HANAPEPE — Laura Coulter came all the way from Singapore, China to help build a home in Hanapepe Heights. Coulter, who grew up in Saskatchewan, Canada, has been teaching abroad and joined the Global Village group on Kaua‘i. When Thor
HANAPEPE — Laura Coulter came all the way from Singapore, China to help build a home in Hanapepe Heights.
Coulter, who grew up in Saskatchewan, Canada, has been teaching abroad and joined the Global Village group on Kaua‘i.
When Thor Erickson arrived at the Hanapepe Heights site, all that greeted him and his Global Village volunteers were concrete blocks on the ground.
Three days later, the blocks were hardly visible as Erickson and his five volunteers had constructed the network of flooring studs and prepared the frame for flooring, Wednesday afternoon.
Erickson, the team leader for the Global Village group, said there are 10 people from various parts of the nation and the world, and because of the work that needed to be done, the group was split in two with one working at a home in the ‘Ele‘ele site and the remainder at the Hanapepe Heights site.
“This is my internship for Community Planning at the University of Cincinnati,” said Erickson, enjoying his first Global Village tour. “Last year, I took a group out under the Youth Immersion program. This is the first of two tours I do this summer, so it looks like I’ll have a summer of travel and helping.”
Erickson said when he returns to Denver, Colo., he coordinates a second group of about a dozen people and will head to Thailand where the group will help build more homes.
“I was searching for global volunteer opportunities, and this popped up,” said Sara Studer of Phoenix, Ariz. who was enjoying her first build. “It came up in Google search and seemed like something I should so since my father spent more than 20 years as a Peace Corps volunteer.”
Coulter, on the other hand, is experiencing her fifth Global Village tour, having been traveled to more than 50 countries helping to build houses.
“I’ve seen some beautiful places on these builds,” Coulter said. “And I’ve never left a place feeling that I never saw that place. Building is a good balance of fun and work, and the Habitat for Humanity program is so well-organized that there’s been very few problems.”
Gwen Holi, one of the Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity supervisors, was explaining the difference between “Holi” and “aholehole,” a reef fish to one of the volunteers who said she was waiting for someone to bring fish for them to sample.
Janis Benn, the volunteer coordinator AmeriCorp Volunteers In Service To America at the Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity, said this group is the first of three volunteer groups from the Mainland that will be helping at various sites for the summer.
“This is perfect timing of our projects,” Benn said in an e-mail before leaving to help with a build in Iowa. “On May 6, Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity received the permits for two homes on Moi Road in Hanapepe Heights.”
Benn said the homeowners started the long process of building their homes on May 9.
“It takes a minimum of nine months to complete a new home for a family, so we have a lot of work ahead of us,” Benn said.
Following the departure of this Global Village group, another group arrives July 25 through Aug. 3, and a third group is tentatively scheduled to help between Sept. 18 and 27.
“This is so amazing,” Studer said. “We come from all different parts of the world and with so different backgrounds, but we get along and are all working together for one common goal — helping people.”
