Friday, August 05, 2005
THE FIRST WORK WEEK DONE!
All is fine and I'm just amazed by the progress that our team has collectively made! It's hard to believe that just five days ago, there was only a platform sitting where now sits a nearly completed house. Most of the work that still needs to be done is on the inside, including painting and trimming. Because the house will be "transported" to the final location, we don't have to worry about things like a deck or landscaping.
I have worked on many things in the past couple of days. The siding of the house proved to be a big task because this one-story bungalow is pretty long. Instead of using vinyl siding, we are installing "Hardyplanks", which is a ceramic like siding board. It was so satisfying when they installed the front door today! Most of my team (including me) is exhausted, but we are feeling a sense of accomplishment, knowing that our hard work will one day represent someone's home.
Cec (short for Cecil) has been driving us every morning from our motel to the work site. He is retired and has been involved with Habitat for many years now. In fact, had it not been for so many volunteers this time around, he would have been intimately involved with this build. He is a sweet elderly gentleman who has a lot of great New Zealand stories. We had dinner with him and his wife Julia. I found out from Julia that her involvement with Habitat is somewhat limited because of her heart ailment (only 14% of her heart is functioning right now). Yet, she is still actively serving in her church as part of the library and welcome ministries. They are a very inspiring couple!
Tommorow is our first day off and our team has been invited to Rotorua, a city about 2 hours away from Hamilton. More updates to come!
Picture of the house after day 3...
A view from the finished roof. Moo!
Another view form the finished roof.
Cec, our bus driver drives this manual transmission bus. All drivers here drive on the left side.
I have worked on many things in the past couple of days. The siding of the house proved to be a big task because this one-story bungalow is pretty long. Instead of using vinyl siding, we are installing "Hardyplanks", which is a ceramic like siding board. It was so satisfying when they installed the front door today! Most of my team (including me) is exhausted, but we are feeling a sense of accomplishment, knowing that our hard work will one day represent someone's home.
Cec (short for Cecil) has been driving us every morning from our motel to the work site. He is retired and has been involved with Habitat for many years now. In fact, had it not been for so many volunteers this time around, he would have been intimately involved with this build. He is a sweet elderly gentleman who has a lot of great New Zealand stories. We had dinner with him and his wife Julia. I found out from Julia that her involvement with Habitat is somewhat limited because of her heart ailment (only 14% of her heart is functioning right now). Yet, she is still actively serving in her church as part of the library and welcome ministries. They are a very inspiring couple!
Tommorow is our first day off and our team has been invited to Rotorua, a city about 2 hours away from Hamilton. More updates to come!
Picture of the house after day 3...
A view from the finished roof. Moo!
Another view form the finished roof.
Cec, our bus driver drives this manual transmission bus. All drivers here drive on the left side.
Me getting on the bus at the start of our day!
# posted by Duffshot @ 6:12 AM 
