Blessed to be a Blessing....

I believe that God has given us the things He has because He has a perfect plan for us....and that plan is not to be self absorbed i.e. me me me, concerning ourselves with only our advancement and what we can get out of life, but....that plan is to be a blessing to those around us both locally and internationally.

The best part of my trip to India was...knowing we were helping families escape poverty housing and potentially making a difference in lives for generations to come.

It was hard, sweaty work carrying bricks and sand for the best part of five days...but it was soo rewarding and we were happy in our work...knowing that a difference was being made....we weren't changing the world but we were helping to change the world for families both right now and in the future.

A typical day was....wake-up at 7 am or so and shower before breakfast at 7:30 and then head off to the worksite at 8:30 where we would arrive at about 9:15 ready to start work by 9:30.
We often had a break at 11 or so for some fruit...but needed numerous water breaks throughout the day as it was warm and humid, say 26 degrees with high humidity mmmm one day I drank 4 litres of water!!!.....then a stop for lunch for an hour at 1 pm before working another 2 hours in the afternoon, unless we were going sightseeing or visiting. The bricks were pretty heavy and could be carried by one...but we mostly used two people or several in a train, we carried the bricks and sand in buckets...which we gradually wore down one by one. On occasion we were helping to lay mortar, carry windows and took turns to mix cement and sift sand.

This is us arriving from Delhi via Mumbai at Trivundam airport. The Green machine is the trusty vehicle that carried us around for the next 7 days.

Area where sand was carried to and then sifted and where cement was mixed. This lady was a neighbour and helped at the worksite every day we were there. She was a hard worker and had a lovely smile.

The foundations of the house were done before we arrived and now the site is ready for the brick laying to begin...so better get those bricks then hey!

Some progrees being made.....

More progress.......with plenty of sweat....and possibly a few tears.....

This is as far as we got to see the project due to our limited time on site...but...the building is up...

The carrying and building team....

The happy family...well they were smiling off camera!

It was a real blessing to be able to help these people and very exciting to see them realising a dream of owning their own home...one that will last for generations to come.