The Habitat for Humanity club at ISK works hand in hand with Habitat for Humanity Kenya to build homes for the people who were displaced during the post election violence in 2008. I have been a member of this club for two years, and this is now my third. The reason I enjoy being a member of this club so much is because I am able to see the effects that my work is having on the displaced people as soon as I start it. When we go on building trips in Maai Mahiu and begin to build houses, we can see the smiles on people's faces that show how much joy they are feeling and it is a very rewarding experience. To be a member of this club, you have to be committed to attending two meetings per month and going on 3 building trips throughout the year.
I went on my first building trip at Maai Mahiu on September 24th 2011, which lasted from 8 a.m to about 4 p.m. At Maai Mahiu, a Habitat for Humanity Kenya member talked to the ISK students about the progress that the organization has made, saying that there were less than 100 houses left to build. This news was great to hear as I can still remember the first time I went to Maai Mahiu in 2009, when Habitat was just beginning to build houses. Later, the ISK volunteers were split into two groups which each had a different assignment. The group I was put into focused on carrying sand and cement to the building site, and then actually mixing the cement. This work was extremely tiring as can be expected, but we took regular breaks to interact with the community and play games with the local children. We had a lot of help from local families as well in shoveling sand and carrying cement and they were all very enthusiastic about the prospect of another house being built.
After the cement was mixed and the foundation of the house finished, we visited the local library. This library exists mainly because of ISK's book donations and commitment to the education of the displaced children and also due to a woman who gave up a large portion of her house to be made into a library. The library was in much better shape than I remembered it to be as all the books were up on shelves and were organized according to the Dewey Decimal System. We had the pleasure of donating another 100 books to the library, for which we received a lot of praise from both the adults and the children. After leaving the library, we got onto the bus and headed back home, and although all of us were very tired, we all had smiles on our faces.
I enjoyed this trip more than any other one that I have been on because I interacted with the community so much more this time than I had ever done before. It was great to listen to stories of how much living conditions have improved for the IDP's, especially since they themselves were the ones to tell us this. Playing with the children was a lot of fun not only for them, but for the ISK students as well because we got to see how happy they were when we were around and this made us feel appreciated. Finally, donating even more books for the local library was great because in this way, we are contributing to the education of the children and possibly allowing them to create a better future for themselves.
I went on my first building trip at Maai Mahiu on September 24th 2011, which lasted from 8 a.m to about 4 p.m. At Maai Mahiu, a Habitat for Humanity Kenya member talked to the ISK students about the progress that the organization has made, saying that there were less than 100 houses left to build. This news was great to hear as I can still remember the first time I went to Maai Mahiu in 2009, when Habitat was just beginning to build houses. Later, the ISK volunteers were split into two groups which each had a different assignment. The group I was put into focused on carrying sand and cement to the building site, and then actually mixing the cement. This work was extremely tiring as can be expected, but we took regular breaks to interact with the community and play games with the local children. We had a lot of help from local families as well in shoveling sand and carrying cement and they were all very enthusiastic about the prospect of another house being built.
After the cement was mixed and the foundation of the house finished, we visited the local library. This library exists mainly because of ISK's book donations and commitment to the education of the displaced children and also due to a woman who gave up a large portion of her house to be made into a library. The library was in much better shape than I remembered it to be as all the books were up on shelves and were organized according to the Dewey Decimal System. We had the pleasure of donating another 100 books to the library, for which we received a lot of praise from both the adults and the children. After leaving the library, we got onto the bus and headed back home, and although all of us were very tired, we all had smiles on our faces.
I enjoyed this trip more than any other one that I have been on because I interacted with the community so much more this time than I had ever done before. It was great to listen to stories of how much living conditions have improved for the IDP's, especially since they themselves were the ones to tell us this. Playing with the children was a lot of fun not only for them, but for the ISK students as well because we got to see how happy they were when we were around and this made us feel appreciated. Finally, donating even more books for the local library was great because in this way, we are contributing to the education of the children and possibly allowing them to create a better future for themselves.
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