A Typical Week Building a House

A typical week building with VBC

Monday - Day 1

Pick-up from your hotel at 7:00am. At the building site you will be introduced to the family and our builder. Volunteers will help to saw and chisel the support beams and cut floorboards and wall boards to size. We finish by 12:00pm and take you back to your hotel.

Tuesday - Day 2

Pick-up from your hotel at 7.00am. At the building site volunteers will help put the support beams together and raise the frame of the house. This is an exciting day and you will see the house start to take structure. Floor boards will be laid and volunteers will start constructing the stairs. At 12pm we finish and take you back to your hotel.

Wednesday - Day 3

Pick-up from your hotel at 7:00am. The roof will be finished when we arrive at the building site so volunteers will start to nail the wall boards to the frame, and build the door and the windows. We finish at 12pm and take you back to your hotel.

Thursday - Day 4

Pick-up from your hotel at 7:00am. Volunteers will finish nailing any wall boards not completed the previous day. The shutters will be made and attached. The doors, windows and stairs will be added. A cement base (which we’ll ask you to sign) will be added at the bottom of the stairs. Finishing touches are added to the house. We finish at 12pm and return to your hotel.

Friday - Day 5

On the final day the family will provide a house blessing ceremony. This is believed to be crucial before the family will move into the house. The house blessing ceremony is performed by local monks. Friends and family are invited to join. A meal is provided to all those who attend. People offer gifts to the family at the ceremony – usually a variety of household items and rice. Volunteers are welcome to donate money to buy gifts and our team will organise this for you. Please note, this donation is not included in the volunteer fees or the cost of the house build. Volunteers are welcome to join the family and villagers in the ceremony, which includes walking around the house three times to symbolise birth, life and death. Our team can explain what is happening. After the house blessing ceremony, volunteers will present the family with the keys. After the ceremony we will take you to experience a Buddhist water blessing at a local pagoda.