Warming Up

On Tuesday morning we made our standard 7:30 departure and arrived at a much warmer work site.  The temperature was in the low 40's, but was a marked improvement from the high 20's that we had on Monday.  Bob mentioned that he had plenty for us to do throughout the day, and the energy was high, as I think everyone was just pumped to be feeling their fingers again.

Bob pointed out a couple of things to me that he wanted done on the house #2's interior, so I grabbed a team of Dana, Olivia, Sarah, Ian, Lauren, Kari, and Jen.  Olivia and Dana got to work on rearranging a door frame that was a little uneven, while the rest of us started on putting up the second layer of 2x4's on top of what I think was a closet.  Later in the day, I got to work with Sarah, Becca, and Lesleigh, as we were tying and pulling string around each wall of the house.  Now, while this was something that I barely understood while Bob was asking us to do it, I later realized that it essentially serves the same purpose as a level on a larger scale.  By pulling the string tight around the walls of the house, you are able to see if there is enough daylight between the string and the wall...insuring that the walls are all straight.


The rest of the day was filled with different odd-jobs that put us in position to be ready to put the trusses up today (Wednesday).  More importantly, we got to interact with the couple that will be occupying the house, Mac and Tammy.  If you're unfamiliar a quick overview of Habitat is that the homeowners, after qualifying for a house, receive an interest-free 20-year mortgage on their home.  One of the many requirements that a homeowner has is to put in what Habitat calls "sweat equity" hours.  After putting in "x" amount of hours, you are eligible to be granted a house; after which you have to put "x" amount of hours into your own home.  So Mac and Tammy were there yesterday putting in some sweat equity, and many of the students noted that the highlight of their day was getting to chat with the couple.

Also important to note about Habitat is that the organization is dependent on a philosophy that has everyone chip in through different avenues.  For example, Holy Comforter Church may not be sending volunteers to the work site, but their volunteers have provided us a place to stay, and food to eat.  In addition, there are several volunteers in the community that contribute in different ways; including providing lunch for us at the work site.  On Monday, Theresa, from the Habitat Office, made us pulled pork sandwiches, and then yesterday some lady dropped off a ton of pizza for us, and we didn't really even get to chat with her because she was on the move.  But to me that just shows the commitment of all types of people to this organization - I'm sure our "pizza lady" would've loved to stay and chat, but she probably had work to do...despite that though, she made sure to find time to come and feed the Habitat volunteers; pitching in the best that she could.

Alright, well we're departing in about 20 minutes, so I've got to run.  Someone (another volunteer) is feeding us fried chicken tonight, and we may even scope out some Sumter bowling lanes.  For now, time to go lift those massive trusses...injury report to come later tonight.

"Day 2" team picture