The past few weeks we've moved into the "fina obra" or fine work/finishing touches on the homes. This has been tremendously fun, plastering the inside and outside of the homes, installing toilets and sinks, painting the homes. It's also been pretty humorous, since the more "skilled" work is where the difference between my piddly skills and those of the professional guys is most evident. The youngest guy on the crew, 12-year-old Marc Antonio, had the unenviable task of trying to teach me both the electrical installation and the exterior plastering. He definitely drew the short straw last week.
Click HERE to see the photos of painted homes, installed toilets, and other progress!
Tomorrow I head home to the US for a week for Christmas with my family, before I head back down here to finish the 16 homes. We have a solution now on both water and plumbing, after countless meetings with town officials. So it's official, on January 12th we will deliver the keys to the families and they will be able to start moving into their new homes.
I've been thinking a lot about the many friends who have been working around the world to make this project successful. In just the past 3 weeks there have been countless people making the project a success: Amy and Myra, two friends who work at eBay, managed to get a huge grant for my project. Likewise Koushik, a friend from b-school, convinced his employer to make a large donation. My parents and a group of their friends ran a large art show fundraiser, and my cousin led another fundraiser with her church. Phew! I feel like I've got the easy task down here of just building the houses; lots of people all over are managing the tough work of the fundraising.
Another friend down here recently made me a cd of all the popular cumbia and reggaeton songs that are on the radio currently, so as I work with the crews, I now sing along to the radio songs. Don't know if that is cruelty to the construction crew or not, but it definitely makes them laugh when I bust into my best Spanish rap.
Things continue to progress on the fundraising front. I've raised my goal $10,000 to build a sustainable water system. Turns out I'm having to build an entire well and tank system large enough to support the entire neighborhood, including conducting the environmental studies to make sure I don't dama ge downstream water resources . We've passed $88,ooo though, so I feel good about hitting the goal over the next month. Plus it's a lot less painful than having to go through the mayor's office!
Wishing you all a wonderful holiday.
Saludos,
Naomi
The houses look fantastic Naomi. That's great news about the water situation. Have a nice holiday and happy new year.
Posted by: Brian | December 31, 2007 at 11:30 AM
Naomi-
You are such an inspiration! You have accomplished so much in such a short period. Good luck with the rest of the project and I will look forward to catching up and hearing stories when you're back in the Bay Area.
Happy New Year!
Posted by: Molly | January 02, 2008 at 04:43 PM