Johns Island - Habitat for Humanity

Mizzou Alternative Breaks

Johns Island


Day 1- Friday

We pulled out of Columbia ready for a cross-country road trip to Johns Island, South Carolina. Our group of 12 students is excited to work with Sea Island Habitat for Humanity. We had a couple pit stops and after about 10 hours of driving we stopped for the day at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Knoxville, Tennessee. We played Codenames, told some funny stories, took a couple pictures with the cardboard cutout of Pope Francis and went to bed.

 

Day 2- Saturday

We loaded up the cars again and jumped on the road. After a few more stops including lunch at Bojangles and 9 hours of driving we made it to Johns Island. We were supposed to be staying in Habitat for Humanity's volunteer housing, but they were allowing individuals who had their homes damaged during Hurricane Matthew to stay there. They set us up in a beautiful beach house on Folly Beach. After settling into our spacious beach house, we went to Walmart to get groceries for the week. Proceeding three hours at Walmart, we got back to the house, made pasta for dinner, and played Mafia for hours. After making a game plan for Sunday, our free day, we turned into bed.

                                                                                                        

Day 3- Sunday

We went to explore all the sights of Charleston headed to Market and King Street. We walked all around downtown Charleston, checking out the Citadel and Waterfront Park. The locals recommended Fleet Landing for lunch and everyone really enjoyed their entrée, except Jordan. We planned to see more, but due to the 35 degree weather we decided to head back to the house. We ate tacos for dinner, played Spoons, and had a couple heated games of Mafia. We are ready to see what tomorrow has in store for us.


Day 4- Monday

We met the Sea Island Habitat for Humanity team. The Volunteer Coordinator ran through a brief orientation, the Director spoke about the families they have given a hand up to, and the Site Leader gave us a heads up on what projects we would be working on. After orientation, we drove to a site to work on laying the rebar for the foundation of a new build. Some highlights of our first afternoon of service included Jordan and Tyler cutting the rebar; Ben and Zach bending the rebar; Nikki, Allie, and Shivani using a surveying level and relearning fractions; Krista and Katie measuring out the foundation; and Maddy, Holly, and Regan tying the rebar to the chairs. Our first day of service was a success to say the least. We had chicken, green beans, and rice pilaf for dinner. Watched the Clemson and Alabama Championship football game and then turned in for the evening. Go Tigers!


Day 5- Tuesday

Our second day of service included working for another group of students from Marquette University. We spent the morning deshingling the roof of a one-story house owned by a veteran. Highlights from the morning included: Allie and Nikki conquering their fear of heights, Zach and Shivani replacing some rotten wood on the roof, Holly using a hammer for the first time, and Krista becoming fascinated with how handy the nail picker-ups was. We took a break for lunch and then went back to our original site for the afternoon. We finished setting and tying the rebar, so Habitat will be able to pour concrete for the foundation next week. Exhausted from our full day of work, we went back to the house and took naps. We woke up for dinner and played Never Have I Ever and turned in early.


Day 6- Wednesday

Our third day of service with Habitat for Humanity included deshingling another roof. Highlights from the day included the group learning to use a nail puller, learning to lay and nail drip edge, rolling out roofing felt, and replacing some rotten wood. The day wasn't complete without Zach busting his foot through the ceiling, which led to the construction coordinator having to plaster and repair the sheetrock. The biggest accomplishment of the day was preparing the roof with felt paper so we would be ready to lay shingles the following day. When we got back to the house the boys grilled burgers and vegetables then followed with banana foster for dessert. After dinner we drank some coffee, played yet a couple more rounds of Mafia, and talked into the morning hours.


Day 7- Thursday

We went back to the same house from the previous day and began laying out the shingles. We learned all about the pattern in which to lay shingles and how to nail them down. Our construction coordinators, Mike and Dan, also showed us how to measure and cut shingles when you get to the edge, along with how to weave the shingles at the seams of the roof. We worked together in groups of two to tackle half of the roof. We are planning on knocking out the other half tomorrow morning. After leaving our job site, we came back to the house and then went for a walk on the beach to see the sunset. The evening came to an end with stir-fry for dinner and a couple rounds of Codenames.





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