ACCT House Building Mission Trip in Allambaraikuppam: 20 – 27 May 2006.

“It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you”: An Introduction

Sr. Vic Fernandez, during the group orientation held on our first Sunday in Chennai, highlighted the fact that it was by no coincidence that the group of us – also including Andeana Ee, Darren Ee, Fr. Colin Tan SJ, Jean Thoh, Joseph Lee, Jocelyne Loh, Rosa Lim, Shalini Lawani, Ted Gambogi, Terence Lam, Vincent Lim, and myself – were gathered together for this house building mission trip. Coming from diverse backgrounds, we were a miscellaneous grouping of God given talents and strengths. Chosen and appointed to go and bear “fruit that will remain”, each of us was placing great hope on the Lord, that through this mission trip, He would continue to leave His indelible imprint, not only in the lives of people affected by the devastating tsunami, but also in our own.

Many of us performed a leap of faith in coming for the trip. I had no expectations of the trip – I hoped only to perform to the best of my ability, any task that was assigned to me – my unfortunate team mates can pick up where my own effort and ability fails me! It was also comforting to know that the team had two very competent leaders, catering to our every whim and worry – Darren, the team leader, and Tina Kiehn, the Habitat for Humanity India (HFHI) Host Coordinator.

“The Holy Spirit will teach you everything”: Valuable lessons

The site of the tsunami-hit Allambaraikuppam village, which fronts the sea, is now filled with temporary thatched houses, and the still habitable remains of old concrete homes. In contrast, the new village is being built closer inland to provide the villagers greater protection against the possible fury of the sea.

Over five days, we were involved in various jobs – ranging from the ones which required more finesse, like brick laying and plastering, to those which demanded sheer strength, like mortar mixing. While we were initially assigned to groups, each with a specific task and location,

we quickly learnt to be flexible – searching for jobs where manpower was demanded. Together with the masons and some women from the village, we were a hive of activity, spread over three different houses at any given time.

Bricks were efficiently transported to the uncompleted houses via a human chain. Brick tossing was surprisingly back breaking! It did not help that most of my team-mates were making the whole process look so easy. I was, literally, the weakest link, and not surprisingly, I was involved in accidents aplenty.

Amidst the relentless apologies, I became better friends with my victims. I also realised that, while the immediate challenge then was for me to understand and communicate with the non-English speaking masons and villagers, it was also critical that I was able to accommodate the limitations and idiosyncrasies of each individual in the team, just as I wanted my team-mates to accept my weaknesses. 

Plastering was especially memorable for all the wrong reasons. For successful plastering, the worker required consummate flicking skills and a good grasp of the characteristic of the plaster. More often than not, it was plain exasperating. After painstaking effort had been invested into flicking the prior layers onto the wall, watching a chunk of plaster falling off the wall was heartbreaking, as Rosa, Jocelyne and myself can attest to.

While Fr. Colin, Jean, and Ted managed to garner enough finesse to tackle one parapet wall after another, lesser beings had to be content with the masons re-plastering everything for them. While I was aware that the masons were far superior to us because of their vast experience, I could not deny the feelings of dejection and frustration nonetheless.

Still, like my team-mates, I was appreciative of the genuine willingness of the masons to share their knowledge and expertise with us. They made every effort to keep us involved, even if it translated into more errors they had to correct later. I overheard Steven, a HFHI site engineer telling Sr. Vic that “it was [their] pleasure to be able to teach [us]”. Was it a case of, as Ted jokingly highlighted, Indian workers finally getting their opportunity to lord over the supposedly superior foreigners? Certainly, I should think not!

Indeed, there was so much to learn from the locals. In various ways, they displayed that beneath their smiling demeanours, laid their indomitable spirit. Seasoned by the vagaries of their lives, they were a picture of unwavering strength.

Even under the relentless sun, they worked so ceaselessly, putting us, who had to take tea breaks, to shame. Shalini was deeply moved by the remarkable stoicism displayed by a villager. Despite dropping a brick on her leg, the latter had nary a word of complaint. In their unconditional acceptance of our help in building the new houses, the locals also demonstrated their utmost trust in our abilities. To Joseph, a hardened Senior Officer in the Prisons Department, the people’s trust struck a deep cord with him.

It was also easy to miss the village women, who hovered silently in the background. However, in the smallest tasks, they made their presence felt. We would find our mortar pans refilled, the dwindling brick count topped up, and the water drum replenished. For me, their actions were a sobering call to humility – there was no necessity in being involved in the “glamorous and important” jobs, even more so if I lacked the prerequisite skills. A task – however simple – which is undertaken with utmost sincerity and effort, contributes ultimately to the bigger picture. More importantly, humility reverberates the love of God around.  

The team had various opportunities to meet the children, not only of Allambaraikuppam, but also at Mudaliarkuppam and Koonimedukuppam – two other tsunami wrecked villages which HFHI was working with. The children were greatly enamoured with having their photographs taken. It was virtually impossible to snap a proper photograph of them because other children will be darting into the viewfinder at the very last moment.

Their gleeful giggles at seeing themselves in the viewfinder spoke of their untold simplicity and innocence. There were myriad opportunities for fun and happiness that the daily hardship of living in makeshift homes could never remove. The thrill of having their images captured within a modern device temporarily restored the youthful exuberance that the tsunami snatched from them two years ago.

Perhaps, because of the children’s simplicity and trust, we saw in them the living face of God. Towards them, the team members extended a genuine, heartfelt compassion that transcended mere pity. In a comical, but no less tender, moment, two boys, together with some other friends, approached Ted when they spied him treating a bloody cut he had sustained. We returned to the rest shed for a mid-morning break, only to see a queue of children in front of “Doctor Ted”, who was, with his brows furrowed in concentration, tending to their wounds and cuts.

Final Reflections

Admirably, we remained steadfast in our commitment to the house building effort. We represented the care and compassion of the outside world to the villagers. By our presence, we gave them new impetus for life. Those who were previously reluctant to help out with the building were spurred into action because “if the foreigners could do it, so can I!” To less sceptical villagers who were enthusiastically awaiting the volunteer help promised by HFHI, we were proof that people, who cared enough to help, did exist. Joseph even had inspired locals asking him if he was in the construction profession back in Singapore!

It suffices to point out that we have forged a relationship of reciprocity with the locals. The physical effort that we have invested has brought the villagers closer to their goal of ultimately moving into their new homes by October. Correspondingly, the experience of working with the locals has given us new growth that can never be adequately captured in mere words.

Despite the apparent hardship, the three villages resonate with hope for the future, which is best exemplified by the children in the communities. They fill their villages with life, whether they are running around or enjoying a game of cricket in the village square. They appear too young to understand that the experience could be far from over. Still, together with the resilience of the adults around them, they smother the despair that the tsunami permeated two years ago.

Our paths have crossed – will we meet the villagers, or for that matter, members of this mission trip again? Were we gathered for a reason? How have this chance meeting changed each and every one of us? These are questions I still ponder upon. In the words of Sr. Vic, we have become a part of the villagers’ history, as much as they have become a part of ours. The only certainty I take with me is that, like the words inscribed on the plague at the entrance of the main church hall of the Santhome Cathedral we visited in Chennai, the trip, has filled our lives with missionary zeal, and hope for our own future.