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"The Mekong Build"
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Today, I didn't move until 5:30 am and got ready quickly, grabbed a yummy breakfast, and boarded our bus by 6:30am. It has been interesting since any time we are all on the bus, we have a police escort who stops traffic so we can get to the build site or to wherever we are supposed to be on time. While walking to the site from the bus stop, there were a few families greeting us and there were many women who had cooked food and were selling them to people.
No building elves visited our house last night, nor any others, but ours still looked great! Since it is back in a corner (off the 'main' roads within the neighborhood), each day walking to and from it, I have seen how other houses are progressing. House #9 is maybe half a day behind. Later, we were told to stop making them and get back to pointing. More pointing! We were all working on the pointing on the outside of the house. The scaffolding was being used on the inside for tiling the roof, so we moved from sitting and pointing, to standing, to standing on extra brick blocks. Then we moved inside to stand on top of the scaffolding and work on pointing on the inside of the house. The morning flew by today! Lunch was nice, and I ate some light food and fruit while visiting with my house leader, Steve Goodmann, who is from Dallas, TX and has worked on 3 other international Habitat for Humanity builds. He introduced me to the CEO of the Dallas, TX Habitat and we spoke about many different things. One topic was the place for dinner that night! I had been reading through a magazine that was given to each volunteer in our registration bags and there was a list of places throughout the whole city that we could visit that night for dinner. We presented a ticket and got a free meal.
I had spoken with Ben, Brian and Chelsea about this yesterday, and we decided we needed some comfort food, and to meet up at the UN Irish Pub for hamburgers and pizzas. They wanted to stay longer and play trivia, but Chelsea and I planned to head to the Night Bazaar and do some shopping! All during this time, Kitsada, Jared, Pipe and Dave were tiling the roof! They finished the whole right side of the house and almost finished the left side. The bathroom in the back of the house should be finished tomorrow, as well.
While taking a short beak from tiling, Dave had Panida and Fern build and level the kitchen sink area using the bricks. After they set it by pouring cement in the various holes, Dave, I, and a few others lifted the very heavy cement countertop (which the sink will fit into) onto the bricks. It looked great! And everyone was very excited about the work completed today! One more day to go! The day started off well and both Chelsea and I were up and at our bus by 6:15am. Before we knew it we were on our last short walk from the bus parking lot to the neighborhood. Chelsea went her way and I went to house #9. It was a cooler morning than the day before, and as we unpacked various tools from our box, we were quickly stopped to get set up for house photos. This morning Somchit’s whole family was at the house, including her husband who had just been released from the hospital. All were very excited, especially her grandson who was running and playing near his mother. We were told to stay calm and happy when President Carter and Mrs. Carter arrived to stand for house photos. Houses #8 and #9 were grouped together, and the couple came through very quickly. However, one fun part was that after the photo, as President Carter turned to speak with the new families, he looked around and asked, “Where’s Sabrina?” Just as he said that he saw me, and said, “Oh, there’s Sabrina! Hello!” And Mrs. Carter looked up at me and asked, “So, what did you think of your first build?” I answered, “It was so great! Incredible!” She raised her eyebrows, smiled and said, “Excellent!” They ran to the next house for the next photos. Back to work—time to finish this house! That meant we had to make more cement, do more pointing, and clean. Kitsada, Jared and Dave worked on the roof and finished around lunch time. Everyone else was either pointing, mixing cement, delivering cement buckets and bottles of water to wet the brick blocks to those working up on scaffolding. Luckily, the weather was fairly nice until about noon and we all took in the last morning. I took my morning break at 10:30 am and went to the Medical Tent to speak with the Medical Director, Dr. John “Jack” Geeslin. They were surprisingly not busy due to the cooler weather today, and he and I spoke about many of the cases during the week. He also spoke about the exceptional medical team of doctors and nurses from a Bangkok Hospital, Bumrungrad International. Apparently, someone from the hospital had contacted the medical director months before the build asking him to create a list of necessary equipment, and then donated much of it. Dr.Jack asked about my background in nursing and I found out that he has quite the experience in medicine from OBGYN to ER to now hospice. He was surprised and pleased that most of my nursing career has been in hospice. He shared with me what some physicians have said about finding their way in the world of medicine, and how hospice work just “feels so right”—it just takes so long to get to that point in most