Wow, we’re already halfway done these blogs! That’s crazy to me. It actually seems like these assignments (and this semester in general) are flying by, which was contrary to my expectation. I hope everyone’s semester is going well!
This week I’m going to be talking about my second mission trip to Farmington, Maine. This trip was in the week of the Fourth of July in 2016, and I was 14.
For most of the years that I have gone to Maine, we have elected to go on these trips during the week of the Fourth of July. That way, we get to take a day off from working, see the Fourth of July Parade in Farmington, and then spend the rest of the day having fun at Rangeley Lake. Rangeley is about an hour from Farmington, and going there is our holiday tradition. We swam in the lake, played kickball with a giant yoga ball, walked downtown to look at the stores, and ate ice cream from a little shop downtown.
During this week in Maine, I worked in a group that rebuilt the roof of a trailer home. The occupant of this house struggled throughout the winter with leakage coming through his roof, and this was a big issue since winters in Maine are so unbearable as it is. The snow on his roof constantly was melting through and filling his living room, bathroom, and bedroom with water. This man was also disabled. He was struggling with many medical issues which rendered him unable to fix his home himself. This was visibly frustrating to him, because he struck me as the type of man who used to be very self-sufficient and handy. I could tell that it bothered him to have to enlist our help.
Therefore, we spent the week putting tin slabs onto the roof so that snow would slide off the roof easily, without causing leakage into his home. This was difficult work since we were working on the top of the house, in 90 degree heat, with the heat reflecting onto us from the tin. I am an extremely pale person, and so, needless to say, I got very sunburnt during this week. This experience of building a roof was a COMPLETELY new experience for me. Up until this point, I had never been on a roof before. I also got to use new types of tools, like a Saws-All and a nail gun.
This work was extremely rewarding because we were able to directly see the finished product after all our hard work (unfortunately I do not have any pictures. However, for some of the next mission trips that I talk about, I may have some pictures that I can share). This work definitely made a large impact because it provided a safe, warm, leak-free environment for the man to live in in the winters. He expressed his gratification by making us cookies on our last work day, and he also ate lunch with us every day to keep us company. This was definitely among my favorite trips because of the challenge that the work posed and because of the friendship we formed with the resident of the home.
Thank you so much for sharing these stories. This one was really cool because you seem to have really really helped this man have a warm home for the water. I can only imagine how rewarding these experiences are getting to help people in need alongside people you are close with. I think it’s also really cool that you are learning how to use all these different tools. My neighbors got me a tool kit for graduation and my dad made me take it with me even though I have maybe held a screwdriver a total of two times in my life. These blogs are not only really thoughtful but are inspiring me to learn how to use tools.
I love reading your blogs every week, it always gives me a few minutes to calm down from my day and hear about all the good things you have done for people during your life. It’s great to hear how you formed a friendship with the man that you were helping, and was able to fix his roof after having to live with so many leaks and bad weather through the winter. While doing that, you. were also able to get some good practice with a lot of tools you weren’t familiar with, and that’s always great. Can’t wait for more stories and with pictures this time!
Spending the Fourth of July in Maine sounds like a lot of fun, and also like a welcomed break from the work that you all are doing up there! It’s definitely really difficult and frustrating to ask for help sometimes, but I’m glad that you were able to help that older man. It seems like he really appreciated your work and was very kind. Once again, it’s always great to learn to work with those tools because you never know when you could need them!