It's beginning to look like a house

The Youth Blog!

For some of us, this is the third Habitat Trip with the church. For others, it’s a whole new experience. The early mornings, the late nights and the hard work certainly tire us out. But we keep working! This year was an interesting twist as instead of going to Tennessee we went east to Virginia. For all of us, it was a great surprise when there was in fact no snow, and t-shirt weather. Maybe now it’s more of a vacation. We started off with just a solid foundation, now two days in we have four walls up and some actual rooms starting to take shape. I think we all agreed that it was quite the accomplishment and we sure are all proud of this.

For a lot of us we are leaving friends and family behind. Lots of people have come up to ask me, “Why are you building a house instead of having a March Break?” I always answer with a solid, “Because there’s no better feeling in the world then knowing that through your own actions, you’ve changed some ones life for the better. Oh and there’s no snow.” This usually stops the questions. Hopefully because they’re proud, but it could be the no snow thing though. Along with leaving friends behind, we have all made new friends. Spending a good 15 hours in a car together can certainly speed up the bonding. We manage to entertain ourselves though, through sleep, teasing and other forms of entertainment.

Its only been three days so far, but already we have seen big accomplishments, new friendships and an awesome time. We hope everyone at the church and throughout Kanata is well! Best wishes from the youth!

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Today we had another wonderful, sunny day. God has been very good to us, providing us with beautiful weather and the vast quantity of good food. Did we tell you that yesterday’s lunch was southern fried chicken? Tonight we feasted on southern BBQ which was a tasty treat.

Team work was everywhere today! As you can see in the pictures we are really coming along. Exterior and some of the interior walls are standing now. If the roof trusses were ready, we would have been installing them but alas they won’t be here until next week. Herb, the site foreman, had cancelled their delivery not realizing how much we would get done. Now he is kicking himself but he will keep us busy with the building of a small shed, and a front and rear deck..

Some of the words used to describe today: walls!, red tape of the good kind, learning, beautiful sunshine, heat, working in short sleeves, yummy homemade meals. Today we had some wildlife onsite; a bald eagle landed in the neighbour’s tree and then the women found a mouse family that was taking up residence in the insulation that they were going to use. Thank you for your letter Sally.

Tomorrow we are off to Williamsburg and Jamestown for a little bit of history and some shopping. Some folks are going to work but just a shortened day. I think we have been tiring Herb out! He is a paid staff member who usually works about 10 hours a week on the Habitat jobsite……this week he already has 16 in and has had many volunteers to deal with. Herb & John have been wonderful. They are gracious for our help and are always willing to “teach” the skills that are required.

We are following the news on your snowfall at home and have been showing the folks down here pictures from the various news websites. Do you think it will be all gone before we get home? I am sure our new skills would help in the construction of an ark.

God Bless, Keep Safe...Happy Shoveling