Ladies who Lunch: The Pollys day trip to Charlie One

The two Pollys popped over to visit Charlie One yesterday. We were only there for a few hours but happily did manage to fit in lunch. Charlie One have the priviledge of being cooked for everyday by the local community they’re living amongst – most delicious!

Last time Polly B was there, a small cyclone hit the village and today Polly B was blamed for bringing the bad weather with her as the skies opened just as we arrived! 

Not deterred by the weather, the group proudly took me on a tour of their site, showing off their luxury shower complete with drainable bamboo flooring, a very hygienic and sturdy three bowls area and their communal living room.

The group were in great spirits, happily posing for photos and filming the music video which were the purposes of our fleeting visit. I also took the opportunity to catch up with the group and get the low down on their experience so far ...

The group’s arrival last Saturday was a big event as the villagers were excited and intrigued to meet them all. With such a warm reception the group were keen to start working straight away on building the five houses to replace the mud huts that the villagers currently live in.

The first task was to lay all the foundations, this involved digging down a foot and half - tough labour but they told me it was good physical work to do.

After this their next task was to move a small mountain of rock. All equipment and materials are delivered at the bottom of the village and so the group had to form a human chain to get the rocks up to the plot sites. This was hard graft but the group bonded with singsongs initiated by Caroline. I’m told the villagers looked on amused at the group belting out their guilty pleasures and some musical theatre numbers.

Job done and all this rock was subsequently laid into the foundation trenches and then cemented up about a foot from ground level. The group have stormed ahead with their work since their arrival and today at the site they were finishing off the foundations of plot five.

For the group’s final task of the phase they will be putting up the walls of one of the houses on plot one. We’d just missed the erecting of the first door frame into the plot this morning, but the PMs happily posed next to it when we arrived.

It’s not long to go now, as Charlie One only have four more working days left because they’re taking the weekend off. On Saturday they will visit a local tea factory and on Sunday they’ve planned a Sports day with the villagem, where they’re going to introduce them to such British classics as the Egg and Spoon Race and the Sack Race – I can’t wait to hear how that goes!

Group highlights:

• Community party where they taught each other their culture’s dancing – for the Raleigh group this consisted of limbo dancing and the Macarena!!
• Finding a frog with wings in their ‘living room’
• James amusing the villagers by digging like a dog with his hands!

Working alongside local Masons and the Villiagers themselves, it’ great to see Charlie One are truly part of the community. They’re a well bonded and fun group, I hope they enjoy the final week of their Phase One and looking forward to catching up with them all at Changeover.

All text by Polly Carpenter and photos by Polly Baldwin http://www.dynamicpictures.co.uk/ (unless stated otherwise).