Habitat for Humanity Thailand

Got to work right off the bat in Chiang Mai with a Habitat Build. A group of students from Tokyo, members of an international volunteer club at their university called Shanti Shanti were coming over to Thailand to build a house over a week and a half. They allowed me to join their group and we were off and running working at a site in a rural area 45 minutes outside of the city.

The Shanti Shanti group left me in awe-they all have hearts of gold. I looked forward to every day of work with them knowing it would be a happy day and I would learn more of each of them. Some had previously built a house in Bangladesh and others were planning a future build possibly in Mongolia. They worked like a well-oiled machine, mixing cement, laying brick, finishing walls, and much more. Even though I was a stranger, they welcomed me into their group and made me feel like I had been a member of their club for years. At the same time, they filmed our daily progress on professional video equipment. They were planning on making film to spread the word on Habitat in Japan.

The new homeowners, Dao and Berm, were such good hosts. Berm was the hardest working guy on site, ceaselessly toiling away but always making sure the volunteers had enough to do. His wife Dao helped on the site and prepared some fantastic meals and snacks. Their smiles and effort spurred us on and we shot ahead of schedule.

With the extra time we visited a nearby school, where Shanti Shanti brought over some Japanese culture for the students to experience. Afterwards, time for some volleyball, soccer, basketball, and origami lessons for the kids. Here are all of my pics -there's a lot, hope you don't get bored.