Habitat for Humanity

Everybody knows what Habitat for Humanity is, right? Well, if you don't, here is a very informative link: www.habitat.org.

So, last Friday the 13th Roxy and I had a chance to participate in one of the Habitat projects here in Armenia. My company donated money to the project and sent a call for volunteers. Naturally, I volunteered my entire family - so Vicky would be going too, if she didn't come down with tonsillitis. Instead, Roxy invited a classmate of hers, and the three of us joined a group of my coworkers to build a house for a low-income family in a village called Khor Virap.

We boarded the buses early in the morning...


...and after a short ride arrived in this beautiful place...

...perhaps a little underdeveloped in terms of roads, but - oh well! The mud was first class, the kind you can swim in.

Here are Roxy and her friend Helen wondering what they will be doing.

And here they are already doing it.

We were helping the workers to put the concrete in by mixing the concrete and passing it into the house. So most of us city folks were assigned to the bucket line.

The reporters from TV and newspapers decended on us as we arrived in the morning, taking interviews and filming us at work. Soon, though, they were all put to work - even these two!

We were working alongside another group of volunteers - our very own orthodox monks. Here they are, the bearded ones, looking all orthodox. Actually, really nice guys, and they worked very hard.

Of course, the locals from the village were there, too.

Greeting us from every doorway :)

Here is the happy future homeowner and his wife...

...and his pets. Somehow, the guys who like keeping doves are looked down upon, like idlers, so he was a bit shy about showing off his pets. But the volunteers loved them, and so did the reporters.

Hooray - no more concrete! All done!

My coworkers later told me how much their muscles ached and how they couldn't move the next day. I must proudly report that both Roxy and I were just fine after 5 hours of hauling heavy buckets.

Altogether it was a very rewarding experience - spending a day in the fresh air, doing physical labor, meeting new people, and having fun. The house next to this one was also a Habitat project, and the one down the street was already finished, and the owners were proudly showing it off. There was good food - and a lot of it - for lunch, provided partly by Habitat, and partly - by the villagers. And most importantly - seeing the fruits of your labor right in front of your eyes. I like my work, but I wish I could do this every day instead!