careers. He introduced me to George Weeks, who has put together the medical team for over 6 years, and we exchanged contact information. Prior to the trip, I had email contact with George, and he had also told me to stop by and introduce myself. They both had an interest in staying in communications for next year’s JCWP 2010 build, and so I do hope I can be a part of the medical team. We will see! By lunchtime, many of us had taken some photos of each other in groups and were beginning to exchange e-mail addresses. Lunch was fast since most of us wanted to get back to the house to do as much as we could before 3pm. Dave, Steve, Pipe and Jared put up the hardy board and I helped measure and level a bit. After a little while, I decided I should go back to pointing since there were just a few more areas to do on the outside. So, Fern and Panida helped me move scaffolding to wherever there was pointing needed, and the volunteers would climb up and work on the various areas. Throughout the week, you’d go from sitting, to standing, to standing on a few brick blocks, to sitting on scaffolding, to standing on scaffolding, to crouching on scaffolding to finish the pointing. When I got tired of crouching or standing on brick blocks, I’d start working on cleaning up some of the dirt we had put all along the inside walls of the house to protect the floor from the cement from the pointing. This way, Somchit can cover the cement floor with tiles someday, if she likes. Fern and another SCG volunteer had made little piles using large brooms, and Panida and I put on masks and safety glasses and used small pieces of woof from some of the equipment packing to pick them up. The brooms caused an awful lot of dust, and when picking up the piles and putting them in empty buckets there was also quite a lot of dust. But, the masks helped! As all of this was happening, some of the volunteers were given decorations and began decorating the front of the house. Some of the Military volunteers spoke with Somchit and her husband, and they designed and built the front entrance walkway using a few extra brick blocks and pebbles. Somchit was also helping another volunteer dig and plant the various plants she had chosen for the front of her house. It was all coming together!! 3 pm came too quickly! Steve told us around 2:30 pm to start taking apart the scaffolding and start cleaning out all the cement buckets. The inside of the house looked great. We did not get to install the 2 walls, but we’ve been told there will be assistance when we leave. We did not get to install the toilet or plumbing for the sink, either. But, later in the afternoon, I saw Chris, and he told me there will be many local contractors working on the houses during the next few weeks to have all of them completed by Dec18th. Hooray! We gathered together for many photos at 3:15 pm and held the house dedication inside. Dave and Steve led us and the new homeowners in prayer, and we were all so pleased to have come so far and from so many different places to work on house #9. It was overwhelming! We said our good-byes as we heard all sorts of drums and singing coming our way from the front of the neighborhood—there was a parade happening, and it was great to watch! Before Jared and I left, I decided we should walk around this new neighborhood that was created in 5 days. I took many photos of the houses, each of which was unique. Some were wildly decorated and each had its own different walkway up to the front door. Everywhere, there were volunteers taking group photos or exchanging emails. It was so perfect!! We walked by a few houses we’d been told had been completed, and they looked excellent. This was very pleasing, because now I knew exactly how Somchit’s house would soon look. Her son had seemed worried yesterday that we would never finish, and I hope his stress is put to rest soon when he learns that contractors will be finishing their house. As Jared and I walked to the Closing Ceremony, which was being held in the area where all volunteers had shared lunch, I looked for my friends. We didn’t see them, but Nancy, President Carter’s Secretary, saw me and gave me a big hug. They were walking a few feet behind her and she said the week went so well. We spoke briefly and were asked to walk with them to the Closing Ceremony—it was so special. Jared was speechless! We separated from them as we headed to find a place to sit amongst 3,000 other volunteers, and eventually, Brian, Ben and Chelsea found the two of us. The Closing remarks and celebration were wonderful and each family was present in in the crowd. They’d been given tubes which exploded with all sorts of confetti inside, and all 82 made the confetti explode at the same time! It was wild!! There was dinner and dancing and all sorts of celebrations!
The five of us made a plan for the evening and boarded our various hotel destination buses to get ready for the last night. Chelsea had made some new friends on her house during the week, and I was pleased she was joining them for more shopping and dinner. I was also pleased to be getting a chance to eat with Eliza and relax for the night. There was a small celebration happening at the UN Irish Pub for the local staff, so I met up with them there. By about 10 pm I was exhausted, so I hailed a Tuk-tuk and headed to The Park hotel. I was leaving the next day, but not leaving Chiang Mai, not yet.
