“It’s
been over a week back and I still can’t find the words to describe how it felt
being out there. Going out there I had no idea what to expect but knew that if
I could at least help the community I would have achieved what I set out to do.
Little did I know I would have to be up dancing, giving piggyback rides,
playing football and all the other fun we had with the community. Even the work
didn’t feel like work when the masons were being really helpful and playful
with us. When we managed to get the scaffolding up on the first day was just a
great boost to us that we carried on through the week to finish in record time.
Seeing the smile on the families faces at the end made all the hard work worth
it and how the whole community came together to help out in any way they could
just kept pushing you to try harder. To me I still haven’t really come back to
my reality yet and speaking to people who have gone before it doesn’t sound
like you ever do and that’s fine by me as that trip, community and the people I
shared this experience with will always be a part of me. I think we all had the
same feeling when we got back of ‘Just get me on that plane and send me back
again’ and that feeling will stay with me forever.”
Touchstone Charity Trip to Malawi 2016 in Partnership with Habitat for Humanity
Monday, 25 June 2018
Monday, 11 June 2018
Day 7 - Goodbyes ... from Simon Barton
The
final day of our 2018 Malawi adventure and the final day of our three year
project with Habitat for Humanity to deliver 24 homes to the poorest and most
vulnerable orphaned children. Today we are hoping to visit 22 of the 24 homes
either completed or partly constructed, including the 2 that the 2018 team have
been working to complete and what will I’m sure be a very emotional farewell to
the community who in only a week we feel completely attached to.
The
first house we visited was home to Fyness Chimpeni and the four children she
cared for. This home was built by the 2017 Touchstone team, Fyness is totally
blind but a real character and was born in 1936. We were invited in to her
house which was immaculately clean but without a single item of furniture, a
similar theme in all the homes we visited.
We
then visited the home of Emelida Mailosi who cares for her three grandchildren
who are due to move into their home in August. What struck us when driving back
through the village was although most of the homes where in a seriously
dilapidated condition the area outside each of the houses, which is just sand
and dust, had been swept clear of all leaves and debris and looked very neat
and tidy, clearly taking pride in what very little these people had.
Next
we visited another grandmother caring for her 4 grandchildren, ranging in age
from 6 to 16, both parents the victims of the aids virus which is still a major
problem in Malawi.
We
then paid a visit to the community that we have been working with to see the 2
houses we have been working on with the corrugated roofs installed and to say
our final farewells. After a couple of renditions of ‘bye bye, bye bye, but not
for ever’ and more than a few tears it was time to continue our tour of the
Touchstone houses. The bus was very quiet as we all tried to gather our
thoughts and emotions.
The
next couple of homes we visited both completed in 2017 and we met the first
male guardian, who was caring for his sisters three children. He explained the
massive difference having a home with a roof that didn’t leak had on them all.
In the rainy season the would not be able to sleep as rain poured through the
dilapidated roof thatching, they would have to find a spot in the house that
was dry, often having to stand holding what little they had to keep it dry.
Each
new family explained something different about how their new home has changed
their lives, one of the most poetic explanations was Pililani Mwamdi who
explained since moving in her dreams have changed!
Martha
James, looking after 8 children, 5 of her own and three grandchildren, she was
only 33! To put some context around this, her new home consists of 2 bedrooms
and a living room, still extremely ‘cosy’. She explained that now she has a
safe and secure home she can spend more time labouring on the farm and selling
tomatoes which gives her a small income that she uses to feed the children.
The
next 2 homes where particularly emotional for John, who helped build them on
out first Touchstone visit in 2016, Regina Mtambalika, who despite being
disabled with a club foot, looks after 3 children, has developed a small
holding with some livestock and creating a very pretty garden and Esinta Banda
and her 3 children who now has been able to create a business growing and
selling potatoes, cabbages and tomatoes..
The
final couple of houses visited both had sad and difficult tales to tell,
neither carer was at the house. The first was with one of her children who had
been taken ill and had been admitted to hospital;l the sense was that his
condition was poor and her other 4 children were being cared for by a neighbour
whilst she remained with the ill child. Tthe mother from the other house was
away in Lilongwe selling fish that she had walked to Lake Malawi to buy, about
5 miles away, then bought some ice to pack the fish, caught a bus to Lilongwe
and will stay there until she sells them all. She will then return home with
whatever she has earned for a couple of days and then do it all again.
