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Published: March 4th 2015
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Hello everyone - greetings at the end of a very long, sweaty, teary, emotionally-charged, challenging and physically demanding day! There! That sums it up.
And what a day it's been.
We started out with a breakfast meeting hosted by Sandy Salle, President/CEO of
http://www.hillsofafrica.com - explaining what the day will look like. We were invited to set our intentions for the day and, for the most part, being high-achieving individuals and entrepreneurs, our common intention was to stay focused and be in the moment. That was certainly my intention - to let go of any challenges, stuff cluttering my brain, business concerns, etc. - and, rather, just BE here ...... (I will add that breakfast today was super yummy - especially the custom made veggie omelet and, of course, the chocolate croissant! Yup - giving in to them here - it's first class chocolate and I refuse to deny myself).
We headed out on our bus and the first stop for the day was at a site for a house build for Habitat for Humanity. We also have the privilege and the honor of meeting the family for whom the house was intended. Veronica - is a single
Mom, living currently in a mud hut with her own children and grandchildren - for whom she takes responsibility. They are 7 in total in that small mud hut (you will see it in my photos below). This is a very humbling experience when you consider our blessed and plentiful lives in North America! Eye-opening and heart-wrenching all at the same time.
My prayer to the Canadian weather gods came through because I am not one to function well in hot, sunny weather. Today was cool, breezy and overcast. YES! Thank you! I did get quite the sun burn anyway, but it was all good.
We were surrounded by little children all day (you can see the video I posted on Facebook - they enjoyed singing to us as we worked). I took lots of photos, in and around Lusaka as we drove to and from the hotel - but also of the whole experience today.
We did have a really decent lunch break - and I, for one, really appreciated that time away - to catch my breath, gather my thoughts, get some nourishment, share with the rest of the group and then get back on
the bus and back to the building site.
It tore my heart to see the level of appreciation in the eyes of the family as they watched their house come together. And let me just say this was no easy task stirring the dirt for mortar, lifting the heavy bricks to make the walls (thank you, Heykel!!!! The training with you paid off big time for me today!) - We could only do so much today because, before adding bricks at a higher level on the walls, what we did put together needed time to dry. We did get a lot done though. We were also curious as to what the house would look like once finished - so we walked down the street to see one of the other Habitat houses that was recently completed. You will see the photo below. It looks like a mansion compared to the current mud huts - which are quite damaged and dangerous right now because it's the rainy season. (and we 'get to' come back to our rooms at the Radisson Blu hotel - there are no words......)
Before we left, Sandy Salle presented the family with a bag of
mealie meal (cornmeal) to help feed the family. Emotions were all over the place.
From there, we headed to a local school where we had the opportunity to meet with some of the teachers and some of the students (grades 7-9 I believe) - the students are all orphans - they were in a crowded schoolroom (4 to a school bench/desk), in the dark, in the heat. We brought some gifts for them, had a chance to visit with them briefly - and they had the opportunity to ask us some questions. (I found it interesting that they were, in fact, having an English lesson - see photos below from the blackboard). This visit really touched the hearts of each one of us - one of the students stood, spoke and asked the question 'what can you do for us'? The intention of the question, which Sandy handled beautifully in her response was that we are here to encourage, to inspire, to let you know you matter - that your dreams matter - that we care. (before we left, Melissa and Trent stepped up and offered to 'sponsor' that young boy so that he could continue his schooling. The
rest of us are working with Sandy and her partners so that we, too, can sponsor a child in that classroom and help create a hope-filled, educated future. THIS is all part of my WHY! (what is yours?)
Once outdoors again, I just felt compelled to step away from the bus and record a brief video of thanks to Suzanne Evans, my coach (http://www.suzanneevans.org ) and Sandy Salle to thank them both for the invitation and the opportunity to participate in the Give Movement Journey 2015. This is my 2nd trip with Suzanne and Sandy and it means the world to me. THIS is all part of why I do what I do. I do love to travel. I do love to meet people. I especially love to give back and make a difference - and this is just the beginning.
On a lighter note, after we all got back to our rooms, showered, changed (napped, LOL) - we met for drinks and a birthday celebration for one of our colleagues on this trip, Elizabeth. Talk about a memory-filled birthday! Wow.
And now I am going to drag my tired, emotionally charged body into bed for some
sweet dreams.
Stay with me as tomorrow we leave for Zimbabwe - with more special work ahead of us. I can't wait to share with you.
Please continue to leave your comments below. We love hearing from you - and feel free to forward the link to a friend. Also, there are icons below that you can click to share the blog links on your Facebook and Twitter pages. Let's inspire the world. There's so much we can do - YOU don't have to travel to Africa to make a difference. This happens to be my choice. There is a lot to be done right in our own backyards too.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words - well, there are LOTS of photos included in this blog and I am confident there are more than a thousand words represented!
Good night all,
Happy Pat
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Sharon Dahmer
non-member comment
laundry day
Seems like we saw a lot of laundry days on the tour. Good job on laying cinder block, Pat. :-)