Building Projects

If you’re the sort of volunteer that wants to see a tangible result then building is for you. You’ll find yourself contributing to vital community development projects, which help a wide range of needy people. You might be building a school, a home, an art center, a shed or any other structure you can think. Come prepared knowing that you’ll be doing hard manual labor day in and day out, but you will walk away from the project and see the valuable work you’ve done.
 
If this sounds great but you’re a bit worried because you’ve never picked up a hammer – never fear! You don’t need be an engineer or electrician to contribute on a building project; most providers will teach you about safety on the construction site as well as the basics of how to use tools and how a house/shed/barn is built.
 
You’ll then most likely be delegated to an area of construction where you feel most comfortable, if saws just petrify you then you’ll probably be on nailing duty. Remember with the building projects their end goal is to have a structure that will stand on its own and serve its intended purpose, the community doesn’t want you doing a job you’re not comfortable with, they’ll only have to fix it later.
 
If you’re an artsy sort of person you might love painting the structure when it’s done. There are plenty of development projects that refurbish dance and art centers, for those of you with a creative bug this is your chance to break out those stencils and liven up the walls.
 
Building projects are wonderful for first time volunteers, they are fairly straight forward and you will see the results of your labor quite quickly. Just be warned that even though you are a ‘volunteer’ you will be expected to take your project seriously and work a full day in the heat/rain/wind. Your muscles might be sore after that first day of construction, but the benefits of seeing your host family move into their new home will far outweigh the pain.