May 27th: Last day of construction on the women's washroom project

We woke up early today and were treated to a breakfast of rice flakes made my our house mother, Saneha. Then we drove straight to the worksite, a few small villages away for our last day of construction. The masons and kids waved at our car as soon as it turned off the main road and down the short bumpy path to the location of the almost-finished bathroom. Man, are we ever going to miss this place!

We hopped out of the car and went straight to work, comfortable with the routine now. We mix "masala" (aka cement) with shovels and water from the nearby water trough that the cows drink out of. We carry the cement in "tagaris" (aka small metal bowls about the size of ones people use to bake cakes and cookies) on our heads and up steps made out of bricks up to the foundation of the new bathroom. We spread the cement on top of brick layers with metal tools resembling spatulas and we lay the bricks, lining them up with strings.

The day went by quickly and we had so much fun with the kids today. We stacked bricks around a small boy named Rahul who stood still and giggled as he began to be trapped in a rectangular brick box. We played Stella Stella Ola and drank chai our of small plastic cups and when it finally came to say goodbye for the final time we gave hugs all around and waved goodbye through the car window with tears in our eyes.

This is a photo of Shankar and Shanta, two of the villagers working with us and their two sons, during a chai break.

Though the bathroom is not complete, it is almost finished, with just a roof and some more stalls to build. We can't wait to see the finished product via photos or maybe even in person if we ever return to India!

Vita Sackvill-Hii
DWC U30 Team Leader
Banediya, India: May 2014