Life
for the vast majority of the people here is one of day to day survival but most
seem to do it with a smile on their face!
We
will all leave Malawi with a mixture of emotions, extremely grateful for the
opportunity to make a small difference, a more balanced perspective on life and
with memories we will treasure for a lifetime.
Team
Touchstone 2018 I’m very proud of you each and every one of you.
Day 6 from Robyn and Rebecca
Our last day today on site and it
was great to see that both roofs were in the progress of going on the houses.
When arriving on site we had time to play with the children, they particularly
enjoyed the piggy back races and posing with our sunglasses on.
The
village seemed busy with the women cooking for the post dedication ceremony.
Many of the workers brought their families to see us on our final day. The
families we are building for spoke of their pride in their new homes and how
they were looking forward to taking care of their homes. John then spoke and
thanked the community for welcoming us.
The
ceremony commenced with dancing and then a welcome from the village chief. The
dancing was lead by workers from the local nursery we had met earlier on in the
week. The dancing and singing was incredible and put our Hokey Cokey to shame.
We also sang if your happy and you know it with the children joining in on the
fun. We were awarded with certificates to congratulate us on our build. The
ceremony was concluded by the traditional dancers.
It was
then time for lunch which included goat, rice, beans, shredded cabbage, pumpkin
leaves and sweet potato. We ate with the families for which we are building for
and the food was thoroughly enjoyed by all. It was especially lovely to see the
children going up for seconds. The children got to have juice or a fizzy drink
which they enjoyed.
Before
leaving we had the opportunity to have final photos in front of our houses,
with some of the children joining us.
Tomorrow
we get to visit all of the 24 Touchstone houses including one last visit to our
two houses which no doubt will be very emotional.
Day 5 from Greg and James
As we've been much
quicker than habitat expected we got to have a bit of an easier day today. We
started off with a trip to the crocodile farm just up the road from us where we
learnt about the crocodile trade. The farm manager had been working there for
21 years and told us they breed 6,000 crocodiles a year. Everything they
produce is for commercial use and they have main exporters to Italy, Korea and
Africa. They have a crocodile that is 55 years old which the life expectancy is
115 years.
After that it was time
to drive to the site. On the way we saw a few kids hitting a round stone with a
stick and some other school children wearing paper graduation hats, just
another couple of luxuries we take for granted.
On site we finished off
the floors for the first house and carpenters were putting the structural
support for the roof on. During our lunch break the community football came out
so we had a kick around with the kids who put us all to shame. When we got
forced back to working on the house we finished off the floor on the second
house while silent parrot filmed us working. We really just wanted to go back
to playing football with the kids so once we'd finished the floor we ran back
to the ongoing game the kids were having. Seeing the smiles on all their faces
was something special for all of us who have been working so hard to help the
community, so special that we had to be dragged away by the bus as we just
weren't going to leave unless someone forced us.
While in the bus the
kids started pointing and laughing, we were trying to work out what they were
laughing at. We realised they were pointing at their reflection in the window
because they'd never seen their own reflection before. It's amazing to think
simple things like a mirror just isn't anywhere in the community.
On the way back to the
hotel we stopped off at a local market where they had a wide variety of locally
made crafts to take home as souvenirs. Everyone enjoyed going through and
bartering with the owners to get what they wanted, then it was back on the bus
back to the hotel.
Another amazing day
coming to an end and it's just becoming harder and harder to think we'll soon
be leaving this community behind but knowing we've made a difference to their
lives. The memories of the whole community and everything we've seen will stay
with us forever.
Friday, 8 June 2018
Day 4 from Mason and Oli
The
day began with a trip to Ankondwa school. We were introduced to the headteacher
Lloyd Mumbar, who oversees 900 children with only 14 teachers. From there we
visited three different classes grades 1,4 and 7. Each class greeted us with
songs and shared their aspirations for the future. The answers included
doctors, nurses and soldiers the most frequent of which however was a bank
manager...
From
then we were taken to the headmasters office where on the wall we found the
school rules which included some more interesting than others.
After
an emotional goodbye with the school children we made our way to the village to
continue our build. By lunch we had almost finished the internal and external
walls and took our break. Swiftly finishing our food we went to spend the
remainder playing with the local children. A football match soon ensued and
what started out as a civilised game between us swiftly turned to a free for
all as word got out and more and more children joined in. The joy on their
faces over the simplest game was extraordinary to see.
