Habitat thoughts from the end of the week

Heekyung Yang

Thursday! As far as I know, unless it won’t rain tomorrow, today is the last day of working on habitat houses.

About 11 o’clock in a morning, we visited Lincoln elementary school that is supporting our activities. After touring the school, I met these two little girls and we enjoyed playing dodge balls and they showed me their moves from cheer leading. Unfortunately, thanks to my bad short memory system (I know this words don’t even make sense anyway) I couldn’t remember their names, but I gave them Korean nicknames (SoRah and JinA) and gave them short lessons about Korea. On a way back, I also met this kid name Michael, who is in 5th grade and asked me some questions about Korea yesterday, when they visited our work place to support us. Michael told me how he is enjoying his Taekwondo, Korean traditional marshal art, lessons and he has a black belt.

Honestly, I was regretting coming here on the first day of the work, because I was shivering in a cold weather wearing sweat shorts and keep nodding my head from lack of sleep and an absence of morning black coffee. Yet, after enjoying times with my friends and new people here and looking at the house I was involved in building growing, I was glad that I came to this trip. Also, I thanked for people letting me join this program, although I applied almost a week before. Instead of showing off my fat belly somewhere in the beach, working out under sizzling sun was a great choice, For the most, sacrificing(not really, win-win situation) my spring break really did worth and I will be the first one to sign up for the next alternative spring break next year,

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Cameron Ghazi

This week has been a very different experience for me, I’ve done habitat once before but it was only for one day in high school to fulfill a beta-club requirement and I wasn’t 18 yet. I was surprised at the amount of freedom given to us while doing something completely foreign to what we know. Over the course of the week I’ve put up walls, cut out windows and doors, painted, and even put on a roof. The feeling of satisfaction from the visible progress on the homes we worked on is indescribable. I’ve been far from my comfort zone this week, having no one I knew before on the trip and even had thoughts of regret the night before I left while talking with my friends that had arrived in Florida, where I would have otherwise gone, but now at the end of the week I couldn’t be more happy with my decision to come on this trip. It’s reassuring to see the number of people willing to devote their time to the wellbeing of others. I feel that the skills I’ve learned as well as the change in mindset I’ve gone through are things that will stay with me and I look forward to doing habitat again.

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Maegan Gurren

As the week comes to a close, the day has been filled with goodbyes to once strangers that are now good friends. It’s hard to believe that we will pack up and travel home in separate ways tomorrow. This week has been amazing. We worked on three houses that were at different stages. My hammering skills have improved over the past week.

Today, we went to the Habitat for Humanity Center. We learned what habitat is doing around the world in different countries. They had examples of the kind of house from each place. It was very inspiring to be there and has motivated a lot of us to continue with our work. We talked about raising money for future trips including a possible over seas trip.

I would have to say the best part of this trip would have to be the people that I have met. Our group was strangers before Sunday but now has become a mini family. Both the Central Florida group and our group made my 20th birthday one to remember.

Danielle Cole

I have had an amazing experience here at Once Upon A Time. We went back to the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum today to help clear trails, mix concrete and burn brush. I was on concrete crew and I definitely know that I do not want to be a construction worker. Our concrete mixer just happened to be from the 1950s and us women just happened to be lifting 80 lb bags, shoveling gravel and sand and getting lye on our skin and in our mouths. Fun fun....Sorry Chuck and Gabriel, but we know who did the brunt of the work. The air here in Maryville is crisp. We wake up every morning from our bunks (the guys just happen to sleep in the wood shop) and we have three outhouses (that we must rotate) and a shower house with four showers. I have never experienced an outhouse, but it is just like Port-O-Potty Senior. Ed and Arleen have been wonderful to us. They have shared their home and we are able to come and go as we please. Ed just happened to show us how to dance to none other than Gretchen Wilson. Laura busted out the the robot, but that's expected. I will hate to leave here on Saturday, but I know that I have made everlasting friendships and have had moments here that I will never forget. g'night world.

Day 3 Reflections...

Ese Ighodaro
Alternative Spring Break! I think that it was by the grace of God that my friend and I got on this trip. Karima, Laura and Emily (the best R.A. in the world) had to pull several strings in order for Heekyung and me to get on the trip. I am so glad and appreciative that they were able to get us on this trip. Thanks! This trip has been so awesome and inspiring. For the first time, I have felt that I have made a huge difference in the life of other people. The Lord, society, parents, presidents and everyone else tells me to help make a positive difference in the lives of others. No one ever tells you how to go about accomplishing this task. I can give money in the church collection baskets and I can donate clothes to the Salvation Army, but I do not seek the good that I am doing. By going to Georgia to build houses for the needy, I see the good that I am doing in the lives of others. I see the smile on the home owners’ faces as the walk in to see their freshly painted walls. I see the justice that I am creating in society. I feel that everyone should have the chance and opportunity to live in a comfortable house. No one on Earth should have to endure inadequate living conditions. We are all God’s children and we all stand equal before Him. No one should put themselves above anyone else. We should all try to make this world better for each other and establish JUSTICE on earth. I feel like I am accomplishing this task by participating in this trip. I am helpings my brothers and sisters live comfortably in the land that God has created for us. I am establishing justice on earth and it is a very very very fulfilling emotion. I hope that more people take part in this so that everyone can live comfortably. (I know that this is a hard goal to live up to but I am a dreamer and I have faith in people so make it happen.

