at us rather than actually building but that is all part of it huh? We had just as much fun doing the work as they did looking at us!

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Photos

Bricks, bricks and more bricks
Becca (and the rest of us) helped move and stack over four thousand bricks ready to be mortared.

Bricks and water
Because the bricks are so dry when they are delivered, they absorb all the moisture from the mortar leading to cracks and a less stable building. To avoid this, the bricks need to be watered by hand...all of them.

Shimti
This delightful little girl couldn't help but stick her nose into every aspect of the build.

The Grandfather
Jim snapped this image. I think it typifies the essence of the Bangla people. Kind, happy, humble.