Final Day on site - House 2

House 1 and 2 were at similar stages of completion, House 2 may have been a little more advanced, but both had about 10 days work left. We had done all we could as volunteers, the work remaining was at high level, and not for us!
The day started with shopping for gifts in the markets, we bought gas cookers, pots, plates, a mat, rice and cement. This was in the local markets, where we were a bit of a curiosity - narrow lanes with many stalls selling everything from pots and pans to food, snacks and fresh food. The rice and fruit markets were outside in the street, it was a thriving, busy market - but one we were all glad to get out of because of the heat and humidity.
Shopping done, we headed off to the village for our final few ours on site. Vitey, our GV coordinator, had given us a detailed program for the day - and we were already behind! Not that being late had been a problem any other day.
Our tasks for the morning were to mix up a bit of concrete to complete the beams that the skilled workers had started earlier in the day, and then clean up the site for the party. We also had to decorate the house with balloons. Once these jobs were done, we went for a walk in he community to have a look at some other Habitat homes - there are 33 in the area. We visited a couple of families who told us that they loved their home and were very grateful to Habitat for making it possible. Most of the families were carrying out some kind of business at the front of their homes - selling things, fixing things, making things or preparing food for delivery by cyclo. Habitat work with the families to develop income streams to assist in re-paying the loan.
The money that everyone donated to our trip did not go directly to our houses, it went into a revolving fund that allows others to borrow the money to build homes, help families develop skills and to work with communities to provide water and sanitation. The families are very grateful to habitat, our team and our donors for the help that is provided and the opportunity to have a decent place to live.
We had lunch with the families, the skilled workers and the habitat team - we had an opportunity to meet with them all and talk about all sorts of things, they had many questions for us. We then had a ribbon cutting ceremony, an invitation to enter the home by the new owners and then a party with singing and dancing. The skilled workers came to life and showed us how much they liked to dance and have fun.

The final videos are here for you to view:
Final Day - Part 1
Final Day - Part 2
Final Day - Part 3
Final Day - Part 4
Final Day - Part 5

Although it was difficult to communicate with our work team we developed some great friendships, and we will remember the people of our Cambodian Project for a long time! We said goodbye to the team, left some of our work clothes and tools for them to use, and headed back to town. I think that we all felt a little sad to be leaving, but very happy that we had made the effort to come - and would love to come back if given the chance.