Building Community
It started with a phone call from Siew Ling.
He needed help to build a toilet for a community hall. He and Chai Si Yong have recently roped me in to help with their community engagement projects. Each of us have special interest and skills - in sourcing for projects and funding, in initiating design solutions, in finding volunteers and collaborators, in carrying the works on-site, in generating public awareness and so forth.
Drawings for talking about materials, sequencing and buildability by volunteer labour
The site was in a swampy area near the river; access was difficult, the plank-walk into the kampong was in bad shape. We had to concentrate walking along the beams and not the floorboards, many of which were rotten, broken or both. His church has been conducting tuition classes in the community hall, and the lack of toilet meant the children had to dash home each time they needed to use the toilet.
Initial drawings were prepared to call for materials and labour
We called out for volunteers and collaborators; many responded offering to help with the ‘build’. Some donated building materials and expertise while others volunteered to pay for protective gear such as gloves and gum-boots, and lunch for the ‘builders’. A donor from West Malaysia donated RM 200 specifically for ais-krim potong (ice lollies).
Preparing the foundations is hard work, made harder by a dirty site
Our littlest helper
We were guided by the skilled workers, after that we guided each other
The floor frame is pre-fabricated in the hall, then hoisted and bolted in place
Surplus purlins were used to create a privacy screen
Later that month, we added a tank to harvest rainwater from the roof of the community hall
Three weekends later, the toilet was completed.
I think we have stretched the commitment of our fellows volunteers. If we have gone on for another Saturday, it is safe to say that no one would have showed up, including myself. One thing we have learnt is that is is easiest to get volunteers to join you if you are one of the volunteers prepared to put in 'sweat equity'.
Three weekends’ work
As happy as pigs in mud
The second lesson is that projects such as this are not entirely about the building, it is about creating an event where social issues such as the lack of public amenities, housing and educational support can be highlighted. It is also about creating a platform for people to come together for a common good - their names, age, stature in society is not important.
Charity should be anonymous.
Video credit: Chai Si Yong