Wearing our Hard Hats Proudly!

Thursday March 8, 2012

We had the day off yesterday and took advantage of the beautiful 70^o spring weather to explore the city of Charleston. We wandered around Market Street looking at the local artisan crafts and then headed down East Bay Street toward the Battery and White Point Gardens. I had a wonderful time walking around the park, eating gelato, and gazing at the water in the direction of Fort Sumter.

Exploring  the Charleston City Market 

Hanging out at the White Point Gardens in Charleston!

Today, we went back to the site, working through the rainy morning. I was working on finishing up the lattices around the house with some other William and Mary folks. In the afternoon we got started on building the roof, more specifically lifting 200lb. trusses up to the top of the house and nailing it in place. It was heavy lifting and hard labor, but we had a great group dynamic going for lifting the trusses, which required about 8 to 10 volunteers to carry each one. We had to coordinate and communicate together to make prevent injuries and damage to the house.   We also worked closely with long-term volunteers, which consisted mainly of retired men, who enjoyed devoting time to working with Habitat for Humanity. All of them were very understanding and helpful whenever we made mistakes or struggled with a task.

                             First half of the trusses go up!

Tonight in reflection, we each went around and stated our “high” and “low” of the day. For me, my low was working in the humid, rainy weather in the morning, while struggling to finish the last of the lattices. It was frustrating to kneel in the mud with gnats flying in my face and still not be able to successfully nail in the lattices or correctly measure a few of the pieces of wood. My high for the day was definitely working on the trusses and seeing an astonishing difference in the house after only two hours of work. I realized that even though we did have to work on some projects that time consuming and exhausting, it is completely worth it once you see the fruits of your labor and feel a sense of satisfaction and pride in the piece of the project that you contributed.