This month my team is neither the bush nor beach team.
We are the forest team!
Team Zoa has been tasked with clearing an area of forrest so that the Village of Hope can build a new road to their facility. Monday through Friday we wake up, bundle up in oversized mens clothing, and head out to the forrest! From 8 to 5, we are basically lumberjacks! We have the pleasure of working along side some of the incredible men from the Village of Hope.
None of them speak much English, but after almost three weeks of working together, we communicate with each other just fine through sound effect and hand gestures, ESL (Estonian Sign Language). Since we are not trusted with handling the chainsaws, the men chainsaw down the trees, and we haul the branches into bonfires, and then stack the logs into piles. Although last week I did convince one of the Estonian men to let me use the chainsaw! (He hasn’t let me use it again since)
What’s a lumberjacks favorite yoga posture??
TREE!
One day we bought smore’s fixings out to the forrest, and on our break we taught then men how to make smore’s! Working in the forest has definitely been hard. Some days its freezing cold and you cant feel your toes, or you continually keep tripping over little stumps or your keep getting burnt my flying embers, but at the end of the day, when we are all exhausted and ready for bed, we know that we have worked hard to serve a greater purpose. It has been so rewarding getting to see all the progress we are making as our piles of logs get bigger, and we move further into the forest.
A few things I have learned in the forest….
- Always pay attention- One of the first days working, I was not paying attention, and was about a foot away from being hit by a large falling tree.
- Anyone can speak Estonian!– We don’t have a translator in the forest, so our supervisor will just point to someone on our team to “translate” for him. It works!
- Facial Hair is Flammable– A few of us on the team have learned this the hard way. Thankfully I just barely singed my eyelashes and eyebrows on one side of my face, barley noticeable. Some others teammates, not so lucky!
Go Grizz!!
Peace,
Caroline
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