Empty your pockets before using!! The pit latrine!

Making Friends...

Team photo with Amos, national director of Habitat for Humanity Malawi at the beginning of day 4

Ended day 4 with house one ready for the roof tomorrow and house two close behind. A busy day for both teams having to move scaffolding around on a regular basis and working in confined spaces, but another enjoyable day with fantastic results.

The usual mad football match with the kids after school. We think Dane's team won but it's not easy to be sure!

 

Called at the market on the way home to buy souvenirs. Plenty of hard bargaining!

No electricity in the hotel tonight so no air-con and probably no hot food. Certainly no WiFi so difficult to get messages out and charge phones but everyone safe and well.

Last day of work tomorrow and then a dedication and lunch with the community on Saturday.  Everyone still wants to stay for ever!

Mela's birthday tomorrow so are trying to get a surprise together.

Fingers crossed for electricity!!

The Shopping Centre!

Malawi House Number 1

Day 3

Build day 3 was excellent for both teams. Team one has external walls finished including gables. Windows to fit and internal walls to finish tomorrow and the roof goes on on Friday. Team two is about a brick behind - so massive and excellent progress! Continued support from the contractor team which is really appreciated.

Highlight of the day was a visit to the local primary school. There is not much development where we are, it is several kilometres up a dust track but there are many scattered clusters of homes and this means that the primary school has 925 pupils aged from 6 to 16. Only 8 classes, so each class has over 100 pupils although some are lucky enough to have 2 teachers. No electricity, no computers, very few books, exercise books or pencils. When 15 year old children were asked what they really wanted they said "books". That wouldn't happen the UK!!

We bought a football last night and at 3.30 today threw it out of the bus. The kids went absolutely mad with joy. They don't have footballs and were just ecstatic. We will take it back with us to avoid jealousy with adjoining families but bring it back tomorrow.

We will send a photo of the village shopping centre which stocks very little - but did have a needle and thread to deal with John's ripped trousers and Stacey's missing button!

The children are even more confident today and are helping us learn their language. They think that looking at photographs of themselves is absolutely the funniest thing ever.

We all worked really hard today and really proud of what we have achieved. As I write, the the kids (about 30 of them) are singing for us to say thank you. We have loads of photos and videos but struggling to squeeze them through some pretty restrictive WiFi.

Stacey's cold is getting better. Brad's hair still looks immaculate!! Rachel is now a professional scaffolder. We all want to stay and not come home!

Off to shower. More tomorrow.     

Exists Banda's current house. This is what we are replacing!

The team hard at work

                                                           

This is the team who has challenged us to a game of football tomorrow. Bet we lose!

Day 2 of the build in Malawi

Breakfast at 7 - sausage, eggs and beans again and off to work.

We were not sure when we started this how much physical work we would be doing. But everyone has been laying bricks for 8 hours a day. At the end of day 2 house one has walls almost finished to ceiling level, internal door frames fitted and 1 window in. Tomorrow will be gables and internal walls. House two isn't far behind.

Estina, who will live in house one, has been helping get water, pass us bricks and matope, helped by her sister in law. Regina's eldest son, John, has been helping move matope for team 2.

The children have got to know us better today and have been singing for us. We have challenged them to a football match tomorrow at 3.30 so had to stop on the way back to the luge to buy a football and took the opportunity to buy and taste sugar cane. Tomorrow we are visiting the primary school where the village children go and also a maize mill to see how the maize is processed to a flour from which they make nmosi, their staple diet.

Everyone back now and showering - it really is a very dusty job, but great fun and everyone much more confident with their building skills today. We get visited regularly during work by hens and chickens, ducks and ducklings, goats and pigs. All makes the day interesting.