Digging, carrying, cutting, bending and tying

After lunch, we embarked on our next assignment at land plot #129. We were to help dig a rectangular trench in the ground, and then to fill it up with large granite stones for the foundation of a new house. For the male members of Team Pembantuan, the digging was reminiscent of our days in the military. ;) Everyone did their best to help, either with the digging or with carrying rocks. Working together with us were the staff from Habitat for Humanity Indonesia, the home-owner (who would eventually live in the new house after it is completed) and some skilled local labourers. All in all, it was a rather back-breaking process.

Later on in the afternoon, we were instructed to cut steel bars of specified lengths. The thicker bars were to be used as main reinforcement bars for the new house, while the narrower ones were to be bent into rectangular rings and fitted along the main reinforcement bars. And so, a couple of us began to do the cutting, while a few others began to bend the narrower steel bars into rings. The rest of us were taught how to tie the rings to the main reinforcement bars using thin wires.

We had only one minor injury to report that day. One of us had accidentally gotten his finger squished under a rock. *ouch*

Digging with our sekop (shovel) and cangkul (mattock)

Wai Yan bending over the pile of batu (rocks/stones) which had to be placed into the dug trenches

Alvin successfully cutting a steel bar

Using the above equipment, we had to bend straight rods into rectangular rings

Lark showing Adele how to tie the steel ring to the reinforcement bar