Day 1 of the Carter Work Project with Habitat for Humanity

Today was the first day of the Carter Work Project with Habitat for Humanity in Oakland. This is the 30th year the Carters have been working with Habitat for Humanity. I haven't even hit 20 years yet, so their dedication to Habitat and to other projects to improve people's lives around the world is inspiring. And President Carter just turned 89 years old, so it's all the more impressive.

As you might have noticed in the picture above, I got a little dirty during today's work day. The house we're working on is between Edes and 98th Avenue, and we're tearing off the very old roof and putting on a new one. We made great progress on Ramona's house today, but it was dirty work. There are 12 new houses near the East Oakland Sports Center, plus home repairs on 8 houses nearby and a bit further afield.

The Carters will be in the South Bay tomorrow, then off to Denver, New York and New Jersey for the rest of the week. Highlights today included hearing the Carters speak again (they spoke at the opening reception at the Paramount Theatre last night), getting our house crew photo taken with them, and getting served dessert by Garth Brooks. I heard Rep. Barbara Lee was there, too, but I didn't see her.

I'll be at the project all week, so posts will be lighter this week, depending on how tired I am at the end of each day.