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Abby Kostecka
Today is Thursday, the second to last day of our trip in Georgia. Time has gone so fast and it’s awesome to visibly see progress on the houses. For the first two days we (the group that I was in) painted the inside and outside of the first house and the work was so tedious! After finishing painting, I was switched to a new task of building the railing of the porch on the second house. I am so happy that I have been able to learn a lot of different skills since being here, and I really feel like I am learning and growing from this experience. Since building the railing, I almost feel like the porch is “my baby” in the sense that I want to keep working on it until it is finished. Today we started caulking the gaps in the wood and hopefully by the end of tomorrow I will have contributed to measuring, cutting, building, caulking, and priming the whole porch. This trip has really showed me the magnitude of what can be accomplished when people work together. All of the kids on this trip have given up a lot of other opportunities to be here and it’s amazing how much effort we have all put into these houses. I think that community service is an awesome way to give back to those who are less fortunate and really make a difference in communities.

Day 2 reflections...

Katie Goldey

Day two of work on the Habitat site here in Georgia has been wonderful from moment to moment. Having woken up somewhat late, the ten of us rushed through breakfast to assure a punctual arrival on Winding Oak Ct. We have been working on four houses, all at different levels of development. All of the houses are one story, and have a similar build—somewhat cottage like, but also beautifully bright with natural light reaching inside. The first house was nothing but a skeleton yesterday when we arrived, but by the end of the day today, the team finished nearly all the outside walls. What an amazing experience to see such tangible progress! There are three schools here; UK, Bucknell University, and University of Central Florida. All of our groups have dispersed throughout the four houses. The second house similarly has seen significant progress in the past two days. Today, at least one entire side of the house was covered in siding, lots of ladders and levels and hammers and nails! The work has been very expedient, but this has not at all detracted from quality. Over in the third house, we have been painting walls, woodwork, doors, and porches, with close attention to detail. Some of us have even acquired a new pair of fashion jeans: paint destroyed wash. The day was finished off with a free dinner from the local chapter of the Knights of Columbus; potatoes, carrots, macaroni and cheese, chicken, and a little peach cobbler and ice cream for dessert. Lovely. A very good trip thus far. To look forward to tomorrow: porch rail construction, more painting, and Maegan’s birthday.

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Anders Hallstrom

Music’s up, sun’s up, spirits up, houses going up… it’s hard to imagine there isn’t someone above helping to make this the most perfect day imaginable for building. I feel guilty sitting here typing because it’s just not a day meant for computers and blogs, it’s meant for hammers, elbow grease, and love. When I’m really cold or tired or frustrated I suppose I can lose sight of the higher purpose of this whole project, but climbing a ladder, sun at my back, to hammer in the last nail on the top piece of house siding makes it easy to realize we’re building so much more than houses. It’s a feeling of pure accomplishment, not like “Well I’m done and I made $50,” more like “Well I’m done and I’ve made so many lives so much better.” Amazing what a difference that makes when it’s time for another day. And like that nail, the love and generosity of the awesome people around me keeps being hammered into me. I want to build that attitude every day of my life. Oh well, it’s another gorgeous day, and I’ve got to get back to work!

Day 1 Recap by Mallory Wright

As the mini-van pulled up to the Habitat for Humanity work site this morning, I had no idea what the day would bring. The morning started out freezing and I worried that I would be cold the whole day. That definitely was not the case. Our site leaders quickly put groups to work on the different houses, and I was put in the siding group. I eagerly anticipated what I would have to do since I have never done construction work before. It turned out to be an awesome experience as the whole group learned together and often had to re-make boards and measurements to get the “perfect” fit. It was very much a team effort to get people safely up the ladders with blocks of wood, hammers, nails, and measuring devices. A full day of this work proved to be very trying yet fulfilling. I liked the visible progress of completing a row of siding. The best part of the experience was probably meeting the people I worked with today. Even though right now we have known each other less than 24 hours, I feel a strong bond with them (that is probably due to hard labor and the Georgia sun J). I can’t wait to see what the rest of the week will bring!