Of houses and homes..

All ye readers out there, some interesting things happened over the past weekend. Here's the shortest possible summary: a group of young, energetic adults (called E.P.I.C.) decided to build a house for Mr. and Mrs. Alfred who lives in Kuala Kubu Bahru (see picture). 

If you're wondering what this is all about, read more about EPIC here (E.P.I.C. is the acronym for Extraordinary People Impacting Community); hopefully that'll set your bones a tinglin'. But of course, you want to hear some inside stories, so let the stories begin.

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I happen to be carpooling with the co-founders of EPIC on the way to KKB and it was a great opportunity to find out more about what it's all about.On the surface it may seem that it revovles around the building of houses for the poor and the under privileged- that much is true. But truth strikes deep, like a well. Over the weekend I had the honour of going that much deeper, and believe me when I say that there's much more to go. 

Of course, it wasn't EPIC all the way. As with many great things, EPIC too started small- just a group of friends who decided that they wanted to do something more than just be passive listeners. It started off with simple visits which then progressed to painting houses and then they decided to take the plunge to see how far the idea'll bring them.

One of the things that struck me was that they didn't have it all figured out. This may seem slightly confusing, but what I mean by this is that these people have deep questions (as with all of us). The building of houses isn't the answer to their questions but it's a part of their greater journey to find the answer. And that made complete sense. After all, aren't we all fellow travellers on the journey of life ?

The rest of the team were just as passionate about it and the solidarity was bordering spooky, almost cult-ish. Of course, I exaggerate. But tell me it isn't: a group of almost strangers deciding to give up their 4-day long weekend to toil in the sun, get dirt on their hands, to build a house for another stranger whom they've never met before in their life. And all of that done whilst having great fun. 

So here's a bunch of people who sincerely want to make a difference, and I think that over the weekend we managed to do just that. We finished building the house (might I add: a pretty good looking one) in just under four days, wich is a great achievement by any standard.  But what is a house but a structure of metal and wood and screws and nails? In the end, us building a house matters very little, but I think we did well- we were building a house that others may build a home. 

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So that sums up my EPIC weekend with some EPIC people building an EPIC house (yes, it's cliche, but it's also very apt). 

I bet I know what you're thinking: where do I sign up? Fret not, just get in touch with E.P.I.C. here. E.P.I.C. is always looking to make superheroes out of us ordinaries. 

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And here's what you listen to when you build a house, but listen to this instead if you're building a home. =)