Habitat for Humanity Build 2004 (Korat, Thailand)

nickmak · 22nd October 2004

Hi,

From the 15th to 20th October, 20 students and 3 teachers from my school in Bangkok went to Korat, the North-East (Issan) of Thailand to build a home for the needy. Being the President for Habitat for Humanity Bangkok Patana, the first local HFH (Habitat For Humanity) affiliate, I would like to show all of you the work that we have done over the five days.

Here is a picture of the group:
#1

Ignore the completed house in the background.... This was the only group photo where we were all staring at the same camera!

Meet the soon-to-be homeowner:
#2

Pictured with the homeowner is his son, named Nondh

This man is a truck driver and is rarely home. His wife and the other 7 family members are temporary labourers and they have a total income of 8000 baht per month, appoximately S$450. They managed to contact Habitat for Humanity through the district and we built the house for the family.

The family's current home:
#3

Made of corrugated sheet metal, the house always leaks in the rainy season and they are practically homeless during this time.

The house that our group was building:
#4

The foundations and the roof had been put in place for us. All we had to do was dig a 1.6 metre toilet hole, make cement and finish the house. Because this was a 5 day event, we had to pick up where the others had left off.

To be continued....

nickmak · 22nd October 2004

All prepared for the day!
#5

Wrapping his head with a cloth, the whole group dubbed Tone, the name of the guy pictured here, 'Tone Laden'!

The hard work begins:
#6

Initially when we went for the work orientation, the digging of the toilet hole shown here looked easy... Apparently not!

Concentration:
#7

A student carefully laying cement for the next lot of bricks to be laid onto it.

The hole after Day 1:
#8

After about 8 hours of continuous digging in mud and clay, my team, dubbed the 'Toilet Crew' had managed to get to the 1 metre mark... 50 cm to go...

Continued

nickmak · 22nd October 2004

Day 2: The 'Toilet Crew' finishes the hole and the septic tank is put in place.
#9

A gauge to show how deep the hole went: The guy pictured here is 180cm. That's how much we dug!

Taking the toilet for a test drive:
#10

Of course, we had to test out the toilet to see if it works! By the way, that's the vice president testing the toilet!

Dedication at work!
#11

I was really proud of this lot of students. They really put in all their effort to this job. They really enjoyerd it thoroughly.

A peek into the house:
#12

These two girls take a look at the work they had done and are really happy about it. They were really proud of their acheivement!

Continued...

jlchong · 22nd October 2004

Hey nickmak,

Nice series of pics you have got there, especially pic #2. The man seems happy and contented, even though he hasn't got a lot. Certainly makes me think about the rat race we have over here...

Well, seems like you are having a pretty fulfilling time in Thailand. Taking pictures for your school and doing charity work that involves more than just holding out tin cans. haha...

nickmak · 22nd October 2004

The pose:
#13

Taking a long breath, a student poses...

Preparing the new home:
#14

A student from my grade looks out the window and made an interesting shot.

Babysitting:
#15

A student takes care of the homeowner's son while he is helping with the build.

The completed house!
#16

After a tiring five days, the house was complete. The walls were built up ready for rendering; the floor had been smoothened out and the cement had been set.

Comments are appreciated.

CYRN · 22nd October 2004

Your pic #11 IMHO, sums it all.

Improvement on the pic is that it'll be better if the guys on the background are also shown working.

nightwolf75 · 22nd October 2004

excellent series!

is ur school going to use ur pics as an exhibition of wat u folks did?

caseytan · 22nd October 2004

nice shots, but i hope you spent more time on helping to build the house than taking pics

TMC · 22nd October 2004

This is a good series. To me you gotten the overall feeling of the project. Just hope your friends didnt complain about you taking too many pictures and not doing as much building.

jbma · 22nd October 2004

The reason he volunteer to be the photographer is so that the does not have to do much work haha

. No offence Nick...just kidding.

nickmak · 22nd October 2004

Originally Posted by jbma

The reason he volunteer to be the photographer is so that the does not have to do much work haha. No offence Nick...just kidding.

Haha!!!

Guys!! Grrr... hehe...

No lah, I didn't only do the photography for the trip. I AM the president for this club and I actually spent more time building than shooting!

This is a great opportunity for me to help with charity work on a BIG scale!

Cheers you guys and have a nice day!
Nick

Drudkh · 22nd October 2004

Originally Posted by nickmak

Haha!!! Guys!! Grrr... hehe...

No lah, I didn't only do the photography for the trip. I AM the president for this club and I actually spent more time building than shooting!

