Final Day

It was hard to believe that we were suddenly at the final day. Even though the houses aren't finished we have done a lot in 4 1/2 days, starting at the foundations and having completed most walls, installed dor frames and on the 2nd house the windows and doors.  And perhaps more importantly we have come together to help families improve their lives and the lives of their children.

After lunch there was a dedication ceremony. Many members of the Linda community came to help celebrate. A group of students from the school perofrmed some traditional, and very interesting dances, considering how traditional the people are. The final one even had us up and dancing, everyone was impressed with Yves' great moves! 

Kind words were said all around, from the Principal, Salvation Army representatives, Voster and Paul from HFH Zambia and David. Then the keys were handed to each family.  A very moving experience again.

Our team has worked hard, we have shared a lot of laughs and formed some true friendships. 

Door frames, lintels and a surprise

Today was a mix of hurry up and wait and a flurry of activity. Each house was at the state of putting in door frams and pouring concrete for the lintels. This was actually hard because the mix contains a lot of larger rock in the mix. Thus the wheelbarrow loads are heavy!  And for sure if you move a stack of bricks once, you will need to move it at least once more.....probably back to where it came from. (Last photo)

We had a long lunch at the school because we went to visit classes and talked to some Irish volunteer teachers who are here for the month of July (every year now for the last 12)!  They work with small groups of students who are struggling a bit...about 4 or 5 students at a time. I even joined in on a Jolly Phonics lesson.  It is pretty neat at the school because I am starting to remember specific kids and we seek each other out. 

The drive to and for. Is so interesting, so many people walking and biking to where they need to be and anything you can imagine being sold on the street, but the traffic is crazy and congested. A good time to get to know each other, or take a nap.

Right at the end of the day we had a sudden dust storm at house 1 and it blew the tin roofing off the house next door nearly missing Fraser, myself, Yves and Amber! A little frightening but no harm. 

Tomorrow is out last day, so hard to believe. We are all tired but happy and looking forward to the home dedication celebration.

 

Linda Village Life

We are working hard on the three houses in Linda village. Two of the houses are close to being ready for the roof and the third is close behind.  There is lots of concrete being mixed, blocks moved. Walls built and laughter shared. Each site continues to grow closer to the families and also the construction supervisors.  David was particularly moved by Mary's hugs and words of gratitude at their home site today when she finally met all of the volunteers.


It is so exciting to be a part of changing lives for these families. We are greeted everywhere we go, kids waving, high five giving, huge smiles and hugs.  Today the ladies at the school made a delicious lunch for us all with rice, greens, chicken and CATERPILLARs! Yum.

Today's photo include some of the school, lunch and Linda village's 'shops', including one of the water pumps, bike shop, video store and mini mart.

House 3 started!

Today we started house 3 for Mary Zulu, a widow of 51 with 6 children and 1 grandchild.  Mary was not on site today as she was in the field working to get food, two of her sons were there to help though. Two teams continued to work on raising the walls of the other two homes. Lots of mortar was mixed and bricks laid. It was hard work and fairly hot today with a constant breeze - which sounds quite lovely were it not for the fine red dust that is everywhere!  Some things I have learned today:

1) I can still mix a decent batch of concrete
2) I will never tire of hearing the calls of "good morning, how are you" and hugs from the children everywhere
3) Nothing beats a shower, even a cold one, after a hard, physical day of work
4) A group of caring strangers can come together for some fun and good laughs and create something meaningful
5) I am one lucky girl

Ben is loving this, working hard and now a coffee drinker!  :-)

Thinking of you all.

Work Day One

Starting at eight, meant that breakfast was at 6:30, and we were on the bus around 7. The soccer game last night meant that there was lots of noise around us, so no one had a great sleep. We also have two birthdays today, Shannon and Amber.
Arriving in the village of 900 or so that is the complex Linda, we were greeted by the site supervisors and many many children calling out "Muzunga, Muzunga!" which means white person, and is not
meant in a derogatory manner. We split into two teams and got right to it! Lunch was at the Linda school, and a bus full of Muzungas created quite a stir! Back to work in the hot sunshine, and we worked so well today that Paul let us call it a day at 3:30. We will be in three teams for the rest of the week, and really hope to finish all three houses to the point that the pros can put the roof on after we leave.

We are blown away by the warmth and friendliness of the Zambian people, and in particular, in the
wide eyed curiosity if the children!

First day in Zambia

Today we had our first day in Lusaka. Since it is Sunday we started a little late with breakfast at 9 and then an informative orientation from Paul, our HFH coordinator.  There are about 14 million people in Zambia with about 80% living below the poverty line. There are 71 dialects however English is the official language, which is very helpful.  We also learned about the three families we are going to be building with, 2 sets of grandparents raising children and grandchildren and 1 widow with 6 children and 1 grand child. We will be writing and posting more about them as the week progresses.

Later today we went to a craft market and then spent about 2 hours outside our lodge playing with the local kids. It started small and then as we brought out the bubbles, bracelets, soccer balls and skipping ropes the word got out and all the neighbourhood came to check us out.

Our new team is really fun, energetic and keen and we are anticipating another great build experience. Tomorrow is the first work day, which will be starting at 8:00 am. We are all excited to
get building.

Hopefully we will get pictures posted here soon - already a few popping up on facebook.

It's Ben's Turn!

We are off today to start the long trip to Lusaka, Zambia, to work with Habitat for Humanity Zambia's Orphans and Vulnerable Children Project. 17 other Canadian volunteers will be joining us to improve the living conditions for three families. We hope to update this blog with our progress.