Friday, May 18, 2012

Community Action is A Re-affirmation of Everything Good In People.

Maracas Bay, Trinidad.
 On Wednesday night we watched a programme on BBC TV called SOS the Big Build.

It is about a wonderful team of workmen and many volunteers who get together to rebuild people’s homes, when they can't do it for themselves.

This week the team plus a huge team of local volunteers were rebuilding a small terraced house in Enfield, North London.

This is the home of Eric, Davina and their three lovely daughters; Eric was diagnosed with Moto Neuron disease two years ago.

Shockingly his diagnosis was terminal with a prognosis of three years; I hope that Eric will have a bit more time than that with his darlings.

It was an extremely moving programme seeing so many people giving their time freely to help somebody in their own community.

It is beautiful to see people cooperating to work together, it is inspiring and it is something that happens a lot more than people think it does.

Really there's nothing better than everybody getting involved to help a neighbour.

It was really wonderful watching the rebuilding of Eric's house; they thought of everything, doors were made wider for Eric's wheelchair.

They laid wooden floors which are much better for somebody in a wheelchair; they put in a simple lift so Eric can get upstairs to the new wet room and his newly renovated bedroom.

The other bedroom was beautifully decorated and divided so that the two younger daughters each have their own space.

Upstairs the attic had been totally rebuilt to create a beautiful room for the eldest girl.

Downstairs was totally remodelled with an extension added to create a lovely roomy living room and kitchen plus decking outside so Eric can roll out and enjoy the garden with his family.

It was an incredibly moving programme which I did manage to see despite crying so much that my darling Richie had to keep cleaning my glasses.

I was in good company as everybody was crying in the programme especially at the end after the family had seen their rebuilt home.

The whole family came out to thank everybody for helping them to make the most of the time Eric has left, the rebuilt home will make that much easier for them all.

When Eric was thanking everybody he started to cry, this set everybody off including me.

What a wonderful family they are, I hope that making the house more accessible for Eric will give him the extra quality of life that he needs right now.

So that Eric and his family can enjoy everything they can while they can without all the problems that they had before the wonderful rebuild.

Wonderful to see such community spirit in action, a re-affirmation of everything that is so wonderful about people. 

Eric's  blog

SOS The Big Build website

1 comment:

Travelogue for the Universe said...

Beautiful story. Thanks! Have a great weekend! Love, Mary