KEKAHA — Barbara Witman of Simi Valley, Calif. said if she knew how much the hammer cost, she would never have asked for it. “Her husband bought her a Stiletto hammer for Christmas,” said Marjie Witman of Washington state, who
KEKAHA — Barbara Witman of Simi Valley, Calif. said if she knew how much the hammer cost, she would never have asked for it.
“Her husband bought her a Stiletto hammer for Christmas,” said Marjie Witman of Washington state, who along with Barbara were working with Bob McNamara, the Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity construction superintendent, on a Repair and Renovation Project at the Nakahiki home in Kekaha.
“Those are lightweight hammers which hit like heavyweights,” McNamara said of the Stiletto hammer featuring Ruger titanium heads. “Hers is a 14-ounce, but it drives like a 20-ounce hammer.”
The Stiletto hammer, although not intentionally manufactured for women, somehow “fits,” Barbara said.
“Almost everyone who is in the Sisterhood of Stilettos has one,” she said. “I guess it’s kind of like a mark of being a Stiletto.”
Barbara and Marjie arrived over the weekend and will be leaving Saturday, spending the week working with Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity on its various projects.
“We were out in Anahola Monday at the new home sites,” Barbara said. “From Tuesday and until Friday, we’ll be working at the Kekaha site, which is a Repair and Renovation Project.”
McNamara said the project is a major one, involving replacing walls and ceilings with drywall, removing and replacing windows, damaged doors and doing repairs to the residence as needed.
“Our last time out here was during the Women’s Build in May,” McNamara said. “We’ve had a lot of work to do in Anahola, but when the Traveling Stilettos asked if we had work to keep them busy for the week, this project needed attention so they’re here.”
Barbara said she’s been doing work for Habitats for about six years and didn’t even know about the Stilettos.
“I used to go to Washington state a lot because the Tacoma Habitat was such a nice place to do volunteer work,” Barbara said. “I was a loner, traveling by myself to do builds and the people in Washington were really nice. They invited me to go with them on a build to New Orleans.”
The affection for Washington expanded when Barbara shared her feelings with Marjie, her husband’s cousin, who she would visit whenever she was in Washington for a build.
“That’s when we learned about the Traveling Stilettos,” Barbara said. “Six-to-eight women (travel) for a week, usually working with Habitat projects.”
She said originally they had a group scheduled to come to Kaua‘i, but at the last minute, it came down to Barbara and Marjie.
“There’s only two of us, this time,” said Barbara, who is enjoying her second build in Hawai‘i. “We’ll be gone by Saturday.”
Jessica Clabo, the volunteer program coordinator for Kaua‘i Habitat, said the Traveling Stilettos are a group of women who get together for service build trips.
“They often choose to volunteer to build home with Habitat,” Clabo said in an email. “If you remember them from last year, a Stiletto is a high-end hammer as well as a well-known ladies shoe style.”
Under the Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity’s Repair and Renovation Program, the objective is to repair and renovate existing affordable housing units so families will continue to have a place to live.
“The Nakahikis are living in this house as we work,” McNamara said. “We’re working with that consideration.”
The Repair and Renovation Program, a complementing program in addition to Kaua‘i Habitat’s new homes program, focuses on housing, which is deteriorating due to old paint, decaying wood, old roofing and worn out materials and provides resources of construction management, volunteers and access to loan funds to make repairs, states the Kaua‘i Habitat website.
Visit www.kauaihabitat.org for more information, to contribute or to volunteer for any of its projects.
