House Team

In the afternoon, I went over to the home team to see the progress. To get to the house you had to go down the road with the bridge and then turn right immediately after the bridge on to a small path along the river. The path led to a “monkey” bridge which is a hand-made bridge built out of tree branches, etc. It was pretty sturdy compared to some I have seen but I still decided to walk on the cross beam to make sure it would hold my American weight. The house we are building is tucked behind another house on the path. It is a brick house covered with stucco as is almost all the buildings in Vietnam. I guess this is because there is not a lot of wood available or it is too hot and humid for wood. Not sure what the reason is, but they are all made with hallow bricks and covered and secured with stucco. Our team had built up the walls about 4 feet over the past few days and they continued to build from unstable scaffolding (made of tree branches again). It is tedious work with little shade and only spaces for a few bodies as the rooms of the house are very small. There were also a few “skilled” locals who were directing our team and working on the window forms. It is unlikely that we will be able to finish the house in the time we have, but the donation money will provide the remaining funds to finish the house after we are gone. The house is being built for a woman and her two youngest children (age 2 and 4). Her husband left them a few years ago and although she has older children (17+) also, they are in Saigon trying to find work.