Hands-on helper set to lend building skillset

Keith is all about helping others, that's why he's a volunteer

HELPING OUT: Lockyer Valley's Keith Edwards will be volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. Picture: ALI KUCHEL

WHEN Keith Edwards constructs a concrete plant for a mobile operation as part of his day job, there's power tools and machinery to get the task done.

But while he is in Indonesia this month as part of a Habitat for Humanity mission, everything will have to be done by hand.

Mr Edwards was selected for a 12-person team by his employer Boral to travel to a remote, disadvantaged town and build a house in one week.

The group will construct a basic house with running water and toilet facilities to provide an Indonesian family a safe and secure home.

Mr Edwards is the only person from Boral's Queensland concrete division to be selected for the team and he has been given the role as construction manager for the mission.

And at 64 years of age, Mr Edwards said he was certainly in for an education with his Boral colleagues.

"We will make cement in little tubs and mix it by hand and lay the bricks,” he said.

"Where these houses are there are very limited supplies.

"I've been told it will be nothing short of humbling, and that I'll be in for an education like I've never had in my life.”

Mr Edwards' team will be the third Boral group to participate in a global village build with Habitat for Humanity.

For the project, each team mate was required to raise a minimum of $2000 and Mr Edwards smashed the target, securing more than $10,000 in donations.

"I have been blessed that people believed in me and that's purely because I have worked with and supported them as well,” he said.

Lockyer Valley's Keith Edwards will be volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. Picture: ALI KUCHEL

But for Mr Edwards, the mission is about volunteering and assisting people who need help.

Volunteering is one of his strong suits, having spent the past 27 years with the Gatton Show Society.

The former show president of 11 years said it was his mission in life to help others.

"The one satisfaction I get out of volunteering is when you walk away from (the project) you can see you've really made a difference,” he said.

"I believe the most important task we can do in our lives is be a volunteer - to help people that need help.”

Next year, Mr Edwards plans to spend time volunteering with the Farm Army, an organisation that connects volunteers with jobs on rural and remote properties to help struggling families.

The team will travel to Indonesia today.

Originally published as Hands-on helper set to lend building skillset