If you are like me, when you hear the words Oaxaca, Mexico thoughts of Rick Bayless walking through crowded weekend markets in search of chilies, cinnamon and chocolate and encounters with short, leathery-faced abuelas making the perfect mole might come to mind. Indeed, Oaxaca is known as the food capital of Mexico, and it was … Continue reading
Day 5 What a week! We spent the morning working to finish up some things before we had lunch and brought the build to a close. We continued working on siding the soffit fascia, which proved to be a bit of a challenge, pounding nails overhead and making long cuts with only a hand saw. … Continue reading
Day 4 We started today in early morning mist and fog and a bit on the nippy side. In the end, after we started to concentrate on our jobs, we were warmed up in no time and before we knew it, “Break time.” Breaks are not negotiable on a Global Village work camp. By the … Continue reading
Day 3 Our addition is really starting to take shape. The roof trusses we built on Monday went up. The walls we framed were put into place and insulated. And we began to put up the siding. Now that the structure is in place, Claudia visits the space at the end of each workday. It’s … Continue reading
Day 1 First things first. We look to our Habitat construction supervisors Sebastian and Raul for direction. These guys have been working for Habitat, and volunteers like us, for well over a decade. Monday morning, they had three specific jobs for us: build a huge fire wall that will serve as one side of the … Continue reading
Habitat for Humanity Chile has built houses in partnership with more than 12,000 families across the country. There is continuous construction in each region of this, the longest country in the world, and various new communities are in the process of establishing an affiliation with Habitat. These accomplishments are due in great part to the … Continue reading
If you’ve decided to build with Habitat in Jordan you are in for a real treat! The deep dive into the culture is one of the best aspects of this program. Along with keeping busy on the site, each night we shared a meal with a local family, exchanged ideas about culture, customs, music and … Continue reading
Day 5! Our final day arrived in the usual fashion – here before you know it, yet feeling physically tired having put in four full days of hard work, doing the kind of jobs most of us are not used to. Add the Cambodian heat and humidity to the mix and a few tummy bugs … Continue reading
Day 2! This week we are working alongside two families in the Tbeng Kert village, which has 375 households and 1,661 people. The houses are about 360 square feet and sit up on stilts, a typical Cambodian style which protects the family and their belongings during the rainy season flooding. Today our work progressed … Continue reading
Welcome to Cambodia! Everyone on the team has arrived and we didn’t waste any time getting acquainted with this beautiful county and the charms of Siem Reap. Our welcome dinner was at Madam Butterfly, one of the oldest restaurants in town and one of the few set in a traditional Khmer wooden house with beautiful … Continue reading
