First day waking up in Salima, Malawi

Wow what a day! I woke up around 5.30am and got up to watch the sunrise over the lake. The morning started off cool with quite a few clouds along the horizon, which made for an impressive sky when the sun put her head up.

 

We set off to the village at 7.30am in the Habitat for Humanity minibus, turning off of the main road and down a bumpy dirt track. When the kids see you drive past they all run out waving and laughing. Some of the adults look a little suspicious but break into huge grins when you make eye contact and wave at them.

 

We arrived in the village to a welcome song sung by the women of the village. They were dancing, clapping, singing and laughing.

Introductions were done and we met the families we were building for.

Steve our builder (in green) & Alice from HfH Malawi (in pink)

The kids were initially a bit shy but soon came out of their shells. John taught us to say 'Bo' and stick our thumbs up, which is an informal greeting. I can see why Malawi is called the warm heart of Africa.

 

After safety briefings we set to work. The bricks are hand made and fired on site. We were building with a mud mixture called matopi. It was really hot but we were determined to make good progress.

The bricks are piled on the ground and you have to tap them to give rodents/reptiles/spiders a chance to run off.

The kids hang around the edge of the worksite shyly smiling and giving the odd wave. There are pigs, goats and chickens running around the site.

 

At lunch we got a chance to properly meet the kids and played frisbee with them. We showed them how to throw it properly and they were screeching with joy. They really liked looking at our phones and taking pictures of themselves. When I showed them a picture of my cat they all said 'meow'. By the end of the day they were less shy and teaching us words in their language.

 

Tomorrow we start on the inside walls of our houses as we have built as high as we can without scaffold. That will be put up the following day. I felt very lucky getting a hot shower at the hotel at the end of the day to wash off the dirt, Deet and sunscreen.

 

I am pleased that our project will also help provide mosquito nets. The village is so rural, I cant imagine having to get a sick child to hospital. If you are reading this and can spare a couple of quid then we'd be so grateful. The money you give will go to the projects and not towards funding our trip - we/Touchstone have covered that! https://give.everydayhero.com/uk/touchstone