Day 6: One House, Three Homes

Our last day of building, this morning we took our rickety Romanian bus to the construction site with mixed feelings of elation for the progress we've made this week, and sadness that tomorrow will take us away from this country where we've enjoyed such great experiences together.

The plaster team finishes the front wall. 

Daniel, Fuat and Camille work with Robi on insulation.

Miss D exercises her power drilling skills to fix the soffits to the front eaves.

Kevin puts some muscle into his drywalling.

Michael, Thomas, Fuat, Daniel and Jason make sure the ceiling won't come down later.

After a morning of work on drywall and finishing the roof, we returned to the house after lunch for a dedication ceremony. Representatives from both Habitat for Humanity and Caminul Felix, along with leaders of the Northern Ireland and Kandern groups, spoke words of thanks and encouragement to the three young adults receiving new homes. Adrian, Marianna and Vali were also given the opportunity to speak, expressing their excitement and appreciation for the gifts of time and money that made their new homes possible.


As a group, we were moved to be present for this moment of such great importance in the lives of these three young adults. Vali is 22, Adrian and Marianna 24, and having their own homes is a major step in each of their lives, allowing them safety and independence that they've never known before. As we left, the students exchanged emails and Facebook contacts with the new residents, who invited us all back to visit them any time. We are excited to hear more from them as they move into adulthood in these homes of their own.

The teams, the builders, and the home recipients sit on the neighbors' foundation for the dedication ceremony.

Laura H. and Cynthia present Marianna with a Bible, flowers and a key to her new house.

Miss D and Daniel help to attach our sign to the house.

All the volunteers, from Ireland, Germany, Canada, USA, France, Chile, Turkey and Switzerland, pose in front of the house with its new owners.

Vali is pleased to be carried over her threshold!

Kandern volunteers gather on the three porches with Adrian, Marianna and Vali.

Your encouragement, prayers and financial support have made this incredible week possible. Thank you all for being a part of this journey with us!

With full hearts, we leave one new house--and three new homes--behind us in Romania.

Day Five: The Bigger Picture

Our house progressed today as we returned to the construction site to add the second half of the roof, a layer of white stucco and several rooms full of yellow insulation and drywall. After four days of work already, we are enjoying working in teams and learning new skills, taking instructions from our Romanian bosses and getting to know one another better. By the time we left in the afternoon, the house looked nearly complete on the outside, with even the gutters, windows and doors in place. Tomorrow, we'll return for half a day of work to finish most of the house before the dedication in the afternoon. What a marvelous way to celebrate Good Friday!

Working on the second half of the roof, the assembly line snakes up to Mr. Jay and Angela on the roof.

Fuat and Herr Kieffer, master house builders, send greetings to their children back home!

Daniel and Mr. Jay pose with their favorite roof tiles.

Cynthia helps to finish the roof!

BFA and AMS leave our names under the rooftop.

Work boots, Day Four. 

Michael, Christine and Fuat make sure the house is warm and dry, cutting plastic for the internal insulation.

Andrej is the king of the staple gun!

Cynthia, Adrian and Herr Kieffer work on Adrian's new house!

Miss D spreads plaster with delight, happy to be on the shady side of the house.

Towards the end of the day, the house gets a fresh white coat of stucco. 

Stucco doesn't come off of tools easily, as Camille, Fabienne and Laura H. quickly learn.

We were also given the privilege tonight to return to the Caminul Felix "village" tonight to learn more about this organization, which has been partnering with Habitat For Humanity to provide homes for young people and families who have grown up as orphans in Romania.  We had a barbecue with several of the children and families from the organization, then enjoyed a performance by the Caminul Felix choir, with children of all ages, from six or seven all the way through teenagers. 

The Caminul Felix bus, which takes the children to and from school each day.

Sunflower Design, a handicraft workshop where many of the young people work, including Marianna, who will live in one of the houses.

Part of the team, all clean and ready for a barbecue supper at Caminul Felix.

Michael, Joseph and Thomas discover that ukeleles (kid-sized guitars!) make them popular with kids.

Caminul Felix choir

Caminul Felix (which means "a happy home"), founded in 1992, has worked to provide homes for orphans and abandoned children in Romania. At Caminul Felix in Oradea, the children live in several large family houses, with up to fourteen children in each, cared for by two foster parents. We had the opportunity to visit one of the houses and hear from one of the fathers, and were struck by the joy and sense of peace in their home, which has nurtured so many children into adulthood. One of the young adults for whom we are building an apartment, Vali, has grown up in this house, and it was a blessing to see this family where she has been loved and taught, and hear from them their excitement for her first home "on her own."

All in all, we left the evening inspired and blessed, amazed to see the beauty and love that Caminul Felix and Habitat for Humanity are bringing about in this community.

Day Four: Community Building

This day of roof-tiling and wall plastering was in a huge way a day of community and communication. From very early in the day, most of the group was involved in spreading concrete stucco on the insulated exterior walls of the house, and the sounds of laughter and conversation filled the construction site.

First look this morning. Insulated walls and partial roof.

Camille, Jason, Thomas and Michael work on perfecting their stucco skills.

Kevin and Joe show some teamwork bringing a bottle of water to the ladies.

Herr Kieffer pops up through the roof!

It has been truly delightful to experience the exchange of culture and the building of relationships here in Romania this week. On the construction site there is a mix of four major languages: Romanian, English, German and "Irish English," spoken by the team of Irish volunteers who have been working with us this week. While many of the Romanian workers speak some English, many others speak none at all. We are all learning how to communicate with few or no words, and realizing again how much good nature can be expressed by a smile or a helping hand.

Angela and Camille work with Lindsay from Northern Ireland.

Three groups playing a game during lunch break.

Within the Kandern team, we have all deeply enjoyed this opportunity to unite, from two groups of German and English-speaking students and staff into one bonded group, working together on a shared goal. As we learn to build bridges to our new Irish and Romanian friends, we are also excited to be forming friendships between Kandern neighbors from home.

After lunch, a major assembly line forms to transport the ceramic roof tiles up to the roof.

One side of the roof is nearly complete!

Day Three: Raise the Roof!

We returned to the construction site this morning to find the skeleton of the four framed walls, just as we left them yesterday, with cloudy Romanian skies shining through. Today was the day our triplex truly began to take shape; when we left, the frames were covered with plywood and a layer of insulation, and all 25 trusses were in place on the roof.


As a group we enjoyed learning new skills of plywood cutting, scaffolding building, truss lifting, cement mixing and insulating. By the end of the day we were tired, covered in cement, and ready to enjoy an evening in Oradea with Vali and Marianna, two of the young women who will be living in the apartments.

The triplex as we found it this morning, with four framed walls and completed trusses.

Phil, one of our fearless leaders, is completely thrilled to be working on the project!

Laura and Lena pose in front, while Laura and Daniel measure plywood behind them

Handing the trusses up took about 13 people each time. Lifted together, they're not so heavy!

Laura uses her baking skills to operate the giant cement mixer.

Camille learns to spread cement onto Styrofoam insulation

The triplex with completed plywood walls, some insulation, and part of a roof.

Finishing the plywood, we hammer from all directions.

Back (left to right): Adrian, Mr. Peters, Ms. Dahlstrom, Marianna, Michael, Mr. Jay, Vali, Camille
Front ((left to right): Laura G., Fabienne, Andrej, Kevin, Joseph, Jason, Megan  

With nearly complete roof and insulated walls. We left just tim time to avoid the fierce-looking clouds!