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