It rained last night

There was a heavy storm last night. Team Pembantuan had the luxury of snuggling under Hotel Cakradonya blankets, but the villagers of Tibang had to contend with both the wind that whistled through gaps in their wooden shacks and tents as well as the damp cold that rose from the ground.

When we arrived at the wooden shack in land plot #184 in the morning, it was still drizzling. Some of the village boys came over to look for us. They were shivering and kept saying to us "dinggin, dinggin", the Indonesian adjective for 'cold'. We had neither hot drinks to offer them nor any additional clothing to pass to them - except for our yellow ponchos which we had to put on because we were about to start our construction work in the open in spite of the persistent rain.

What a gloomy way to start the day. We continued to cut steel rods and bent them into steel rings, with the children taking shelter in makeshift houses, rubbing their bodies vigorously in an attempt to stay warm.

The landscape looked even more desolate with the murky puddles of rainwater.