This morning, most of us were woken up at 6:30 by the lovely chorus of roosters. To begin the morning, we were all given a delicious Thai breakfast (French toast and pineapple), although, all we could think about was finishing off the house (and having showers). The last few hours and final touches of finishing the house was hard for us all; however, the exhaustion was completely overpowered by the positive atmosphere and the determination to finish. We only had a little bit of the floor and the concrete border around the house left to do.
After we had finished building, it was time for hand-over ceremony. Seeing how grateful and thankful the family was made us so proud of what we had managed to achieve for them and it was an emotional time for all of us involved. We came into the village with the mindset of only building a house, and left knowing that we had built a house for a family that would immediately change their lives and support many generations to come. For us, that the hours of raising money, planning, laying bricks and making batch after batch of concrete was all completely worth it.
After the terrible rains over the last day or so, the roads were really muddy and we had to talk out of the village to meet the trucks. We finally left the village behind but we left with a new appreciation for what we have and many memories. We then ate a long lunch in Chiang Dao, before beginning our 5 hour bus trip to Chiang Rai. Half way in, we stopped at a 7/11 and treated ourselves with salt and sugar (maybe some of us went overboard). Sitting back on the bus and looking out at the beautiful Thai scenery gave us time to reflect on what we had just accomplished and how all of it went so quickly. It also gave us a chance to get some much needed rest!
At last we arrived in Chiang Rai and got squeaky clean (making the hotel towels dirty) and went out for pizza! After filling up on some yummy Western cuisine, we looked around the market and finished the day with some bargains!!
Overall, the experience was amazing and created memories that will last a life time. We were so happy we got to know some of the children and elders in the village and even rabbits! Most of all we were amazed at the impact a small group of 15 year old students could make in just over 2 days. We are truly grateful for the opportunity to help that family and we would definitely do it all again.
By Taylah and Hunter
