Habitat for Humanity
Last summer, was the summer I finally graduated from university. After a gruelling 4 years of hard work and dorm rooms, I was left with a degree.Feeling completely lost, I applied for Habitat for Humanity. I didn’t care where I go, I just wanted to go somewhere. Experience something new. I got accepted into the group that was going to Malaysia. The organization was paying for food and accomodation so the only expenses I had to cover was the flight tickets. My ticket was booked exactly a week after my convocation. The trip was 3 weeks long. It was estimated that we would build approximately 16 houses for those who could not afford housing.
Unfortunately there was no direct flight to Malaysia so I had to take a layover in Dublin, Ireland. Luckily, the layover was only an hour. After the lengthy journey, there was a cab waiting for me to take me to the hotel where I would be staying. At the hotel, I was greeted in the lobby by my supervisor, who introduced himself as Duke. He took care of the check in and led me to my room. Once inside, I took advantage of the free robe and complimentary bath salts to take a relaxing bath after the stressful journey. Just as I came out of the bathroom, there was a knock at the door.
“Room service!” cried the voice from the other side. I cracked the door open and waiting for me was a tray filled with food.
“It has been paid for, compliment of Habitat for Humanity.” then the lady left, leaving me alone with the large amount of food.
The next morning, I was woken by the alarm I had set for myself at 7:30 in the morning. It was still dark outside. This gave me an hour and a half to get ready, as the itinerary that I was given with the food the previous night said that we were all to meet in the hotel lobby at 9:00 AM sharp.
When I arrived in the lobby, I checked my phone to see that it was 8:57 AM. However, looking around, it looked as if most people in my group were already there. Many of them, like me, didn’t seem to know anyone there. Although there were a group of four talking as if they already met previously. Finally, after a few minutes of excruciatingly awkward eye contact, Duke walked in and gave everyone a little wave and motioned everyone to follow him. We were led to a small banquet hall in the hotel where there was breakfast set up on one wall. The rest of the hall was set up with tables that seat 6.
“Before any of you take breakfast, I’d prefer you find your seats first. You will be seated in groups of 6. There are place cards on the tables. Try to get to know your teams, as this is who you’ll be primarily working with for the duration our project!” Duke had to yell, as he didn’t have a microphone. Everyone milled around trying to find out where they were supposed to be. Luckily, I found my name on one of the tables closest to the tables of food. I sat down and waited for the rest of my team to find their seats. I pulled out my phone and checked my texts to avoid any more awkward eye contact. After a few minutes, I looked up to see that the rest of the four seats had been occupied. Duke was in one of them.
We, of course, went through some preliminary introductions. I learned that Duke’s full name was Duke Elessar Nixon. The most notable thing about him so far was that he was related to Richard Nixon and that his middle name was a reference to the Lord of the Rings, which him and his parents were huge fans of.
I tuned out for the rest of the introductions until it was my turn. I told them my name was Sasha Nikolaev. I told them I was 21 and that I’d just graduated university.
After a filling breakfast, we were told to get on the bus that would take us to the rural parts of the country where we would be building. I sat down in a seat near the back by the window. I looked up as Duke came and sat next to me.
We made small talk for about 30 minutes until we left the suburban areas and the scenery quickly changed to farmland and unpaved roads. The people I saw on the sides of the road were no longer dressed in trendy, fashion forward clothes and talking on the latest models of cell phones, instead they wore simple clothes that were probably well suited for physical work and the heat that Malaysia is known for, especially since none of the buildings here looked like they had air conditioning. As we drove on and on, I saw all kinds of fields and farms go by. There were livestock, rice, canola, barley, wheat and even some fields filled with trees that grew different colours of ripened fruit. All throughout, there were people scattered along the roads and farms.
“Imagine being in their shoes.” I said to Duke. He looked at me as if he didn’t quite understand what I was saying.
“I mean not being able to afford everything we’ve become so comfortable. I guess we take all our luxuries for granted. Phones, heat, water that comes right to your faucet. I bet they aren’t very happy.” Duke took a while to formulate his response. In the end, he settled for something unexpected.
“You’d be surprised.” He then turned away to talk to some of the other volunteers. Feeling vaguely disappointed, I pulled out my earbuds and plugged them into my ears for the remainder of the ride. I must have fallen asleep because when I was shaken awake by a woman, the bus was no longer moving. As soon as I got off the bus, I was hit with a blast of hot, humid air. I hadn’t noticed while on the bus, because of the air conditioning, but out here it was impossible to ignore. I found myself wondering how anyone could live out here. The place the dropped us off was a field off to the side of on the little villages on the rural roads. There were 16 foundations made of cement already made in the ground. Beside each foundation, there was a stack of lumber that was almost as tall as me.
A few hours later, I found myself hauling wood around and nailing it down. My hands were bruised from accidentally hitting my hand with the hammer. I was exhausted, and it’d only been a few hours. Thankfully, not long after, Duke announced that it was time to break for lunch. Everyone rushed to find their backpacks. We had been provided with prepackaged lunches before leaving the hotel. I ended up sitting, again with Duke, but this time I was also with volunteers who weren’t a part of my group. It was refreshing to sit in the shade and eat and hydrate. We made small talk for a while before Duke announced it was time to get back to work, much to my dismay. However, on the way back to the house I was working on, I passed by one of the older houses that had been built by one of the groups that were here a few weeks ago. Painted on the side of the house was a mural with a young girl, and an even younger boy riding together on a bicycle. The bicycle itself appeared to be worn and ready to fall apart, even in the painting. However, the thing that drew me in was the absolute joy in the children’s faces. I stood there, staring, trying to make sense of the painting. I felt someone walk up to me and turned to see it was Duke. He’d caught me staring and was smiling.
They were happy. Happier than even me when I was that age. I was at a loss for words. I didn’t understand. They didn’t have the advanced technology or the comforts that I had, and yet the pure joy in their eyes was more happiness that I’d probably experience in my life. Suddenly I understood what Duke had been trying to say earlier. Even though, they appeared to be impoverish and had a poor quality of life, it was easy to see that they were happier and more content with their lives than children of the same age who had everything that the kids in the mural didn’t have. I looked at Duke and a look of understand passed between us.
We walked back to our construction site and continued working. If this trip had taught me anything, it was that these people were certainly not unhappy. They were happy, despite the fact that the media had shown me otherwise. The only thing I had seen of this rural setting on the news was how they struggled to survive in a place where no one had the means to afford or build any of the luxuries those in the cities. But looking at that mural made me realize that these people didn’t need the comforts I couldn’t live without. In fact, they probably didn’t even want them.