It's amazing how much labor actually goes into building a house (or technically, rebuilding a house). Since early November, nearly 176 Flex volunteers have contributed 1,408 hours of labor. That's a lot of blood, sweat and tears; actually, it's just a lot sweat. Thanks to the experience and great support from Habitat's site manager, Ryan, volunteer days were always fun and safe.
Volunteers did just about every job, from tearing out the roof to pouring concrete to bringing the rose bushes back to life. Yet, there's one task that just about every volunteer ended up doing at one point or another: Digging. Whether it was digging up the old driveway, digging holes for the fence, or digging a ditch for the water line -- just about every time I went out, without fail, I dug.
And I became a mighty good digger because of it. I would show off my calloused hands like trophies, having slayed one more ditch for the greater good. I dare you to take your stress out on a ditch -- the ditch will always win.
I am almost sad that this house is just about finished. Well, no, I am really happy that this great family now has a home of their own (Alejandra and Miguel pictured above). But I will miss going out there, learning something new, building something new, watching an old house progress day to day into a new home. And what will I do with myself if I can't dig?
A wise man once said: there's always a ditch/hole/driveway to dig somewhere. Indeed, Habitat has already started work on a new development in San Rafael. That means there is hope after all...I will dig again. Thank God. And thanks to the 176 Flex volunteers who came out to do thier part for Habitat for Humanity in the last 6 months. Your ditch will not soon be forgotten.
No comments:
Post a Comment