The first official briefing

Hosea and I woke up at 6:45 am in the morning and we joined some of the other Team Pembantuan members for a simple breakfast of nasi putih (plain white rice) with teluar (eggs), spicy ikan (fish), cucumber and some mee goreng (friend noodles) at the hotel restaurant.

Thay and Aan arrived at Hotel Cakradonya at 8:30 am, and gave us a formal welcome and briefing for our First Build in Banda Aceh. We were reminded of the socio-cultural norms and taboos of the Acehnese people, and were also told the sort of construction work which we could expect to do while we were on-site. In addition, each of us was given a First Builder vest (green for the Team leader, and blue for the other Team members) to distinguish us from the locals and from other relief aid workers. After our briefing, we boarded the Habitat van and set off for Tibang Village in the north-east, a region about 2-km from the coast.

Thay (left) handing me the green-coloured First Builder Team Leader's vest, while Aan watches