Building Community

It started with a phone call from SL.

He needed help to build a toilet for a community hall. He and I have worked on Habitat for Humanity projects for many years (until the Malaysian Affiliate for HfH was closed down). The site was in a swampy area near the river, access was difficult, the plank-walk into the kampong was in bad shape, I had to concentrate walking along the beams and not the floorboards, many of which were rotten, broken or both.

drawings by Melanie

a kit of parts for quick assembly on a difficult to access site

digging the footings - a difficult task made harder by a dirty site.

The locals had other ideas about the siting of our building.
Luckily, the matter was resolved, only after we agreed to rotate the building by 90 degrees.

Steel sections were assembled in the hall.

We were first guided by skilled workers, later we guided each other

Preparing to hoist the assembled floor structure

Asri and Alvin in good spirits amid the hard work

Our littlest helper

Young and experienced working together.

The surplus purlins were used to build a screen

The completed screen

2 cubicles

happy as pigs in mud 

Three weekends later, the toilet was completed.

I think we have stretched the commitment of our fellows volunteers. If we have gone on for another Saturday, it is safe to say that no one would have showed up, including myself. One thing we have learnt is that is is easiest to get volunteers to join you if you are one of the volunteers prepared to put in 'sweat equity'.

The second lesson is that projects such as this are not entirely about the building, it is about creating an event where social issues such as the lack of public amenities, housing and educational support can be highlighted. It is also about creating a platform for people to come together for a common good - their names, age, stature in society is not important. 

Charity should be anonymous.