Never Never Land: Build Bricks & Bale

In the aftermath of floods, IKF launched a comprehensive Village Development Plan to rebuild the lives of those affected by the disaster. On the construction side, we are introducing a new form of constructing and reviving ancient-old methods of building homes in the Indus that are better for the environment and built to be disaster-proof.

February 22nd was our event for the school kids. We invited about 40 students from 5 different schools to participate in our 'Build Bricks and Bales' day at our office in Chak Shehzad, where we're constructing a model village home. We wanted to teach the students about the importance of sustainable development by engaging them in molding bricks and binding straw bales to build a model home for our rural flood victims. We asked them to arrive in practical, warm clothes and shoes that they didn't mind getting dirty, because they were literally playing in the mud! Some of the girls from one of the schools even got mud on our new CEO's jacket, which I think was nice; to see that he was interacting with the kids and getting involved in our youth mobilization efforts.

For the first couple of weeks working at this office, I had been working on coordinating this event. And I think, thanks to team work, we did a really good job. We organized it into 5 different activities: 1) Mixing brick materials 2) Making bricks with the brick frame 3) Making bricks with Bhatta Jr. (this mini brick making contraption a local man invented) 4) Stacking the straw bale for what is going to become the conference room 5) a presentation on our organic farm. They even got to plant some seeds.

The kids had a lot of fun, and were all thanking us on their way out for a good time. There's nothing like a job well done to put a smile on your face. But, what made me smile even more was entering in the information from the volunteer forms the students filled out for our database. One of the questions on the form is 'Why do you want to volunteer'? Here are some of my favorite answers:

I want to help my nation and help it touch the zenith of the sky
I want to help the poor because they have rights equal to ours and are like our brothers
Because I want to be a part of making a difference
I have full trust in IKF and believe that I can experience real joy and pleasure by working for the poor and needy side by side with a great leader, Imran Khan.
Because I want to help those who are in need and I feel pain in my heart for those who are in need of my help.

And here is how the straw bale house is looking right now: