HABITAT FOR HUMANITY TRIP

Venue: Eldama Ravine
Date: November 2010

This is one of the clubs at ISK which assists the unfortunate in building a home for themselves all over Kenya. This time we went to an area called Eldmama Ravine where this old woman and her family needed a place to stay. When we reached her place, I personally realised the difference between their conditions and our living conditions here in Nairobi. It struck me, as it had done many times before, the luxuries we have and how we take all that we have for granted. And then comes our greediness, that urge of wanting more and how we are not satisfied with what we already have. The 'house' that we were to build for the lady was actually smaller than my room. I continued from then on, to appreciate more of what I have and not to complain. I also try to help these people out more often.

Apart from all that, I learnt how to build a basic house. We only had time to build the foundation and hopefully another group would have come and built up the rest. Digging this foundation required quite a bit of work and was very tiring hence it was necessary that we work as a team. It was definitely an eye-opener of those who are less fortunate.

As always, my initial objective was to achieve CAS recognition. I thought that this one-day trip would not make that much of a difference and impact on me. I have had quite a bit of experience in helping people with similar difficulties.

As I was working, I spotted from the corner of my eye the smile that emerged on the woman's face for whom we were building the house. That struck me really hard. I was constantly thinking about always being able to do that. I was always imagining as I carried full carts of bricks a world where everyone was happy. This inspired me to work harder on that day and achieve greater satisfaction.

I had forgotten to carry my gloves for the trip. Digging into the ground involved using shovels for hours on end. This I did with my bear hands. I did not realised until we had finished working that my hands were full of blisters and the pain was excruciating. However, that was secondary. I realised that I had accomplished what I had gone to do and that was the primary aspect. That was important. The blisters would heal in a few days. But the house that we started to build for the old lady would probably last her a lifetime. We had changed a life. We had made a difference.

From the physical aspects of the trip, I had learnt quite a few things. I learnt how to shovel with maximum efficiency. Hold it with your right hand in the centre and support the shovel with your left and just leave it to break the ground with full force. This would reduce the total energy you would use and also you would be able to last longer on the field without getting too tired. Additionally, I also learnt how to make cement using little water so that it is not wasted.

For these reasons, I have learnt a lot from this awe-inspiring experience which I will be able to use elsewhere.
My thanks and appreciation goes to ISK for organising such clubs and trips which could change others lives and ours as well.