Cambodia-Building Homes

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Early in my trip, and already I am behind on my blog. Teams days are long, and my day as team leader is even longer. I get up at around 6 am and rarely get to bed before 10. All those hours with the exception of a quick shower are spent organzing, working , eating and touring.

The last two days, I moved from brick making to house construction. Wall building with the CEB bricks is relatively easy. Mixing mortar with a shovel, not so much. The bricks fit together mostly like giant Lego blocks. Leveling in all directions is crucial and time consuming. Every third course we pour mortar into the preformed holes and set our creation. Over the last 3 days we have almost completed the exterior walls to the height of the concrete support beam. Our team, is a group of very hard working people with a strong purpose.

A good amount of time each day is spent moving bricks from the brick making facility to the construction site. It is heavy work, loading and unloading bricks, but a fire brigade style line makes the work go quickly. I like the rhythm a synchronicity this type of work.

Working on the house construction provides a great sense of satisfaction. We are able to see the walls go up. It is measurable, concrete and even predictable. On one house we work alongside the homeowner, Syreno. Syreno has 4 children and a disabled husband. She works hard carrying water, bringing mortar, and cleaning small messes. Her attention to detail on her new home is heartwarming. We all enjoyed watching her patch little holes and scrub excess mortar from the brick walls. We are greeted with smiles and she laughs along with us on our foibles.

As the week goes on, we too are becoming more comfortable with the language, the people and the work to be done. The skilled laborers are spending a little less time correcting our errors and have even begun attempting our names as read in Khmer from our name tags.

Most of our team do not participate in heavy labor as part of our daily lives. Our muscles ache, our bodies sweat, but we are reveling in the hard work and the products of our labor.

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Comments

[Don Young]

You Go Girl!
So glad to hear that things are going according to plan. Can't wait for your return to hear more details of the team's accomplishments. Travel safely, and have some fun along the way.

[Cathy Hamner]

Thanks for updates!
Many thanks to Michelle for blogging about the Cambodia trip. I'm a friend of Carol Anne Harrell. Sending love to Carol Anne and prayers to all of you.