Travel back to Lilongwe Malawi was long and uneventful. The border crossing was very slow. It was time to wrap up our trip and prepare to go home. We had a great group dinner at a local restaurant where many of us chose burgers and steak. I think we were all hankering for familiar food. The morning of our departure the Habitat staff came to take many of us to a Habitat sponsored water and sanitation project. As one of the fastest urbanizing countries in the world, the housing and health situation in Malawi’s cities is desperate. People come to the cities to seek economic stability, only to find no work and limited shelter options. Growing numbers of overcrowded, low infrastructure slums border the city limits of Lilongwe. In partnership with the government and other NGOs, ... read more

Today we got to sleep in! No 6:15 AM alarm. Yesterday’s building brought us to our finishing point. The remaining work on the house would be completed by the professional builders. Once again, we arrived at a quiet village. The funeral would be this afternoon. One of our homes had the roof installed. Is was exciting to see and photograph the home we helped create. The other home was almost complete. Our dedication ceremony was relocated to a neighboring village out of respect for the family. We were greeted with songs of welcome and a procession into the gathering area. There we were treated as honored guests and given seats at the top of the circle alongside the chiefs and village elders. Introductions were made to the audience. The chiefs, Habitat staff, and our team were ... read more

Progress on the walls, exterior and interior was swift today. Those comfortable up high, continued to work on the scaffolding (me), others choose jobs lower to the ground. We are working well with our Malawian builders and homeowners. Our Chichewa is improving and we can now add pleasantries to our calls for bricks, motor and water. Our day began with a visit to the local primary school. The concentration of children is astounding. We were greeted by a dozen children and the crowd quickly swelled to hundreds! We met with the principal and toured 2 different classrooms. The 3rd ‘form’ (grade) classroom held 175 children. There are 203 enrolled. They are taught while sitting on a dirt floor, shoulder to shoulder with no light except what filters through the open windows. They work in groups of ... read more

Today was our first day in the village. It was a good hour drive from our hotel by Lake Malawi to the village in Salima District. Twenty minutes of the ride was spent along a very bumpy rutted dirt road. Our arrival at the village was a treat. We were greeted by women from the village singing in beautiful harmonies. The a Capella music was rhythmic and uplifting. We were introduced to the village chief and local Habitat representatives. Sousand, the site supervisor, recognized me from our previous trip to Malawi. It was good to be welcomed so warmly. After our building orientation, we split into two team and began work on our respective homes. Initially our brick laying was slow and often didn’t pass muster with the professional builders working with us. But after a ... read more

Hello Family, Friends and Supporters, In just 20 hours me and 16 others will leave the USA and head towards Malawi to begin our Habitat for Humanity Global Village trip. While there, we will help build two homes for two families caring for orphaned and vulnerable children. We will share and learn about a culture very different from our own. We will be ambassadors for Habitat for Humanity. I hope you will use this blog to share and experience our journey. Subscribe for daily updates. I will also try and link on Facebook. I will attempt a daily blog here. If/when you visit, leave me a note to encourage me to keep writing. At the end of a long work day, it takes commitment to make the time to journal, while battling power and internet issues. ... read more