As
each day passes and we grow more and more attached the community it seems
difficult to imagine how it will feel leaving it all behind.
Thursday, 7 June 2018
Day 3 from Caroline and Carol
Day
3 sees us visiting the pre-school age nursery that is nearing completion,
funded by John Midgley’s kind and generous efforts. Sadly this nursery
was closed for over two years due to lack of funds. Now its able to offer
children porridge for breakfast, giving them a nourishing start to the day
which they may not manage to have at home.
We
arrived to joyful singing children holding banners welcoming us. This was
immensely touching and frankly overwhelming for all of us. We sat with the
children and exchanged names with some help from the guys from Habitat. The
nursery will hopefully be completed by the end of the month.
It
was then back to work on site. It was amazing to arrive to see just how much we
have achieved in such a short space of time. So up the scaffolding we went
-observing full health and safety regs obviously! To say we were industrious
doesn’t quite explain the speed at which both teams have managed to build.
Although
we have an hour for lunch we all choose to spend half of this time playing and
interacting with the children. The universal language of football has reached
even the most remote village in Salima. However the football the children
currently use is made from plastic bags and a multitude of other materials
bound together with string. Today we brought ecstatic smiles to their faces
with the introduction of a brand new leather football. So many children and
adults across the world take for granted the use of such an object but today
the excitement and resounding pleasure this brought was truly wonderful to
see.
By
the end of the day’s building, both teams had completed the external walls of
each house and had moved on to the internal walls. A feat which has delighted
us all.
Tonight
we are all more weary than before, with aching limbs from all the lifting,
bending and squatting - not all related to the build!!!
So
it’s goodnight from Team Malawi sitting at the bar with a well deserved chilled
one!
Day 2 from Clair Barry
We are finally off the ground and laying bricks at height.
The scaffolding was interesting (Tristram don't look at the pics) but Danni
carried out a full risk assessment and we were good to go.
There was a nice breeze today and we all felt a little more
confident in our masonry skill and were quickly shouting "Matope" and
"Chingwe Mamba" (more Mortar and bring the lines up). By the end of
the day both teams had completed four walls with doors and windows and they
were really looking like homes. Daima and
her brother are helping us build the house so it is great to get to know the
family better.
A harder part of the day was seeing the homes Enelesi and Daima are moving
from. It was very difficult not to be emotional when you see the small house in
which Daima and her 3 children live. We had chance to ask what will be the best
part of their new home. The answer was that when it rains they will be dry
whilst they sleep. Her current house has a grass roof and mud floor and the
rain can often come down hard. Her new home has a concrete floor and tin roof
so their possessions are protected from rain.
Just when you think you cannot feel any sadder about the
situation these lovely famillies are in the children of the village run up to
you smiling ear to ear and your heart lifts. The kids want to sing, play
football, dance and wave, I think they have all realised we are a bit of crazy
bunch and they are not wrong.
Being part of this experience has really been life-changing
and I want to thank Touchstone and Habitat for letting me be part of it.
Day 1 from Danni Hall
From the minute we all congregated at Paddington station
in the ‘compulsory’ Touchstone Tshirts (thanks for that Midgley) instincts
kicked in this was going to be a great trip!
First stop - Heathrow airport bar! ‘Team bonding’
Second stop - Party flight to Johannesburg no films
required the team provided the in flight entertainment Third stop - Layover
hotel for one night, swimming pool/ bar/ casino and ending the night in the
reggae nightclub with Mr systems spaghetti
At this point your probably thinking are they on a
Touchstone jolly sponsored by Simon Barton’s company credit card....... until
this morning we all thought the same!
And then today the penny dropped and the realisation came
when we arrived in our village, the tears had begun before we had even stepped
foot off the bus......
The first few hours were spent plastering myself and
everyone else in cement and trying not to burst into tears! Once both off those
areas were in check I began to enjoy myself and settle into village life
(mainly getting distracted by the children and getting told to get back
bricklaying)
By the end off the day the house was half built and I was
dying for a beer but could have stayed all night!
After listening to Midgleys never ending stories for the
last three nights, I didn’t believe it would be as moving and touching as it
has been and it’s only day 1!
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