Day 3 building

Today we got lost while we were on our way to the build site, and ended up near the next province.. but in the end we still got there, and we started to build the house's. We did work, getting the scaps of rocks and transporting to the build site, and we also did pounding of the scraps. Some girl's in our work team started singing and the kids in the build site started to laugh at them. I found the work challenging and tiring, a lot more than i execpted. the food at lunch and dinner was tolerable. After that we had a chance to sleep for around 1hr, which was definetly needed. There was this one local dad who was ripped and helped clear the scarps and did it faster than all of us together. I suddenly felt useless, i will sleep like a baby tonight. So far I'm enjoying the trip.
Julian Lum

day 3 building

My first day of being 17 started off great because it was the first full day that we were going to build the house, and i was really excited. I thought that the family we are building for are very friendly and welcoming, and i have so far really enjoyed working for and with them. I did numerous jobs from pounding bricks to level the floor inside the house to collecting the bricks using a wheel barrow. It was really tiring not only because of the work but because of the scorching heat. It was 6 hours of hard work but definetly feels very rewarding in the end. I am looking forward to the end result of the finished house.Tonight i will definetly be having an early night due to the early mornings which lies ahead for the upcoming days
Priscila

day 3

As i got to the building site, i was ready to build! I began to carry the bricks with the wheel barrow...I was looking good with my very tight shirt ;) but very lonely at first, then all the homies(small kids) came from the surrounding houses. They were really cool and helpful and helped me loads with stacking the bricks. We came up with this awesome handshake, which they got straight away. Then whilst i was carrying the bricks with my bulging muscles, all the women of the community were smiling a lot and were very friendly, and gave us all fresh fruit and water throughout. I met this 67 year old man who made me feel very very not buff, because his body was ripped (8 pack). hes my new idol. So far i have enjoyed this trip, and luckily have not been sun burnt yet....
Karl

third day.

After waking up to a bad start by getting up more than one hour earlier than i was meant to(time difference), the day ahead wasnt looking the best. Thankfully and suprisingly it completly changed once i got to the building site, although it was absolutly roasting. I started off by sanding the doors and windows which were going to be used on the house then i was asked to come help build the foundations of the house. I was a littlr reluctant because it sounded like a difficult job, but I ended up doing really well and the head builder constantly was topping up my bricks and cement i was using, so i was really happy i was able to do something that i would definatly remember for the rest of my time. So far i have really enjoyed this trip minus the food and early mornings but hopefully it continues to be great at the building site with the great family i get to help.
(Teghan Young)

Working the day away...

Well what a day we have all had today... Up at 6:30, breakfast at 7 and on the bus by 7:30 am...(Yes it is possible :) Oh yes and then carrying bricks, mixing mortar, laying foundations, breaking rocks into gravel, sanding and painting as well as metal work from 8am until 4:30. Everyone is bone tired and relaxing in the pool after what has been an unbelievable day for us all. We are all in fantastic spirits and having a great singing, laughing, sweaty, smelly time in Vietnam. Skim through the pics and see for yourself. From playing with wheelbarrows of toothy kids, to lessons from wiry, life-wise old souls this really has been a great day for us all...

Cultural Sharing

With everyone’s minds at ease on the bus ride back from our first house building experience because we could finally get back to our rooms and have a well needed, and of course, well deserved sleep, we were then told that tonight would be the city’s ‘cultural exchange’. Luckily we had pre arranged two songs for us all to learn to sing, so during our bus ride Mr Glover became the choir instructor and we learnt our part of the ‘cultural exchange’. The night was prepared in order for the ENTIRE city to welcome us and to thank us and Habitat for Humanity. This seemed all well and good, until of course, the night turned into an experience I’m sure none of us will forget ! (Especially not Priscilla, what a special 17th birthday for her). After many speeches were made, Ms Tu’s and Daniels being the only one we could understand, the entertainment began. It is safe to say that almost every single person that was there had a shot at ‘open mic night’. From 6 year old girls, to 50 year old men, some of which sang more than twice, and a man with his son who played with fruit on the stage. The biggest highlight of the night was certainly our songs, which certainly could not have been sung without the help from Finlay, and I am 100% positive we will NEVER perform either song in an assembly ! Even though our performance failed, and we listened to 3 hours of music, I can truly say that we did actually have a really fun night !

Day two beggins

Today we all had to wake up early to have breakfast on our three meter wide hotel. After eating we checked out and hopped on the bus to our new acccomodation. About half way through the ride we stopped to meet some people form a womens group which were related to Habitat for Humanity. They gave us a background on the program and some info about the city and the family’s that we would be working with. We found out that the family’s we were going to work with earn about 20 cent a day.

Then we arrived at our really nice hotel and got our selfs settled in. Just when we thought we were getting comfortable we discovered we had to go work for 2 hours at our building sight. I was put in to a group of 14 and we were to help a family build there house from scratch. We got a small taister of the sweet dripping work that we were in for. Every one seamed to enjoy them selvs and work extra hard due to the great cause that the work is for!!
(Amund)