Habitat for humanity at Pondicherry

DAY 2

Though we knew what we were in for today, we didn't quite just understand what was ahead of us until we actually got there. We started off with breakfast and went to the village in the bus. Little did we know how much impact the work we were about to do would have on the family and on us. As soon as we got there, Mr.Jason introduced us to the family and explained to us their situation. we went into their current home and found that they used a single room that  served all their purposes.  Srinivasan, the son in the family, told us that he was unable to study properly because they didn't hav any ventilation or lighting. He told us that the new house would help him not only study better but also motivate him to go to school more. After understanding how important this house was for them, it was finally time for us to get to work. 

Our main task for the day was to sift enough sand to plaster the entire home. However, it turns out that due to rain on  the previous night, it was not possible for us to directly sift the sand. we ended up taking around 250 pans of sand and spreading it down the street and on the roof of the home. This proved to be unexpectedly hard. However, we were motivated to hep the family and went on. After a hard morning session we decided to break for lunch., after which we decided to then come back and complete the remaining work. It turned out that we were able to finish work that was meant for 2 hours within 30 minutes. We didn't know know that we had it in us. All we knew was that we had to finish all the work and better this family's life in some way. Despite the heat and fatigue, we drove on and finally finished the task. At the end of it, we were so proud of all the work that we did and were actually very surprised that we even had the ability to do a task of such extent. We were also quite pleased by how efficiently we were when we worked together as a team. We understood that we were much stronger as a team rather than as individuals. By the end of our task, we were genuinely pleased by the worked that we had done. 

"As oakridgers and having grown up in privileged homes, we've never quite understood the struggles of those who aren't as privilegesd. however, today was one of those days that made us feel so much gratitude for everything that we have and made us want to do whatever we can to help the people who actually need it.  At the end of the day we were absolutely tired and grimy but so proud of all our work." -Anjani