the ASPect - American School of Paris

12/service special report
Building Foundations
A
group of twenty 11th and 12th graders volunteered
to spend their fall break building homes for several
poor families in a small Romanian village two hours
from Bucharest.
Upon arriving at the site, ASP’s Habitat team was
met by a spirited construction supervisor, truckloads
of dirt, bags of cement, and herds of cows and chickens.
“It was really funny to see the chickens running around while we
were working,” excitedly remarked 12th grader Kelly Morrison.
Within a week, the dirt and cement had turned into the foundations
for two new homes which would go to two families in need. In fact,
ASP’s group was so diligent and impressive that they were also
able to dig ditches for electrical wires and cut wood for the frames
of the houses, jobs that the Habitat organization did not expect to
see completed until the end of the month.
Wheel-barrow engineer Alex Knowles, dirt-packer extraordinaire
Danielle Azoulay and concrete supervisor Anthony Webster, as did
every team member, had memorable experiences: “It is definitely
something we want to do again,” they said.
Emma Willems and Morgan Claverie added, “It was difficult work,
but we’re tough and we were happy to be part of it.”
Habitat club President Sietse Goffard and Vice President Beatrice
Verez helped to organize the trip and were extremely pleased
with the success and ecstatic about another important moment
in the trip: “Meeting the family of the homeowners was one of
the highlights and made the long-awaited trip well-worth all the
fundraising and planning.”
The club worked throughout the year to raise over 4,000 euros;
7,000 euros in supplies were donated from this group.
The trip would not have been complete, however, without trips to
Dracula’s Castle, the Bucharest Palace, and the social bonding.
Whether it was peanut m & m’s, the guitar hero competitions, or
the melodious music of Henry Ott’s Romanina bagpipe on the
mountain-top, the group laughed from the onset of their journey
and through all of the chicken dinners until their return to Paris.
“The trip was great, but it would not have been as cool without the
mix of kids and Mr Semaan, Mr. Kim, and Ms. Ingols,” beamed
senior Robb Johnston. Linus Bodicoat nodded in agreement.
The Aspect - November 2010