Day 12

Well, today was the day. After nearly a year of planning we were going on the housebuilding. We woke up early to be on the bus at 6 am. Fried rice, noodles, eggs, etc. were the breakfast of choice. I had bread. Yes, it's getting to be a habit. The kids are going to miss these massive breakfasts when we get home.

Our destination was a village about an hour and fifteen minutes from where we stayed in Sihanoukville. The kids rode one bus and the adults another. The plan was for the kids to build two houses with the Tabitha staff members and the adults would build the other two. (Tomorrow we were to build four more for a total of eight.) Families chosen to have a house built are already members of Tabitha's savings program where they work with Khmer counselor staff to establish a program where they save a small bit of money each month and have a plan in place for what to use the savings for. The homes are very modest - about a 14 by 14 square up on stilts with wood floor, walls, open hole windows, and a tin roof. To us, it would be like living in a tree fort but to these families it is heaven.

The day was once again overcast and when we had been on the road about a half hour the skies opened and it rained. Poured. Typhoon lagoon. We had planned for horrible heat and bugs, but to be honest I don't think we had thought about what it would be like to work in driving rain.
We pulled down a side road and drove through open fields of rice patties. It looked like something from a book or movie with the oxen walking slowly along the fields and the mist rising from the rice patties. The rain had stopped by the time we arrived. I was surprised to see "the village." I wouldn't have described it as such. It was a handful of huts, some thatched grass, some wooden similar to what we would be building, literally in the middle of rice patties. As we got off the bus Khmer men, women, and children gathered. Clearly they're not used to seeing westerners and they spoke no English. Thank you knows no language barrier however as they put their hands together and bowed to us in sincere appreciation.

The kids walked more to the back of the rice patties to begin their work and the adults tacked two homes near the front. One of the homes we built was for a family with 12 children ranging in age from an infant to a 16 year old I think they said. All of the families had at least four children. The kids were beautiful and clearly fascinated by us.... but we followed the "don't touch the baby because they'll try to give them to you" rule. Their present homes ranged from one shack like structure made of grass and branches to a structure that was nothing more than a lean to the size of a small pup tent. These people have absolutely nothing and their soul purpose in life is finding and providing food enough to survive. But unlike the children in the city, there are no beggars. This is a very basic simple life and the families are proud.

The Khmer Tabitha staff had been on site before us for several days and had erected the beams for the houses and the tin roof was in place. Floor boards were layed across the beams but not nailed. We were to nail the floor boards and put in the walls. I emerged as a floor expert. Jim's specialty was walls. I learned to swing a mean hammer today. I also learned that dollar store hammers suck. Wish I had brought better ones. (And yes, we did need hammers.) When I snuck over to spy on the kids I saw that Brennan was doing walls, too, and Kaley appeared to be doing a bit of everything, especially board carrying.

When we first began working it was still very overcast but not raining. The air was very heavy. I had no idea how much I was able to perspire. OK, it wasn't perspiration, it was sweat. :-) Brennan, being the true Khmer that he is, was wearing a hooded sweatshirt. Yikes. We were all wearing long pants and long sleeves due to the mosquitoes. During mandatory water break we were required to get our heads doused with rainwater from rain barrels and drink a bottle of water. After about an hour of work, the rain came back. There was no stopping on the job, and the villagers continued to stand around in the pouring rain to watch us. The men in each family joined right in and helped. They were clearly very proud and wanted to do as much as they could to help build their new homes. They learned quickly and were very useful to have around. One of the hardest things for me was walking through the rice patties. You had to sort of pick your route around the puddles and the more it rained the deeper they got. In places there were narrow boards that you could walk across, if you didn't want to slosh through mud up to your ankles. I did better on the boards than I would have thought. The alternative provided me with a strong incentive to stay on the boards. :-)

When I went to take some photos of the kid's team while it was raining I saw Brennan working outside on the ladder. The Khmer family that he was building for had brought a traditional Asian straw hat from their hut and placed it on his head to keep him dry. He looked very natural standing there on that ladder. He was also closely followed by a beautiful young Khmer woman named Taevy who lives in Kentucky. She and her adoptive mom are the only other Americans in the group. Her mom has lived in Cambodia on and off and worked for the UN. She is now a professor in Kentucky. Taevy seems to think Brennan is pretty cool. Very cute.... he'd be mad at me for writing this.

Despite the rain we made great time and by our 11 am lunch break the adults had two houses complete. We stopped for bread, peanutbutter, fruit, cheese, etc. After lunch the adults started on their third house. Jim was working on the side walls and working very quickly when suddenly he became very overheated and dizzy. He was our only heat stroke casualty of the day. Woosy American man. I would have been right there with him but I had done a better job of pacing myself. Even though the sun isn't shining and we got cooled off by the rain from time to time the heat is pretty overwhelming. After some water and being fanned by Australian women he felt much better. :-)

At about 2 pm we called it a day and soaked and extremely muddy we boarded the busses to head back to the hotel. I honestly don't think I have ever been so dirty in my life. My clothes are already in the garbage bin. As we drove away we saw that at least one of the families had already moved into their new home and had closed the door to keep out the rain, perhaps for the first time in their lives. Tonight they will be sleep dry, no matter how hard it rains.

Tomorrow we do it again. Since we finished 5 houses we only have 3 left so it will be a short building day. In case it is sunny and hot we will be very grateful for that. At the conclusion of the building there is a ceremony where the families are "given" their homes. There are no keys, no mortgages... just a simple expression of giving and receiving in its purest form. I don't know how the kids are emotionally processing it because I find it hard myself. Therefore but by grace of God go we....

Tonight we are back at the hotel and it is still gray. No beach today. Kaley is running around with girls who except for the fact that they speak with Australian accents and have Cambodian faces could pass for her friends back home. She seems to be having a blast. Brennan will be hanging out with his soccer (or as they call it - football) playing guy friends and trying not to pick up that Australian accent. And of course, Taevy isn't far behind. They haven't said much about what this whole experience has "meant", but I know they are impacted by it. Although they are homesick, I think that the next couple of days of saying goodbye to their new Cambodian friends, and even Cambodia itself, will be difficult. I know that I have always felt like I left a piece of my heart here in Cambodia when I was here before and this time will be no different. This nation, so ravaged by war and trauma, filled with a people of such joy and friendliness is hard not to fall for.

Well, tomorrow is another day. Hope all is well with all of you. We miss you.
Hugs -
Lisa & Crew