Day two was such a long day! We got a lot done on the house, but it was one of the hottest days so far. There was no wind, and it was very humid. Fortunately, our homeowner Somchit and her son brought several large hats (similar to Mexican sombreros) to provide shade for volunteers. That morning, President Carter was driven by Secret Service to see some of the houses. They had asked what house I was on, but I did not speak with him that day. Day two started off nicely, and as time progressed, I became very good at laying bricks and filling the holes with cement. We were told to lay 3 rows of bricks, then pour cement, and so on. One of the Siam Cement Group (SCG) volunteers, named Kitsada, was very good at any task he was asked to complete. By the end of the day, he was an expert leveler/mason, and while he checked the level, another SCG volunteer, Pipe, and I added the bricks or poured the cement. We made a great team! In addition to brick-laying and cement-pouring, I also perfected “pointing,” which is filling in all the cracks between the bricks. This made the walls smooth, so that we could paint them on day 4. I have to admit, after half a day of “pointing,” a part of me wanted to cry. I had been standing or sitting, staring at a wall inside the house for what felt like many hours in the heat. I took breaks at intervals to re-hydrate and stand in some shade, but it was a harsh task. Steve, our house leader, had advised using a trowel to do the pointing, which took some skill and made my right forearm very sore. What kept me pushing on were the various Thai volunteers on my house team. One of the Thai volunteers, named Fern, truly smiled at all times. No matter where (or on what) she was standing, she occasionally did a jumping-jack move while holding her hands up in two peace symbols. This made everyone smile.
There was also a group of Japanese college students at the house next door who sang nice songs throughout the day. Apparently, they had met a Thai Elvis impersonator the previous night at one of their hotels. Their efforts to explain it were entertaining, as they all began doing Elvis moves. After lunch, my task was to put together scaffolding outside the house, which is easy once you have some help lifting various pieces and linking them all together. Next, we were told to climb on top of the scaffolding (7 ft high!) in order to place and measure/level more bricks. We then scooped up soupy cement and poured it into a funnel, using wire to push it down each designated hole. We did this every 6 bricks high, and shortly thereafter, we began doing it every 3 bricks high. We worked well together in order to finish our task for the day, and then we were asked to stay until we finished another house nearby. Unfortunately, I had to leave at 6 PM because I was so tired. Dinner was very nice on the river Mae Ping. I took an early bus home, took a great shower, and attempted to wash my clothes in the bathtub. It was an interesting experience, and I was happy that they dried overnight! Day 3 tomorrow!! I believe we are putting up the trusses for the roof! I am very excited!
The third day was quite the day! I was so exhausted after working on the build and attending the dinner ceremony that I came home, showered, and went to straight to bed!
Somchit, our homeowner, never rests, and she inspires us all to work hard. Each day, she works on her house in the heat from about 8 AM to 5 PM, and then leaves to go to work cooking meatballs at the night market from 7 PM to 1 AM. She always comes to the house happy and excited, and her son is also an excellent worker. Dave also started tiling the roof of the house, and by the end of the day there were a few tiles in place. Everything went smoothly, and it was exciting to see a house starting to take shape! At about 3 PM, the gentleman who had found me Monday morning came by and spoke with me while looking over our house. His name was Chris Clarke, and as I later found out, he is one of the senior executives of Habitat for Humanity International. He said President Carter wanted to know how House #9 was coming along. At the time, the Carters were visiting Vietnam, he said. They would return Thursday afternoon and begin house photos early Friday morning. That night, we had a formal dinner at a very pretty outdoor location, and many delicious buffet items were served. The dance and music performances were entertaining and distracted me a bit from my exhaustion. At the end of the dinner, there was an announcement that we would be releasing lanterns into the air near the buses, so my roommate Chelsea and I made our way to the designated location.
We then watched as groups of people lit small rolls of paraffin inside of huge rice lanterns. The lanterns were at least 24-30 inches in diameter and about 3 feet high once the hot air was at a certain point. You had to hold the lantern a certain way so that the hot air would start to push the lantern top up, and then wait a while before letting go and watching it fly away into the dark night sky. As tired as we all were, there was a huge crowd watching in amazement as over 50 of these huge lanterns flew up into the air. You could see them in the night's sky for quite some time. It was beautiful!!
