Alpine Initiatives: Chippin' away.

The past 4 days JP, a couple of our co-workers and I have been armed with hammers and chisels. Our task, to chip the floors of the kitchen. This entails hammering out little holes all over the concrete slab to give a texture to the surface so the mortar that will be laid on top has something to bond to. The process of continually hammering is tiring on the arms, annoying to the ears, aches the back and painful to the thumbs. In the beginning the moment focus is lost one usually misses the chisel and strikes their thumb, which after many really hurts and starts to leave a mark. Our co-workers laugh and say this is the mark of Kenya, as they all have one as well. As the days passed we got better and better and it was easy to focus on the task while giving time to think.

As I was hammering away, in between shots to my thumbs, I realized how much time, effort, and sweat I had put into that exact spot. Chiseling away had a strong similarity to the smashing of rocks, which lay beneath the slab we were now indenting. Instead of being armed with a large mallet to perform the task of turning large stones into gravel, we now were armed with small hammers and chisels and were in a sense doing the same thing. Below that exists layers of dirt and stone that were gathered from all over the property and thrown within the foundation. The foundation itself was a huge task as we dug the trenches with shovels, pick axes, and crow bars. Then, we were the machine that mixed the concrete after collecting wheel barrow after wheelbarrow of sand, gravel, and cement bags. Each step was done for the same purpose of adding another level or layer to the building being transformed into the kitchen responsible for feeding the children of KACH.

This kitchen at the Kithoka Amani Community Home is not only the place where I have done the hardest work of my life, but it is a spot has come to represent so much to me. It represents all of the Kenyans that we have bonded with through hard work and with who our relationships grow each and everyday. We have truly morphed from strangers to co-workers, from co-workers to friends, and from friends to brothers. It represents the kids who will soon be able to call a place home, the ones who on a materialistic level have next to nothing, yet are so inspiring as they so easily give away their beautiful smiles, giving a true feeling to as what this place is about. It represents the community that we have become a part of, one that has no boundaries and extends across different cultures, genders, and generations. As our bonds tighten our thirst for collaboration grows and we are able to watch this idea mature into something great!