Back to work.
After a great weekend visiting the sites of Yogjakarta and enjoying the local food it was time to go back to work.
We spent the next day building the walls up to as high as they needed, using scaffolding and some great teamwork. Once the walls were up, the neighbors took over and completed building the roof supports and joists. We could not do this work as it was pretty specialized and at a height that is probably not covered by Habitat for Humanity, so we spent the remaining few days throwing cement at the new walls.
The cement layer was to cover the rough cement and brick work and give a smooth surface for the plaster, and it was not easy. I think at one point everyone tried their hand at throwing cement, and consequently got covered in the bounced off cement paste that did not stick.
Likan spent a lot of time doing this! What a trooper!
The children watch as we work.
WWe spent the last few days of week two coating the walls, and would have to leave the house without a roof and a floor. This would be completed at a later date by the Habitat for Humanity Indonesia team and the amazingly community spirited neighbors.
Local wedding.
Over the course of the last week we had been working hard, we all wanted to get as much completed as possible. I think secretly we all wanted to actually finish the house in two weeks, but that is a lot of construction for such a short time period.
As the week came to a close both teams got invited to a local village wedding. This was amazing! The wedding was bright and colorful and there was so much going on it was hard to keep up.
The bride complete with traditional dress waiting to start the ceremony.
The bride and groom.
The village chief. Cool looking guy!
One of the two guys of the band. Great guys!
The ring masters of the ceremony.
As we watched the wedding we had the honor and privilege to be asked to join in with the celebrations and to be in some of the photos with the bride and groom! It was great fun and we all had a lot of laughs. I will never forget this!
Bride, groom and Habitat for Humanity team. Great fun!
The last day at the build site.
All good things must come to an end, and sadly at the end of a great two weeks of building we had to leave. Before we left both teams autographed the houses that we had spent time building, and then as a final farewell we had a goodbye ceremony with a special lunch served in our family’s old home.
The whole build team!
This was a very emotional good bye with speeches from the village chief, Jim and our Habitat team, and was truly heartwarming. I will never forget this last day; the smiles, the laughter of all of the people gathered around on the floor and the amazing food that we all shared..
The final farewell lunch.
Well, that is about it from Yogyakarta, and this part of my Indonesia trip. All of the support, food from the local families, neighbors and the Habitat for Humanity Indonesia was amazing! A great group of people and a really good work ethic with some amazing fun. I would do a trip like this again anytime.
Flying to Bali
As for me, I was taking a short flight to Bali to do a few days exploring with Mandy, Jeremy, and Allisa from the trip. First stop was Uluwatu and then up to Ubud.
Come back for more!
Cheers,
Kev
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