Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter / Habitat for Humanity Work Project in Chiang Mai

Rachel and I were privileged last week to be able to take part in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter / Habitat for Humanity Work Project here in Chiang Mai. The project was a coordinated "blitz build" across locations in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and China. In Thailand alone, Habitat volunteers built a new community consisting of 82 new homes for low-income families. (The foundations were done when we arrived; we put up the walls, roofing, windows & doors, etc.) Literally thousands of volunteers took part from all over the world, including President Carter himself, who helped build a house down the street from the one I worked on. We'll post more later, but here are some pictures from the week.

Rachel with part of the team from House 34. These volunteers (and several thousand others) worked through 100-degree heat for five days to build homes for low-income families in northern Thailand. (Check back for Rachel's comments on her experience in the next few days.)

Here's me (back row, fourth from the left) with the team from House 5 on the first day of construction. The new homeowner, Kanchana Nimphisut, is in the front row, second from the left. She worked along with the rest of the crew every minute of the construction process; in fact, I almost never saw her take a break.

Former President Jimmy Carter installs a door latch at a new home down the street from where I worked. Over the course of the week I watched the former president and his wife carry buckets of concrete, stack bricks and sweep floors along with the rest of us. Pretty amazing considering that he's 84 years old. (Reminded me of Grandpa Thompson, actually...)

President Carter arrives at the closing ceremony for the event. Rachel and I sat a couple of tables over from him and his wife (and a whole bunch of Secret Service guys). The closing ceremony featured traditional Thai dancing and a heartfelt speech from one of the new homeowners.

I know this post won't convey the scope of the effort that went into the Habitat work project, or the gratitude that Rachel and I felt to have been involved. Like I said, we'll try to post more later. But the generosity of the volunteers, the spirit of teamwork at the site, and the sheer logistical magnitude of the project were truly awe-inspiring. We've had an absolutely incredible experience here in Chiang Mai so far, and the Habitat project was truly one of the highlights. Check back for Rachel's comments later this week.