Day 3: Concrete, Connection, and an Unexpected Companion

By Day 3, the Educational Learning Center was starting to look noticeably different from when we first arrived. 

Inside, the team finished installing the remaining ceiling panels — officially checking off one of our first major projects of the week. From there, they moved on to the windows, beginning to install the new frames and hardware.

Outside, there was no shortage of work waiting for us.

With all six posts for the new veranda now standing, our attention shifted to what would eventually become the floor beneath it. We started by shoveling and raking dirt to level the entire area, then dug a trench around the perimeter. Once everything was prepared, we rolled out sheets of plastic and laid reinforcing mesh across the ground — the final steps before the concrete could start going down. 

For the rest of the day, it was a steady rotation of shoveling cement and gravel — mixing batch after batch with water, filling wheelbarrows, hauling them across the site, pouring the concrete, and smoothing it into place. By the time we wrapped up, a large section of what had been dirt only hours earlier had become the beginning of an actual concrete veranda. 

It’s incredibly satisfying to watch the pieces start coming together. Three days ago, there were six holes in the ground. Yesterday, there were six posts standing in them. Today, we were pouring the floor that will eventually turn this open stretch of land into additional space for the children who use the learning center.

But construction wasn’t the only development today. If you read yesterday’s post, you may remember one particular puppy who had been following me around the build site. Well… things escalated. 

As I mentioned in my last blog post, I named him Bula — one of the first words you learn when you arrive in Fiji. It’s used to say hello or welcome, but the word also carries a broader meaning connected to life — which somehow makes it feel even more fitting.

I had noticed Bula almost immediately on our first day. There are several dogs and puppies around the village, but there was something about this particular little guy. He was incredibly calm and gentle, and whenever I moved somewhere else on the worksite, it seemed like it wasn’t long before he appeared nearby again.

Today, after talking with his owner and learning that I could adopt him, I made a decision I certainly did not expect to make when I boarded a plane for Fiji: Bula is coming home with me.

After we finished at the build site, I took him to the vet, where he’ll receive the vaccinations, treatments, and paperwork he needs before making the journey to the U.S. with me.

Apparently I came to Fiji to lead a Habitat build and am leaving with a dog. Life comes at you fast!

And somehow, Bula is only one piece of what has made this week so special.

I’m genuinely having so much fun with this team. We’ve spent months getting to know one another through messages, but there’s something entirely different about working side by side all day, sharing meals, laughing when things inevitably don’t go according to plan, and then doing it all over again the next morning.

That feeling extends to the Habitat Fiji construction crew and the people we’re working alongside in Namulomulo, too. There is constantly some joke being made on the worksite — including the guys deciding that Elke is now apparently “Elke-holic” — and the laughter has become as much a part of our days as the shovels, wheelbarrows, and cement.

Tonight, all eleven of us cleaned ourselves up, left the work clothes behind, and went out for sushi together. Sitting around that table, I found myself thinking about how lucky I feel.

We’re only halfway through the build, but this group already feels incredibly close. The work is progressing faster than we expected. The people we’ve met have welcomed us with so much warmth and humor. And somehow, in the middle of all of it, a little black-and-tan puppy wandered into my life.

My heart feels very, very full tonight.

I honestly don’t know what could possibly make this build any better.

Day 2: Panels, Posts, and Puppies

Day two on the build site brought a little bit of everything: a lot of cement, some very heavy timber posts, nearly an entire ceiling — and, of course, plenty of puppy distractions.

We picked up right where we left off yesterday at the Educational Learning Center in Namulomulo Village, once again splitting into two groups to tackle different parts of the project.

Inside, Kaji continued leading the crew working on the ceiling. After spending yesterday measuring, cutting, and installing the wooden supports, the team began lifting the large ceiling panels into place. Each panel had to be measured, adjusted, and carefully secured overhead — definitely one of those jobs that looks much easier until you’re standing on a ladder trying to hold a giant sheet above your head. By the end of the day, all but two panels were installed.

Outside, Suli led the veranda crew as we turned yesterday’s three-foot-deep holes into something that finally started to look like a structure. There was a LOT of concrete mixing. We mixed batch after batch by hand, loaded it into wheelbarrows, and moved it across the site as each of the remaining five timber posts was carried over, lowered into place, leveled, braced, and cemented into the ground.

One of the posts decided to make things slightly more interesting when it split while being cut. Instead of scrapping it, the team worked together to reinforce and repair it with rebar before getting it into place. It slowed us down for a bit, but somehow we’re still ahead of schedule.

By the time all six posts were standing, it was incredibly satisfying to step back and finally see the outline of the veranda beginning to take shape. Two days ago, it was just an open patch of ground. Now there’s a clear footprint of the space that will eventually give the children here more room to learn, study, and gather.

And then there were the puppies. There are several dogs around the build site, including a litter of tiny black-and-tan puppies that have been providing a fairly constant threat to productivity since we arrived.

One of the dogs apparently decided I was his person. He spent much of the day following me around the site, curling up nearby while we worked and looking at me with the kind of face that makes rational decision-making very difficult. I started calling him Bula — a word you hear constantly in Fiji that can mean hello or welcome and is closely tied to the idea of life. By the end of the day, he had completely won me over. So,  stay tuned on that one!

Tomorrow we’ll keep moving upward — finishing those last ceiling panels and continuing to build out the veranda now that all six posts are finally in place.

For now, though, day two can pretty accurately be summarized as panels, posts, and puppies. And I’m very happy with all three.