A hodge podge of information

link to photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/105226841757151966002/AfricaDay2July7?authkey=Gv1sRgCPPz2e29nOTnrAE&feat=directlink

Our wonderful Habitat staff includes:
Shorai - I now know how to spell her name - she is the Malawi HFH contact and our key leader
Tadeo - field officer for OVC (0rphans and other vulnerable children) - he beat out 400 other applicants for the job.
Robin - he is our master mason - he inspects every row we build before we can proceed.
Juma- the village chief - the village is named after him - his father, grandfather etc were previous chiefs
Laxon - a local contractor
Limbani - drives our mini van filled with 15 people to and from the site everyday
Nancy - the Likhubula house director
Babie - he is the HFH contractor for our job (Bobby)
our HFH family - grandma and Thandizo (14), Margarite (10) and Grace (8) lost their parents 4 years ago to AIDS.


other Cliff Claven like tidbits:
6 am - most amazing sunrise reflects off of Mount Mulanje onto our site
6 pm - sunset and almost immediate drop of 10 degrees in temperature
daytime - mid 20's Celsius
night time - see your breathe cold!
we have 3 showers and 3 toilets for 11 ladies and we are managing expertly
they have termite hills rather than ant hills that are up to 3 feet high
This Saturday is the annual race up Mount Mulanje and people come from surrounding countries to participate
Without a voltage converter it is possible to FRY your coffeepot on the first day of making coffee :(
goat meat is super chewy and rather like beef jerky - you could chew it forever
fuel cost $1.60 / litre
Juma's population is roughly 400 people
coffee is instant
Habitat has built 20 houses in this district in the last 9 months
Coca - Cola is everywhere!! seriously even in Juma!
tea is grown locally
Barb excels at brushing off signals (third base coach - like)
churches seen so far - Anglican, Lutheran, Islamic, Catholic
the highway is new and named after the president of Zimbabwe
the only vehicle owners are business people or government employees
our own HFH mason slogan is: total mortar combat (oops I mean coverage)
slip up of the day - nearly diving over the seat when the van begins t0 roll away after Shorai and Tadeo hopped out only to realize the driver was sitting on the right side and actually driving the van down the hill - nearly as bad as hopping into the driver's seat of the van in London thinking it was the passenger seat.
k-8 education is free but a very large number of children do not attend.
Quote of the day: "Tadeo you lay bricks like a girl"


Happy Birthday Chrissy!