Habitat for Humanity homes were built in five different countries during the week of November 15-20 2009 for the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project 2009: Thailand (site of the largest build), Vietnam, Cambodia, China and Laos. “The Mekong Build” is named after the longest river in Southeast Asia, which flows through each of these five countries. This event represented the launch of a five-year Mekong Build Campaign, which aims to serve over 50,000 families in the region. Habitat for Humanity International’s Carter Project is an annual, internationally-recognized week where President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jimmy Carter, along with his wife, Rosalynn, join thousands of volunteers to build and renovate simple, decent, and affordable housing in partnership with low-income families. I became interested in applying to participate in the Jimmy Carter Work Project 2009 by speaking this past summer with two local Austin Habitat for Humanity participants: Eliza Evans, former Americorps and Austin Habitat staff member, and Brian Baugh, a long-time Austin Habitat volunteer. Although most of my international and local activities have been health-focused, given my background as a Registered Nurse, I was excited to apply to participate in this unique project. Part of public health nursing is performing neighborhood needs assessments; in Thailand, a country I know very little about, I knew it would be interesting to see how people live and work. Eliza left Austin in May to begin her work preparing for the build in Chiang Mai, and she kept in touch via email and her blog about her activities. It was quite exciting seeing her photos and reading about the progress of making the bricks (more later), participating in a test build mid-August and attaining all the materials necessary for this marathon November week. Needless to say, I was thrilled when I discovered I was accepted into the work project. The volunteer manual provided to me gave details about all aspects of the project, including background about both Habitat for Humanity International and the Carter Center, the country of Thailand and the city of Chiang Mai for the build. It was interesting to learn about the local climate, food, religion, lodging, health, etiquettes and transportation. I also learned that the number of houses to be built in this one week, 82, was chosen to honor His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s [the King of Thailand’s] 82nd birthday, The 82 partner families were selected from the city of Chiang Mai and surrounding rural areas. Many worked as farmers, day laborers and market vendors and each had contributed 400-sweat equity hours prior to the build. They had also been involved in various activities on the build site location to ensure long-term unity with the existing and future neighborhoods. The build site is a former fruit orchard. Interestingly, while preparing the site, many of the trees were spared, as roads or house locations were adjusted. Additionally, during and after the build, Habitat would plant a total of 2,552 new trees in and around the community. Once I arrived in Chiang Mai, I was surprised to learn that most volunteers participating in the project were not young people, but many were over the age of 50. This diversity was unique. After dinner with Eliza, Brian and my friend Ben who joined the work project from San Francisco, I returned to my room (and new roommate, Chelsea) thinking, “I have no idea what the week ahead will hold!”
In summary: magnificent and absolutely out-of-this-world! For the opening ceremony, over 2,000 of us volunteers were bussed to the Royal Floral Gardens, which had been created a few years prior for a Garden Expo. It was sent up so beautifully and we had time to wander around and see the gardens.
Today, Day one, started with a 5 a.m. rise, breakfast at 5:40 a.m. and a race to our bus by the 6:30am call time. Heading out to the build was nice, and seeing the fields where most of the families work was eye-opening!
We also met our house family. Somchit Kualawat is 54 years old and works a meatball stand at the night market with her husband, Namnuey who is 64 years old. They have 2 children; a daughter who lives in Bangkok and a son who lives in Chiang Mai. Their son’s name is Nakchaporn; he is 25 years old, married and has a 2 year old son. For the past 20 years, they have lived in a rented space behind a local temple. They have put together a provisional room from metal sheets, which floods when it rains and harbors many mosquitoes. Somchit is very excited this morning to be building her house. In fact, as the day progressed, she did not want to stop working. And, when we began having to re-check our leveling, she kept piling brick upon brick regardless. She is very sweet and a hard worker. Today, though her husband is not at the site because he has been ill and in the hospital, she hopes he will be discharged soon so he can come to work on the house. Her son is very helpful and is also working on the house. We laid down rows of bricks, measuring and leveling each as we went. It began as an easy task, but as the rows were being added, our house leader and block leader started to see a ‘bowing’ look to the walls, and we realized although we had been using the level, we had not been using it fully. So we used nails and pieces of wire as we went back through each row and leveled them better. We would put down 6 rows and then pour cement down the square holes. As groups of us did this task, our house leader and crew chief were working to place the doorways and the windows. They were helpful in directing since many of the people assigned to house #9 have not been on a build before.
Later I stopped by the First Aid tent, and it was a zoo! The nurses there have various levels of experience and many of the first aid staff were medics. One had stopped by my house to recruit me since there were so many people needing relief. I wasn't needed today after all -- perhaps later in the week!
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 Sabrina at the Work Site
   
 Morning Day 2!
 My volunteer colleagues on day two
 Progress at end of day two
 Morning, Day 3
 Purlins Up!
 Trusses and Purlins  Inside, Day three  Entrance to the Work Project
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© 2012 Austin Habitat for Humanity 310 Comal, Suite 100 Austin, Texas 78702 ph: 512.472.8788 |
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