Who
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to start and stop a slideshow.Lego-like Blocks Spur Thailand Build
By Dave Bezaire
(Click photos to see full size)
Fourteen members of the Thailand 2007 Team worked with the people of Phangnga province to complete two and one-half houses using interlocking blocks that are rapidly laid without mortar. Walls are built dry and then cement is poured down through holes in the blocks to lock them into a solid, handsome structure.
Novice volunteer builders soon became proficient with the easy system and walls shot up quickly. As the block supply was rapidly exhausted, they seized the opportunity to assign half of the team to making blocks in the factory with future homeowner families. The picture at the right shows HFH-GC Board Member Scott Moore operating a powerful press that squeezes a slightly dampened mixture of sand, clay and cement into a block that hardens with a week in the hot sun.
At left, former Board President Ben Freudenreich, one of 6 team members from Columbus, exemplifies the joy of the team as he lays blocks on house number two. Time flew by quickly, culminating in the happy dedication of the first two Habitat houses ever built in this 500 person village. At right, Board Member Dave Bezaire presents a key to homeowner-partner Sumlee.
Tops on the list of delights the team experienced were the politeness, gentleness and respectfulness of the Thai people. Not far behind were the wonderful meals and comfortable accommodations – in rustic tents next to a quiet lagoon that was perfect for a swim at the end of a hard workday. Sundays gave a chance to visit a local Christian church and explore area sights such as a fishing village that had been fully rebuilt after the tsunami–despite having lost about half of its original population of 3,000 in one terrible day. R&R treats included cooling off in a waterfall near the build site, visiting the Phangnga Bay island where James Bond movie Man with a Golden Gun was filmed, and snorkeling over coral reefs in the Andaman Sea.
Many more pictures and stories await you at ColumbusGVTeam.com, where you will also learn about the next Columbus Global Village Team mission to the Dominican Republic scheduled for June. Can you think of a more exciting and adventurous way to enjoy your summer vacation than exploring the "less traveled" side of one of the most popular vacation destinations in the Caribbean and building houses and community with people in need? For details, please call Susi Havens-Bezaire at 614-210-0840.