A Day in the Life of a Habitat Construction Supervisor

Sarith starts his day early. He has to be up at 5 in the morning to help his wife and in laws carry and move merchandise to sell in the market. His family shares a house with his parents in-law and other relatives from his wife’s side.

His first mission for the day is completed by around 6:15am. After sharing breakfast with his family, Sarith is on his bike and off to work. Office starts at 7:30am. Once there, he checks with his colleagues and completes paperwork before heading out to the field, which is usually situated about 30 kilometers from Phnom Penh.

On site, Sarith is usually faced with a variety of tasks such as monitoring the skilled workers in their building technique and quality. He is very particular in making sure that work is on schedule. Sarith enjoys interacting with skilled workers during lunch breaks and would use this opportunity to get to know each one of them and to make them comfortable in sharing their ideas during builds. Work resumes after an hour. Sarith completes his day’s work on site at around 4:30pm and heads back to the office.

Aside from working on the Phnom Penh Housing and Community Development program, Sarith also actively supports Global Village team builds. He would normally prepare the site in advance, the building schedule, follow up with the building plan to assure the target is reached. Sarith believes that a Construction Supervisor is key to making the build experience worthwhile for all volunteers.

In a month, Sarith would be given a target of completing 6 houses and providing technical support to other projects.

By 6pm, Sarith makes time for his family where they usually would have dinner together. Some days during the week, Sarith would bring his wife and his two-year old daughter, Kea Mouyheang to visit relatives, the riverside and sometime have dinner outside.

“I like my job here in HFH Cambodia. I get to meet and learn from different cultures through the Global Village experience and from Habitat colleagues during special projects. I also appreciate learning and getting to know families in the communities that we work with, I am able to understand the way they live, how they can adapt to the situation and their dreams of living in a better situation,” shared Sarith.

Mr. Kea Sarith joined Habitat for Humanity Cambodia as a Construction Supervisor in July 2009. His passion towards well-planned, quality construction work and support is a result of his years of dedicated service.