Building Weekend 11th-13th March 2011

By Natalie Baker

Well, the building weekends were one of the features of the program that I was very excited about. A chance to learn some practical skills!

It was great to go as a Juelsminde team first of all, and though I slept for a lot of the journey it felt like we were a proper team part of something bigger than the Juelsminde Dayschool bubble that we work in. First memory that strikes me is Ellens (the headmistresses) impressive driving skills of the school bus with a full trailer on the back over extremely muddy roads. Upon arrival in the near dark still quite pooped it was great to get started on the first evening with our plans for the weekend. When volunteering for jobs and hearing the need for one handy WO-man accomplice, I did not feel that I was qualified but wanted to go for it. With some encouragement from Justyna our DI teacher, I put my hand bolt upright looking a bit overeager with other volunteers suspiciously quiet in volunteering for this task. 

So early Saturday morning I jogged after Kim the handyman striding away to the red house where I observed Kim pulling down and analysing a couple of bathroom ceiling panels. He then pottered around doing his own thing, and I realised that I would have to get used to not being told exactly what to do and just get on with it. And so I removed all the panels and about all of the nails from the ceiling whilst he disappeared to the shops without warning. After break he came back with some plywood for re-ceiling and put a couple up with my assistance, and then once again I was on my own left to put up the rest of the ceiling and perfect my skills with the electric screwdriver. And then I had it down and the ceiling up! Much to my happiness.

The next task was once again given little instruction, with my job to take off some door skirting, insulate a blocked off door and then fix some plywood over. A little more difficult than I had realised with it being fixed with screws, but after much huffing and puffing I completed this task. Following this I was to put some skirting around the outside of the pole house. This was harder once again than I thought, and I learnt to appreciate the effort that goes into even small aesthetic details of a building. 

On the whole this experience gave me the opportunity to appreciate that every small task takes practise and hard work to get it right. Also it made me realise not only that I am capable if I give myself the chance and benefit of the doubt, and that I was able to get on with tasks quickly because I listened to that small instruction that I got carefully, and then used common sense to fill in the gaps. 

I also really enjoyed the opportunity to be part of a bigger group of working volunteers and do something practical. It is amazing to see how a lot of hands can be a powerful force when all together!