This is a great opportunity for me to help with charity work on a BIG scale!

Cheers you guys and have a nice day!
Nick

Good for you! Very nice work and I enjoy viewing as well.

nickmak · 22nd October 2004

CYRN: I also wished the guys had been working too, but the girls were carrying a whole bucket full of cement and I doubt they would be happy with me if I told them to pose!

nightwolf: Hey bro! Well, I am going to do a massive presentation to my whole school about the build including pictures and a video presentation.

Drudkh: Thanks for your kind comments.

nickmak · 22nd October 2004

Oh by the way, I really have to thank the sealing on the 1DMKII. I had another teacher who took along a EOS300 and at the end of the trip, her camera was filled with so much dust and dirt you could feel the grinding of the dirt when the shutter button was pressed!

amirhamzah1980 · 22nd October 2004

heyyy bro . . .

da poject was from ur instuition ?

great job done towards a good course . . .

well done n all da best

regards

nickmak · 22nd October 2004

Originally Posted by amirhamzah1980

heyyy bro . . .

da poject was from ur instuition ?

great job done towards a good course . . .

well done n all da best

regards

Hi,

This organization is from the US and is known throughout the world. A friend and I started a club, and using our school as our backing, we managed to be an authorized local chapter in Thailand.

This build was a school-sponsored build. We needed 100,000 baht to build this house and we were lucky to raise the money in time for the build. I really like charity work, especially these type of charity work, partly because there's a sense of pride and acheivement to be felt when the house was done. I've done the hold-a-tin-can-in-the-streets work but didn't feel as much sense of acheivement as I had building the house. We could see the results and the emotions of the people who have benefited from this.

Cheers,
Nick

sensires · 22nd October 2004

Originally Posted by nickmak

Hi,

This organization is from the US and is known throughout the world. A friend and I started a club, and using our school as our backing, we managed to be an authorized local chapter in Thailand.

This build was a school-sponsored build. We needed 100,000 baht to build this house and we were lucky to raise the money in time for the build. I really like charity work, especially these type of charity work, partly because there's a sense of pride and acheivement to be felt when the house was done. I've done the hold-a-tin-can-in-the-streets work but didn't feel as much sense of acheivement as I had building the house. We could see the results and the emotions of the people who have benefited from this.

Cheers,
Nick

Good on you Nick!! Proud of you!!

nickmak · 22nd October 2004

Originally Posted by sensires

Good on you Nick!! Proud of you!!

Thanks!!

I hope to have more of these trips soon... Well, it would be very likely to happen because of such a high response to this build! Anyone want to join?

Regards,
Nick

sehsuan · 22nd October 2004

number 3 would be my sole pick.

for 6, you could have asked your friends to pause for a while, then using your wide angle lens, shoot upwards in a similar stance/pose, and show your friends at work. if you noticed, you seem to only have less than four or so photos of the actual work. no doubt you were working too, but the mind must keep on churnin'...

a decent set, nevertheless.

nickmak · 22nd October 2004

Originally Posted by sehsuan

number 3 would be my sole pick.

for 6, you could have asked your friends to pause for a while, then using your wide angle lens, shoot upwards in a similar stance/pose, and show your friends at work. if you noticed, you seem to only have less than four or so photos of the actual work. no doubt you were working too, but the mind must keep on churnin'...

a decent set, nevertheless.

Thanks for your comments sehsuan!

Yeah true that I have few photos about the work, but I felt the work was one thing, and that there were also other bits of the trip that interested me. Maybe I should add more working pictures to this set... Didn't wanna bore anyone here...

22nd October 2004	#1
nickmak Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: London, UK Posts: 2,366	Habitat for Humanity Build 2004 (Korat, Thailand) Hi, From the 15th to 20th October, 20 students and 3 teachers from my school in Bangkok went to Korat, the North-East (Issan) of Thailand to build a home for the needy. Being the President for Habitat for Humanity Bangkok Patana, the first local HFH (Habitat For Humanity) affiliate, I would like to show all of you the work that we have done over the five days. Here is a picture of the group: #1 Ignore the completed house in the background.... This was the only group photo where we were all staring at the same camera! Meet the soon-to-be homeowner: #2 Pictured with the homeowner is his son, named Nondh This man is a truck driver and is rarely home. His wife and the other 7 family members are temporary labourers and they have a total income of 8000 baht per month, appoximately S$450. They managed to contact Habitat for Humanity through the district and we built the house for the family. The family's current home: #3 Made of corrugated sheet metal, the house always leaks in the rainy season and they are practically homeless during this time. The house that our group was building: #4 The foundations and the roof had been put in place for us. All we had to do was dig a 1.6 metre toilet hole, make cement and finish the house. Because this was a 5 day event, we had to pick up where the others had left off. To be continued.... __________________ *The equipment can only bring you so far - the rest of the photographic journey is done by you.*

