PHOTO COURTESY OF HODR
The intense scrutiny continued.
“While we were building some of
the playgrounds, volunteers stayed in classrooms. They were in a fishbowl and it was
mentally challenging,” Ms. Chang says.
She and Mr. Young took steps to
help ease the pressure and create a sense
of community among volunteers.
“At our nightly group meetings we
strongly encouraged people to express
their feelings. We were all going through
the same situation and it formed a support group,” Mr. Young says.
The living quarters also provided
sanctuary. In Rayenda, volunteers lived
on the second floor and were able to
retreat when they needed a break. Those
on site working on the playgrounds lived
in cyclone shelters—massive structures
on stilts that Mr. Young chose specifically
to give volunteers a bit of privacy.
Under the community’s watchful
eyes, the team helped erect a 30-foot by
12-foot (nine-meter by four-meter) mul-tiroom structure. It then went on to
rebuild two more schools, repair an
active, 100-year-old Hindu temple and
wrap up the housing project with five
more homes going up in record time.
During the last five weeks of the
project, members of the community
began inviting volunteers to their
homes for meals.
“We had … I don’t know how many
meals in community homes,” Mr. Young
says. “If someone asks you, you refuse
because you know they cannot afford to
feed so many people. They ask again and
you refuse. The third time, you say yes.
What can you do? It’s Bangladeshi
shopota, or culture and hospitality. We’d
sit and have a joyous, chaotic feast and
the whole community would watch
through the cracks in the wall.”
As HODR prepared to depart, volunteers completed an exhaustive inventory and assembled a list of the 95 most
needy families who then were invited to
the HODR house for a lottery of the
remaining supplies, including wood,
beds, sheets, tin and chairs.
“There was clapping and smiles
all around,” Mr. Young says. “It was
fabulous.” PM
