WomenBuild2008

[Lisbeth]

Except for getting lost on the way there, it was a good day.  Today I was working on the Habitat for Humanity WomenBuild2008 house.  An all-women crew, we were building the second floor's floor, laying subflooring on the joists.  We did a darn good job, too.

Getting there, the bus driver was less than useless.  I ended up nowhere near the build site, and spent an hour walking around asking people for directions.  I had to start with really big destinations and work my way down.  I was so glad when I finally found someone who knew where Huron Street was.

My first job was up on the scaffolding lifting flooring sheets onto the joists and holding them while they were glued.  I was gofur for awhile.  Then nailing in flooring.

It was a good day.  We finished the whole floor.  And I got the t-shirt.  It ways "WomenBuild2008" on it.

[tekla]

Its a good thing to do.  My union does a few every year - total co-ed crew.  It always feels good.

[Lisbeth]

The only thing is, I have a sunburn this morning.  That'll teach me to wear a tank top instead of a t-shirt.  Well... probably not.

[tekla]

Thats a no-no for construction work.

[noeleena]

hi ,,,, hey how neat .  now can i ask .....are you chipys ,,, i am a builder in new zealand.   yea .   a female one now .   love it i am 60 so hows does that go  .  you will have to tell me more about what you all do sounds so neat we have heard of.   just dont know much about how you get on ,  summer you said yea we have winter here ,yea.       okay see ya ,,,noeleena,,,,

[Lisbeth]

are you chipys ,,,

I'm not familiar with that word.

Well, Habitat for Humanity is a program to provide housing for people who otherwise couldn't afford it.  Land, material, and labor are donated.  The new home owners are expected to volunteer so many hours working on their own and others' houses in exchange for part of the cost of the home.  WomenBuild houses are built entirely by crews of women except for guys with special technical skills like the one who was directing the team building the stairs.  All of us up top building the floor were female.  Because construction on this house was only started on June 9, all the work so far has been outside.  When winter comes there are projects that you can volunteer for that are inside.  In my times volunteering for Habitat, I've build a floor, installed J-channel for siding, put up dry wall (lots of that), and done mudding.