Habitat for Humanity - Women Build

Being the farmer's daughter that I am, I'm pretty sure one of my first toys was a tool set. I say pretty sure, because I remember clearly dark blue plastic bolts (which I recall that I ruined by chewing on the ends of them). But I can't remember what the hammer looked like, so I could be making this introduction up completely...who knows. (I tell my fifth graders a little "creativity" usually doesn't hurt anything when you're writing. Your readers won't know if you're telling the exact truth - unless you tell them, of course).

Anyway, my father, the farmer, has a plethora of tools, including several hammers, arranged perfectly in drawers upon drawers of tool chests (which is probably where I get my organization OCD from :) I must admit with shame that growing up, I never really picked up any of those tools, unless it was to get them out of the way when I wanted to shoot baskets in the shop. I certainly never used them for any sort of industrial purpose - unlike my brother and sister, whom I admire for being such hands-on, helpful children. (Wait - I do remember one time: I built a birdhouse with my grandma once [yet another tool-toting hardworker I adore.] I think it was a bluebird box…or maybe a blue jay…it could have even been for an indigo bunting – I just remember it was for a bird that was blue. As you can tell, I wasn’t exactly the outdoor naturalist growing up either. And, there probably wasn’t a single bird that ever lived in that six-sided wooden creation due to some sort of mechanical default of my own, I’m sure!)

However, I got my second chance with a hammer on Saturday morning at my first-ever “wall build”. I saw an advertisement for a Habitat for Humanity-Forsyth County opportunity and decided to get involved with the upcoming Women Build. Not only is this house going to be built by (primarily) all women, but it’s also going to be a “green” home. I’m not exactly sure of all of the details that afford it that title; hopefully I will be able to expand on that idea later on. (I really wanted to use the word extrapolate right there instead of expand, but then I remembered I’m not writing a college essay; I’m writing to friends and family. I think it’s that 5th grade teacher of writing in me. Always encouraging better word choices and all…)

So, after basically zero introduction into the mechanics of what we were doing Saturday morning, we divided up into two groups and began building all of the interior and exterior walls of a house. I’m pretty sure the instructions from the leader in my group (interior walls) went something like this: “OK. If the wall has a door in it, you start there. Two nails on top. One on the bottom. If it doesn’t, you start at the corners. Three on top. Two on the bottom.” Right….I leaned over to another woman and whispered, “I think I’m going to need a little more direction than that.” And she simply nodded her head in confusion and admitted it was her first time too.

After watching some of the veteran volunteers, we figured it out, got into a rhythm, and cranked out all of the walls for a home in just under three hours! There really is something about a large group of women working with hammers and piles of lumber. Some are wailing away; others are more like tapping. Some are swearing under their breath; others are laughing when they swing and miss. When the product is completed and the loading phase begins, some are sweeping up the sawdust; others are carrying and lifting the walls onto the trailer. Some are bleeding (two of those misses ended up in lost fingernails); but, ALL are sweating.

In those moments when the hammer head strikes a nail and causes a spark to jump, you feel like a little jolt of that electricity shoots through you. To think that all of these women (including me who can’t even remember if she had a toy hammer or if she’s just making that up), are building a home – a safer place to live – for a family who may not have anywhere else to go, it’s uplifting, to say the least. To be able to serve others with your physical labor and sweat, is a beautiful and rewarding experience – and we haven’t even broken ground on the home site yet – we’ve only just begun (anybody breaking out into Karen Carpenter song right now?) If you’ve never had the opportunity to get involved with Habitat for Humanity International, I highly encourage you to check it out. Maybe there’s a hammer somewhere with your name on it too.

Happy Building!

*(Hammer image: http://www.pacifistaff.com/)