So it’s 6.30pm, my back hurts and I am TIRED… but its a good tired. One of the things I love about the construction project is that there is some satisfaction in just doing a job – but there is also the satisfaction of making a tangible physical difference. It’s is not just a point in time. It’s the feeling I’ve gotten from building data centers as well.

Today I spent the day by myself (only volunteer doing temple school construction today) building a wall for a store-room and prepping the floor for cement pouring. It’s not easy hand mixing quite a bit of cement – and moving 50-80 breeze blocks is also tiring. I worked from 10-Noon, then 12.40-2.30pm before it was called a day. I can understand why – it was 34C/94F. The spot in the morning is fully in the sun and it is hot. I think they worry about volunteers getting heat exhaustion.

Lunch was at a little roadside open restaurant.

One of my favorite memories of the day has to be a troop of 5 to 7 year olds lining up in front of their teacher. They then individually had the teacher cut open their juice package, hand them their straw and a little handful of chocolate sticks. They then sat down and had their snacks. They were adorable.

The school is funded by the government for Hill tribe children, many of the children sleep in a big green building on the end of the school. They are actively building more sleeping rooms. The children only go home for a few weeks a year. I haven’t seen anyone over I would say 3-12. There are 90 children there.