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.

Last Day...

It is always an emotional time saying goodbye, and it was no different in Comanesti. We made such a difference here to the four-plex, meaning that four families will be in their homes sooner, because we were here!

Itchy, itchy, scratchy, scratchy

Once again day 7 began with our morning instructions and safety talk from Cyprian and Cristina but work did not start until after several group photos were taken. Then it was back at insulation and drywall - hence the title for today.First job, lifting the many sheets of drywall into the house and up to the second floor. All teams moved upstairs and then the dust really got flying as we worked in each house! The downstairs is now finished with drywall - and will have to be left to the next team for taping, sanding and painting...what fun they will have!

Energy was a bit low and more people joined the expresso run at the little corner market today. And a few more stole a little nap at lunch. The afternoon continued with work but also some fun. Kodi was popular with our foremen today when he treated them to some nice cold Ursus at day's end.   It's hard to believe tomorrow is our last day at the work site. We are certainly proud of the work we have done here in Comanesti but also everyone is feeling a little sad about leaving.

After work we headed into the bustling metropolis of Comanesti for a little shopping and visit to the Habitat office.

Day 6 - Drywall, eating and napping

It was a little difficult to get up this morning for a second week of building - we asked ourselves "What is more exhausting building or visiting?", but when we arrived on site we were greeted by a resounding "Buna Dimineata!" (good morning) of our coworkers with mighty Cyprian as our foreman.We were very happy to be back on site. We enjoy working with the Romanain team because they are always smiling, joking and caring.

We continued doing drywall and started on the second floor. Some of you who have viewed the pictures commented that this house is big, it is important to specify that this is for 4 families. Two houses top and bottom on the front, and two on the back. Each day we have members from the family helping out as well.

For lunch we had spaghetti, giant portions! Then Wim starting to be comfortable with life in Romania, after his morning coffee at the little store next door,  went to have a nap under the neighbours tree. Although it is as hot as the previos days, we are getting used to the temperature.

It is worth mentioning that on our team we have two strong boys of 15 and 16 years old, Victor and Jacob, they work very hard and always with a smile. Both parents are very proud, and what is absolutely great is that all the team is looking out for them.

Michelle

Transylvania, Dracula and castles

As our build is across the Carpathians mountains, we had to cross over to the other side, to Transsylvania (indeed, that means "across the forest"). After a beautiful trip we visited the stunning Peles castle and the famous Bran castle that was said to be the dwelling place of Dracula! At the castle we had a tour guide who said "No way, there has never been such a guy", it was just a story......, sorry! Anyway, the Romanians adopted the story and today it is one of the "must see" places in the country, located strategically at the border of the past. Apart from the interesting stuff in the castle, there was enough interesting stuff at the market in front of the castle.

Happy after the injection of so many historical facts, we went to Brasov where we stayed in the middle of the music festival. Nobody in town had stayed at home and so the main square was filled up, so were we after this long day.

On Sunday, Iulia, our own tour guide, led us through the city and we learned that Brasov is a nice place to stay. Tired after so much sightseeing work we went back to the other side where we arrived by evening, refreshed to start our second week of build!         
                                                                                                                                                        Wim

Day 5 - More insulating, drywall and football!!

Today was a hot one and once again the giant marshmellow suits were brought out for insulating the rest of the downstairs, with the drywall teams close behind. We moved quickly with each apartment having the main downstairs living areas done. There was a bit of a problem as one of the units is going to be the home of a handicapped woman and after much discussion with Valy, Dom and Lilian (the homeowner of this house) the original dryway had to come down and the bahroom door reframed. But not a problem for this team, and we continued on. Jacob, Fiona, David and Jennifer moved upstairs and managed to insulate all exterior walls - quite a puzzle at times as no two beam spaces were the same size!




















                                  After work it was time for the Romania - Canadian/Holland football challenge!  It was great because we had quite a cheering section, and many of the wives and children came to cheer too. Thanks to our "All Star Fiona" the score was a respectable 6 - 4.....not too bad for some gringos (with a little help from Cyprian).    We set off for dinner in high spirits as the weekend is R&R at Bran Castle and Peles Castles!

Day Four - The Mayor, Insulation and dancing!

Day Four began with a visit to Moinesti town hall, where we had an audience with the mayor, who gave us all certificates attesting that we were Friends of Moinesti. We also visited the gallery of photos from the history of the area. Recently unearthed in the area is a 7 000 year old pottery bowl with signs of black oil, indicating it could be the earliest documented use of the black gold, and thousands of years before OPEC began to set the price. Off the to work site, six of us donned snowman suits, complete with dust masks and goggles to begin installing fibreglass insulation in the ceiling and walls downstairs. While others began to install drywall, one team finished off the exterior with the first layer of stucco. To say it was hot would be a tremendous understatement. We worked around each other as best we could, and stayed positive about why we were here to work in the first place. We are enjoying each others company, and are really having a lot of laughs with Cyprian, Vali, Vasili, Radu and Dantes, our Romanian crew.

We got back to the hotel to clean up, have a cold drink and try out the newly filled swimming pool. Wading pool would be more accurate, but it was cool and refreshing. We were then treated to a traditional dinner of dolmades (stuffed vine leaves) and stuffed peppers, which was all delicious. Then a group of young locals from a dance studio in town entertained us with many traditional folk dances from the area. We were very pleased to be pulled up and encouraged to participate!

Day 3 - last stucco coat and Insulation

The work progresses well while the sun got hotter today. Temperatures got close to 40 oC and made the shadowed side of the building more popular. Nevertheless, the team spirit was great again and cooperation with our fellow workers from Romania was good. These men mostly live in Comanesti, Moinesti (where we actually build) or other places in the neighborhood. We communicate in Romanenglish.
As the coffee breaks were lacking coffee, the needy among us were saved by the little shop across the street where real coffee is prepared by an old style Italian espresso machine. The price is a killer, namely one Lei.

     

Today was only a half day and then it was off to the salt mine for some healthy air. Quite an intesresting place, you can play basketball, have a coffee, swing at the playground and even send an email, all from 240 m below ground!