Day 10 - All hands on deck

Today is Tuesday and it is the day we started our building of the kitchen at the new Children's Home! This project was funded by the generosity of Miki's school, church and friends. It is awesome that we get to see first hand where the money has gone to, and to help be a part of the building process!

After not knowing how much building we were going to have the chance to do, we arrived at the home to see mounds of dirt, sand, rocks and bricks - this meant it would be all hands on deck! We first had to dig trenches about knee deep so we could later fill them with large rocks and cement for strong foundations to start building the walls. Every time there was a worm found while digging, we would take it in turns feeding the ducks. Often this could take a while as the ducks would run away from us and not notice the worm we fed them!


As the village is a fair bit out of town, we decided that we would eat our lunch at the Children's Home to save us some time. Farmer Tim was able to show us his farming skills when Samuel chose 3 chickens out of the pen for us to eat for lunch. They took them out the front and started preparing our meal (I would tell you the details but I couldn't bring myself to watch it). We were all relieved they chose the chickens and not the cute ducks we all love! Lunch also consisted of rice and veggies which was a nice change from the normal restaurant food we've been eating!


After lunch we got stuck right into carrying the bricks from the front of the house to the back where the kitchen is. The bricks were deceptively light! As the day went on we got more and more helpers from the boarding home that we visited Sunday night. It was great to be able to work along side each other and learn some more of their language.


There are about 20 ducks on the site, and they all run as a group everywhere they go. All day everyday, these ducks do not leave each other's sides, and it often means they trample on each other! However, today we found a duck who was wondering on his own. When we found him, he was covered in mud and didn't look too good.. UNTIL his rescuer Jess came along and helped give him a little shower to clean himself up. We put him back in the pen with the rest of them but he got trampled on by all the other ducks and he looked like he wasn't going to make it! So Jess was back to the rescue! Picking up her little friend and trying to help him walk again, she found him a little worm to feed the poor guy and got him some water! She did all she could for her little friend but if he makes it the night or not - we are unsure, we will find out tomorrow!


After a solid day of digging and lifting, we came back home to get into a fresh pair of clothes and to shower before heading off to the usual dinner place .. Love Cafe!

​- Lauren