Thoughts from Honest Gregory...

One week has passed through the Habitat project, one week of the trip is left, and there are many parts of the trips to love, and many things that we've learned. They explained how they work and why they do the work they do: the unemployment rate in Macedonia is 34%, 22% of the Macedonian population lives in poverty, 1 in 6 homes need immediate reconstruction due to unsafe construction, poor maintenance, and lack of safe sanitation. Things may be getting better in some ways in recent years, but in terms of poverty, life in Macedonia got much worse after it gained independence in 1991.

But Habitat seems to have a large operation here and they have a number of different initiatives: a water sanitation project, a green energy renovation project, a Roma project, another renovation project in Skopje, and the build in Veles. All of these projects are run by 16 full & part time staff in Macedonia, with very little local fundraising. Most of their financial support comes from Habitat International for now, but Habitat Macedonia is a relatively new chapter.

Another interesting aspect of the Macedonian HFH chapter is that they collaborate with microfinancing organizations for all of their projects. The microfinancing companies handle all of the mortgage payments and loans that families take out to pay for their homes and renovations.

Greg

hoes before bros

I have better pictures than this - I had big plans and creative ideas for this blog...but after 4 consistant days and many, many, many technical difficulties...it just doesn't seem meant to be...

Alrighty folks, so day 6 of 14 has already arrived, and after completing this week’s final day of work, which followed a night of letting loose, getting to know one another, and intelligently debating the origin of humanity and vegetarianism (somehow both topics were entertained in the same conversation) during a somewhat needed wine tour, the team is at present on a bus towards the city of Ochrid for the weekend.


You should be happy to know that our abs have been worked over this first work week not just from the plaster muscles or the time paid in the “heck trench,” but from laughing(the things that make us laugh appear to become more ridiculous with each passing hour spent in the sun, staring at gray and white blank walls, or digging in the dirt. Our busy Canadian life-styles have been reduced to straight-line thought process of either plaster on, plaster off; (wax-on-wax-off), plaster on, plaster off; plaster on...or various words we classify as “trench mouth” that simply aren’t appropriate for the world wide web - what happens in the trench, stays in the trench. Trenching and plastering have become ways of life over here in the meat-filled country, as we all have been forced to embrace the disorganized, non-scheduled Macedonian way of life (at first met with much Canadian resistance and failures at enforcing efficiency). There has been mention of some anxiety that we’ll be caught trenching in our backyards back home, or plastering unnecessarily when the skill is lacking transferable potential completely. BUT...no complaints; we are happy to smooth the walls and do the dirty work.


However eventful our build has been, as we revel in the details and simple pleasures that come from giggling over our obsessive and needy relationship with the trench, our in depth conversations through our 1-star hotel’s bathroom walls, killing more and more flies, take pride in finishing smoothing walls and even rooms, making bracelets, buying watermelons, and watching more and more soccer with the locals (granted, we’ve had to deal with curing the depression of a certain German team-member)... my rambling simply just doesn’t do these details justice....pictures speak louder than words;


Here’s the essential info you should know...The Trench has been completed...the hole that we’ve grown to love as we poured our existence's into will be oddly missed as we leave for the weekend. Here’s to hoping it won’t cave in over the weekend or some hearts may need some revival.

plaster!

The Dirty Dozen

Howdy Hozers!!

Well...here we are, already day number four into a fourteen day Habitat for Humanity build in Macedonia. The team has just been thrown into a whirlwind of trenching and plastering, trenching and plastering, plastering and trenching, jack-hammering, trenching and plastering...all with the eventual goal of making a dent on the HfH project meant to produce a complex comprised of eleven apartment buildings, each containing six apartments for a total of 102 families.

Though we've only known each other for a short while, the team has embraced the chance to do a couple of weeks of life together with the same desires to do a little good in Macedonia before heading back home.

Now, as soon as I was asked to produce a blog for the team, my mind scrambled to brainstorm possible writing material...but I was not short of inspiriation as we've managed to squeeze into our first few days a trip to a Casino where Ted lost A THOUSAND D's (Denaires; actually only about 20 bucks, but sounds crazier if you don't know the conversion), eating copious amounts of neck, eventfully killing many unlucky flies (it was interesting to us), buy some local Mac wear, visit some pretty wicked early Christian ruins, chill and watch a soccer game with the locals, make dozens of dog friends, add some slavic curse words to our vocabulary, dance with some local dance crews, and oh yeah, did I mention we plastered and trenched?

The pictures do the randomness some justice, but as the team (who you'll meet in a future blog) embraces this chance we've been given to practice what we'd like to see more of in the world, without a doubt we'll have some more intricate stories to share... Tomorrow's intinerary: build and then wine tour, followed by a weekend spent in Ohrid city and then week 2 will commence already (can't believe it!)...time flies when you're having fun...and killing flies...

Ciao for now!