22nd October 2004	#2
nickmak Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: London, UK Posts: 2,366	Continued All prepared for the day! #5 Wrapping his head with a cloth, the whole group dubbed Tone, the name of the guy pictured here, 'Tone Laden'! The hard work begins: #6 Initially when we went for the work orientation, the digging of the toilet hole shown here looked easy... Apparently not! Concentration: #7 A student carefully laying cement for the next lot of bricks to be laid onto it. The hole after Day 1: #8 After about 8 hours of continuous digging in mud and clay, my team, dubbed the 'Toilet Crew' had managed to get to the 1 metre mark... 50 cm to go... Continued __________________ *The equipment can only bring you so far - the rest of the photographic journey is done by you.*

22nd October 2004	#3
nickmak Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: London, UK Posts: 2,366	Continued Day 2: The 'Toilet Crew' finishes the hole and the septic tank is put in place. #9 A gauge to show how deep the hole went: The guy pictured here is 180cm. That's how much we dug! Taking the toilet for a test drive: #10 Of course, we had to test out the toilet to see if it works! By the way, that's the vice president testing the toilet! Dedication at work! #11 I was really proud of this lot of students. They really put in all their effort to this job. They really enjoyerd it thoroughly. A peek into the house: #12 These two girls take a look at the work they had done and are really happy about it. They were really proud of their acheivement! Continued... __________________ *The equipment can only bring you so far - the rest of the photographic journey is done by you.*

22nd October 2004	#4
jlchong Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Redhill Posts: 435	Hey nickmak, Nice series of pics you have got there, especially pic #2. The man seems happy and contented, even though he hasn't got a lot. Certainly makes me think about the rat race we have over here... Well, seems like you are having a pretty fulfilling time in Thailand. Taking pictures for your school and doing charity work that involves more than just holding out tin cans. haha...

22nd October 2004	#5
nickmak Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: London, UK Posts: 2,366	Continued The pose: #13 Taking a long breath, a student poses... Preparing the new home: #14 A student from my grade looks out the window and made an interesting shot. Babysitting: #15 A student takes care of the homeowner's son while he is helping with the build. The completed house! #16 After a tiring five days, the house was complete. The walls were built up ready for rendering; the floor had been smoothened out and the cement had been set. Comments are appreciated. __________________ *The equipment can only bring you so far - the rest of the photographic journey is done by you.*

22nd October 2004	#6
CYRN Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 4,483	Your pic #11 IMHO, sums it all. Improvement on the pic is that it'll be better if the guys on the background are also shown working. __________________ Photoevangel - Gallery - Photography Evangelism : Spreading the Good photography.

22nd October 2004	#7
nightwolf75 Moderator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: in bet MORE diaper changes... Posts: 14,571	excellent series! is ur school going to use ur pics as an exhibition of wat u folks did? __________________ When did ignorance become a point of view? - Dilbert budget AD/ROM shooter, anyone?

22nd October 2004	#8
caseytan Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: w o o d l a n d s Posts: 631	nice shots, but i hope you spent more time on helping to build the house than taking pics

22nd October 2004	#9
TMC Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Beyond Space-Time Continuum Posts: 5,921	This is a good series. To me you gotten the overall feeling of the project. Just hope your friends didnt complain about you taking too many pictures and not doing as much building. __________________ Selling: 32GB Thumbdrive - Patriot Xporter XT 120sgd (Price reduced)

22nd October 2004	#10
jbma Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Tampines Posts: 3,315	The reason he volunteer to be the photographer is so that the does not have to do much work haha. No offence Nick...just kidding.

22nd October 2004	#15
amirhamzah1980 Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: eastern side . . . Posts: 250	heyyy bro . . . da poject was from ur instuition ? great job done towards a good course . . . well done n all da best regards

22nd October 2004	#19
sehsuan Deregistered Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Singapore Posts: 6,674	number 3 would be my sole pick. for 6, you could have asked your friends to pause for a while, then using your wide angle lens, shoot upwards in a similar stance/pose, and show your friends at work. if you noticed, you seem to only have less than four or so photos of the actual work. no doubt you were working too, but the mind must keep on churnin'... a decent set, nevertheless.