During Project Orion, we spent most of our time doing community work! In fact 2/3 of a day usually consisted of community work such as construction. At first I was taken back as I didn’t expect is much construction in a project that aimed to conserve turtles.
Even though I was puzzled and curious to why it was such, our mentor explained that in the 10 years of Project Orion, apart from conserving turtles, previous members contributed to the welfare of the entire village and they had slowly built multiple houses and facilities such as toilets for all the villagers in that village. I will explain my thought process after each session.
On the 3rd day, the other members had breakfast at Kak Ta’s house, and soon after we met them to start community work. However due to communication problems, the logistics were not ready for us to begin community work, thus we had free time. Even though the first day that we were supposed to have community work didn’t go as planned, we remained hopeful looks forward to the next time. The following day, we cycled to Asiah Enggal’s house to start on our community work which was to build a front porch. We waited about 1 hour for the materials to
arrive. When the materials arrived, we carried a tall pillar together as it was very heavy as well as working in pairs to shift the wooden beams. We found it a little frustrating as I had difficulties understanding and communicating with the local workers. While shifting the materials, I found out that many houses’ roofs were made from a material called as bestos. They are made from cement and the asbestos which is banned in many countries as it causes cancer with prolonged exposure to the dust of the material after it is cut, sawed or shaved. I learnt a lot for example, the workers measured the flatness off the surface by hanging a thin long pipe onto the tree which has contact with the ground and added water to it. To know if the surface is balanced, both sides of the water level in the pipe have to be equal. We were asked to dig a hole that is made to fit the base of the pillar, which we didn’t know the dimensions of. We had to dig and add the soil back many times. After that, we all worked together to place the pillar in the hole by using a wooden plank as leverage which works as a pivot.
Next, we had to make a cement mixture which was new to me and I was eager to try it out. I learned the best way to mix the cement powder and soil by folding the mixture while adding water. This ensures that everything is mixed thoroughly. The mixture was poured to fill up the hole to make sure the pillar is sturdy.
The following day of community work, we went to work at Nor Hayati’s house. This time, we helped to build the roof frame of a new extension to the main house. Having experienced the construction of a porch roof yesterday, we were able to complete tasks. However upon completing all these tasks I started to feel if these villagers really need the extra space or construction. There were far worse houses that needed rebuilding and houses that needed toilets. I felt that we were fulfilling a want and not a need.Nevertheless we continued working on building.
It was very tiring to keep working and building these shelters. The sun was scorching hot and we were all not used to the intense weather and speed of work. Hence we were all easily drained. As we completed multiple houses we realised that we had to improve our efficiency by doing a chain system where we could pass the items in a chain to the workers such as Pak Awang to install them at great heights. We were allhighly in experienced at this hence we wanted to be of as much help as possible, resulting in the chain movement of items. The villagers were very friendly as they served us drinks and juice to keep us active and going in the heat. They also were very approachable and were easy to interact with and find out more about the village.
Another thing that did not make the construction work as smooth was the fact that we had to watch the experts do the difficult job most of the time. This required a lot of climbing and installations at great heights. Since this was someones house and we didn’t want to damage it, we left it to them. This resulted in a lot of eye power. Overall I learnt that it is important to improvise, adapt and overcome challenges. Like the workers who improvised the water levelling machine and and adapted their tools such as the hammer to hold magnetic nails for ease of use and eventually overcome the challenge of exerting themselves in the sun.
On the last day of community work, we started out with our usual breakfast at Kak Ta’s house. Afterward, we went to continue our community project, which was building a front porch at Mek Kia’s house. By the time we arrived at Mek Kia’s house, the construction materials were already outside her house. However, we couldn’t find Pak Awang at the house, so we spent some time waiting. After Pak Awang came, all of us immediately got to work.
Firstly, all of us participated in making indications of where the pillar should be using strings and a tube filled with rose syrup, which was used as an indication of whether the level from the reference point is at the same level.
Next, we dug a hole that was waist deep under the strings for the pillar. However, after we erected the pillar, we encountered a problem and had to move the pillar out, make new indentations of the location of the pillar and re-dig the hole for that pillar.
We then next went on to making the frame of the roof, using wooden planks and went for lunch at Kak Ta’s house. .After lunch, we went back to Mek Kia’s house to continue with the community work. We moved the asbestos onto the roof frame we built and nailed it.
Afterwards, we went to the provision shop then back to our accommodation to rest, and ended the day with dinner. The entire process of construction was not easy. Just by doing a little, I learnt that the houses we live in, in HDB’s shouldn’t be taken for granted and that we must always appreciate those that spend all their effort and energy standing in the sun and toiling to build things.
Apart from community work we also did mangrove replanting with primary school kids! It was refreshing to do a different form of community activity. I really enjoyed the activity of replanting the mangroves as well as teaching the kids there about the importance of mangrove replanting and hows we as Orion members are able to impact the community and the environment at the same time. Personally I learnt a lot about mangroves and their habitat. The place where we were supposed to replant the mangroves already had previously planted mangroves from prior projects. The waters were very shallow and the environment resembled a swamp. The mangrove saplings were very small and needed a lot of care before they could be replanted.
I also learnt that the mangroves were native to the wetlands of Setiu. Hence by replanting them, we are helping the environment on land and not only the marine life in the sea. I can recall that on the morning of Day 5, everyone had to get up early in the morning to cycle to the mangroves for our joint mangrove replanting activity with 2 primary schools. Together with the students, we waded into the waters to plant our saplings. We interacted with the kids and found out that they knew about our project and even respected that we are helping their environment. After their mangrove replanting experience, their principal addressed them about us and our aims. They also congratulated us on 10 years of project Orion. Following this, they all proceeded to carry out the next activity which was area clean-up.
Next, Everyone joined in to clear the area of trash and organic material such as coconut husks. It was heartening to see the students enjoy themselves while engaging in the activities. While this activity may not have had a major lasting impact on the mangroves, the students were able to learn about the importance of mangrove conservation and environmental responsibility, which is likely to have a larger impact in the future. The whole place was properly cleaned and looked amazing after both schools decided to clean them together. I only facilitated that kids and ensure that they did not pick up and dangerous things like glass bottles from the ground. After the clean up all the kids were tired and exhausted from all the activities. Yet the smiled and cheered while taking the group photo with us and when leaving in the van from the place.
No comments:
Post a Comment