![\"habforham\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/whatwedo\/files\/2013\/11\/habforham-300x225.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWe left the SUB on\u00a0a cold, clear Saturday morning, and I sat like a zombie through the car ride, munching on my container of kefir and Uncle Sam cereal.\u00a0 This was to be my first Habitat for Humanity \u201cbuild,\u201d although technically there was no building involved, just a lot of hauling, dumping, shoveling, raking, wiping, painting, and washing.\u00a0 Since the build site is not just a house but a whole development (a \u201cgated community without the gate,\u201d as one future resident told me) there was ample work to be done for every stage of the process.\u00a0 Many of the tasks called to my mind and muscle memory the work that I did this last summer, picking up odd jobs all around the Tacoma area.\u00a0 It was fun to get back into the rhythm of manual labor, to be in a place for several hours with the sole intent of putting as much of my sweaty efforts into that development as I could.\u00a0 Well, I guess not the sole intent.\u00a0 Along with a sense of well-being, the other volunteers and I got paid in baked goods and good company.\u00a0 The homeowners who were working with us were very friendly and appreciative of our work, and the ones I met seemed happy with the process as a whole, even though it involves a big investment of time and work.\u00a0 There is time spent waiting to get approved, the time it takes to build a house, and 500 hours of work they are required to put in.\u00a0 Even though the housing is designed to be affordable, it is still out of reach for many.\u00a0 Nonetheless, it feels to me like a substitute for the old-fashioned helping one\u2019s neighbor raise a barn.\u00a0 I\u2019m told the world\u2019s getting smaller, so it seems reasonable to help some neighbors who live a couple towns away.<\/p>\n
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Here’s a picture of some volunteers from the University of Puget Sound chapter, in front of our pet dirt pile that we were shoveling out to make nice, even lawns. \u00a0There will also be a big park in the middle of all the houses \u2013 I like all the green space! \u00a0Anyway, that’s one way to spend a Saturday morning and afternoon that will get you outside the college bubble, while still hanging out with some college friends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We left the SUB on\u00a0a cold, clear Saturday morning, and I sat like a zombie through the car ride, munching on my container of kefir and Uncle Sam cereal.\u00a0 This was to be my first Habitat for Humanity \u201cbuild,\u201d although … Continue reading