Day 3 - First Day on Worksite

Day 3... First day on the job site. I think we were all excited to get up and get rolling on the first day. This will be somewhat short lived, and we'll all be beat by lunch time. But was exciting to get to the worksite, meet our work managers and get started with the heavy lifting. As you'll see in the pictures to come, this is not the type of work site your used to seeing in the US. No OSHA, no hard hats, and most importantly no power tools. This is brute force home building, and don't expect to see crown molding, or even dry wall. It is literally bricks and mortar, but it's a sturdy house and much better than a family living in a spare room in their mother's home.

The ladies (Diane Burke, Sue Wernke, Selam Daniel, and Jessica Avery) got us started. Task #1 was to clear out 6 inches of dirt from the floors, so that the rock and concrete foundation could be put in. Simple task except the dirt had to be shoveled out, placed in a wheel barrow, and wheeled 100 yards down a hill into a ravine.

At the back of the house, the team begin digging out (by shovel) a 6 foot by 6 foot by 7 foot deep hole for a septic tank. You'll see from the picture here, there is plenty more to go before this task is complete! Chad takes the first few whacks as Maggie and Briget await to jump in.

This was all before lunch, and as we made it back to the house for our first meal, it was a pleasant surprise to find a home cooked 3 course meal awaiting. The staple of all meals was a chicken-broth based soup. This was followed by a hearty meal, always with rice, but alternating between chicken, pork, beef and seafood. We were amazed the variety and quality of food provided for us at lunch. And for whatever reason the meal at which desert was served was always lunch, not dinner... but that energy boost was always welcome as we prepared for the afternoon of work.