A Muddy Affair

That’s what you get when you bring together 37 passionate youths and a generous amount of mud! And even better, all that was done towards supporting a good cause. Without doubt, the Raleigh KL 1-Day Mudhut Community Project on January 9 was a good kick-start for this new year. For myself, and the other 36 youth volunteers who turned up.

I woke up several times the night before, so you could guess how excited I actually was! Personally, building houses was never my kind of thing, let alone a mudhut! That I’m sure goes out to most girls too. However, the involvement of MUD made the whole difference. It meant getting all dirty and messy, and oh yeah, I was definitely up for that!

The mudhut building site was located in a small, remote village in Kampung Cottage, Gombak. Apart from the bumpy road leading to the site, there was a deep sense of peace and serenity surrounding the village area. Basically, the Kampung Cottage consists of a farm run by Mr Ivan Ho, and the building of mudhut would be used for the benefit of the Orang Asli community. I was personally encouraged to hear that.
So, the volunteers met up with Pak Din, the caretaker of the farm, who also taught us on the process of making mud bricks. And trust me, it was not easy as it may sound! We started by collecting mud with the equipments we can get hold of. Cangkuls, spades, wheel barrows etc. Digging through the thick layer of mud and sand was energy-consuming, but at the same time, fun! We had mud flying all over the place, with of course, some targeted unexpectedly on our faces 
The next step was what I would call the MudFeet Therapy. This was where all the mud, sand, and coconut husks were mixed in a tub. And there’s no better way to mix them than using our feet! Therapeutic as it is, the whole process took almost an hour to achieve the right texture, which eventually led us to the final step. Moulding. It was relatively simple, as we had to put an appropriate amount of mud to fit the mould, in order to produce mud bricks. The bricks would then be left exposed to the sun to dry up the moisture which will take another 1 week or more, according to Pak Din.

By late afternoon, we were able to produce 27 mud bricks, which exceeded our initial target of 25. And those bricks would be used for building mudhuts in the future. Ah, such joy!

Being part of this whole experience has been amazing. An eye-opener, I’d say. I’ve seen how new friendships were built; embraced the beauty of team work; and enjoyed the pleasure of working with nature. At the end of the day, it’s more than just about getting dirty and having fun. Instead, it’s all about us choosing to make a difference today!

Written by,
Adeline Wok
IW Dec-10