Day 7 - Housebuilding

The big day had finally arrived and we were up bright and early and ready to go.   We had breakfast at 6:30 a.m. and were on the road by 7:00 a.m., bound for Kandal Province and the village of Prek Sleng.  Wearing our Team Cambodia 2011 shirts, we arrived one hour later. We were eager to get started and wasted little time getting down to work.

With eight houses to build, we decided that we would collectively work on house number one for a little team building and some on-the-job-training.  After everyone was comfortable in their assigned role, we broke into our teams and tackled a couple of homes at a time.  A strong work ethic and outstanding carpentry skills enabled us to complete our first four houses in about 3 hours.

We took a break for lunch and ravenously ate baguette with peanut butter, jam, Nutella and honey.  After a break of about 20 minutes, a number of people were eager to get back down to work and so that's what we did.









We originally thought that there might be a lull in our level of enthusiasm after a lunch break, but this simply was not the case.  The entire group attacked the project with the same vigor they had demonstrated earlier in the day.  Consequently, instead of finishing the project at 4:30 p.m. or later as we had predicted, we were finished at 2:30 p.m.  It was an astounding result that had us all giving ourselves a little pat on the back.

We then assembled in front of two of the completed homes and held a 'handover' presentation where we presented each family with a blanket as a housewarming gift and then posed for a group picture.

And while the families had been quiet and reserved throughout the day, they simply could not contain their smiles at the presentation ceremony.  It was an emotional moment that the students felt good about and was the greatest reward for their hard work.

 

As we loaded into the vans and drove away, the people of the village and in particular the children, waved goodbye and thanked us for a job well done.

Mrs. Shepherdson, Ms. Potosky and Mr. Little all agreed that the students had put forth an outstanding effort and had shown grit, determination and perseverance to complete the project. 

Congratulations CIS!