In case you did not know there was a recent trip to Mareroro to start house building. However, this trip was not to complete the houses, but an effort to speed up the house building for when the team arrives from the States in September. Matt Dodd, Zach Cann and I decided that it would be a productive use of our time to start this and being on the backside of the work I am thankful we did it!
“Do we have everything?” That is the question to ask when you are building houses in the middle of the Jungles of Papua New Guinea. Last I checked Home Depot is still around 7000 miles away and the local hardware stores do not have all the fancy gizmos that we are accustomed to in the States. The last thing you want is a project to end because you were not prepared. At the same time it is impossible to be prepared for everything. With this in mind we set off for the hardest work that we have had as a team thus far.
We had around 18 – 20 tons of timber, tools, hardware and supplies that needed to get from Madang to Mareroro. It would depart Madang to a costal town called Biliau and then be shuttled in by helicopter. It took five days, two flatbed trucks, one forklift, two boat rides and 30 people to get it to Biliau and then moved (by hand) to a soccer field for transport. I threw up so many times on the boat ride I half expected the kitchen sink to come up. In light of this Matt Dodd went back on the second boat ride while Zach and I stayed in Biliau (I was extremely thankful)!
We shuttled supplies Monday through Thursday. There were at least 30 guys from Mareroro who came to help move items – we would still be in Biliau if they had not come! SIL had us break the loads up into 400 – 500KG groups and we flew them out one by one. I was the guy in charge of the loads Monday through Wednesday, then Matt took over so I could fly in and start working on the post layouts for the houses. The flights were so smooth and well timed. The pilots did a great job of navigating Mareroro as they dropped sling loads. As the items arrived in Mareroro they were quickly shuttled under a temporary shelter with a tarp for its roof. The local guys made with bamboo and it was impressive to watch.
On Thursday we were done and all three of us were in the tribe! We thanked God for moving everything into the village and started working on the Dodd’s house. The first item was setting up all the post marking lines with mason line. We made little football goalposts that held the mason line. This allowed us to measure out the post locations and quickly move the lines until everything was square and plumb. After it was plumb we marked the post locations on the ground so we could start digging. The digging was done with iron bars and shovels and the Mareroro guys know how to dig holes! It was not long before everything was dug (fro both houses) and ready for concrete.
We mixed concrete in 4 large bowls. They were big enough to give at least two little kids a bath! We had been in Mareroro two weeks before and asked the people to collect stones and sand for the concrete. As we started mixing concrete it was obvious we were not going to have enough stones and the sand was going to be close as well. As we mixed concrete we kept telling people that we needed more stones. When we got to the point that we only had a few holes left we were out of stones. Zach and I (along with other women from the tribe) started walking around the village collecting stones on the ground to complete the concrete. Around 6:00PM we were done! It was the hardest work of the house!
The next day was Sunday and we decided to start work again on Monday. We used a laser on a tripod to mark all the posts for level and cut them as they were marked. After they were cut we attached posts to the concrete bases (with metal strap that was cemented in). At the end of the day we had most of the posts attached as well as some girding beams. The next day was the completion of the girding beams and we moved on to floor trusses. We found that the Mareroro guys were lethally accurate with a hammer and a nail. As a result we had three guys with hammers on the floor attaching all the floor trusses. It did not take long for them to complete it. The following day we moved onto cross bracing the posts and then started work on the tongue and groove flooring. But alas as I said before “Did we have everything?” we were short around 20,000 nails for the air nailer so we but the kibosh on the flooring until the house building crew comes.
After the first house we did a mini celebration, but not for long because we had to move on to the next house. I can still remember Zach talking about starting the concrete the following day and me saying, “but Zach, you’re asking us to die!” I said this because the concrete was the hardest and most exhausting job on the Dodd’s house and we were about to repeat that terribleness all over again. The next morning we got up at 6:00 and were mixing concrete by 7:00AM. We mixed and ran out of stone again but God provided what we needed. By the end of the day we had completed the concrete for the second house!
The next morning we marked and cut posts, attached them and started a few girding beams. The following day we finished the girding beams and had all the floor trusses completed as well! It was amazing how fast the second house went because we were all familiar with the what we were doing. We took a break on Sunday again and finished the cross braces and some small issues on the following Monday then headed for home.
The next day we hiked for 9.5 hours (non-stop) until we reached the beaches of Biliau! It was long and exhausting but worth the trip because we were heading home to see our families. I have taken this hike three times in my life and it always blows my mind how mentally tiring it can be. You feel like you just keep going and going and then, when you think you are there – you’re not. Praise God the road eventually does end and you are able to rest. This was the longest that I had been away from Lorie and I missed her and the kids dearly. The following morning we got up and were in Madang by 9:30AM.
Then, as soon as the work had all begun it was completed! Success! It was a joy to build the foundations for the two houses and be better prepared for the house building team to show up. We are now in the process of getting everything ready for the second phase (and Lord willing final phase) or house building. Pray that Lord would bring to mind all the things that we need to bring to get it completed. Pray that in the next two months there will be two completed houses in the tribe of Mareroro. Pray that those houses will be used for the purpose of preaching the gospel with the result that the people of Mareroro will know Jesus Christ!
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