first night

link to photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/105226841757151966002/AfricaDay1July6?authkey=Gv1sRgCOPHsfq97LqMJA&feat=directlink

wow - what a day! We pulled out of the hotel around 11 am to head to our build location, with stops for petro and water (stopped at at BP station - they are everywhere) and surprisingly enough downtown Blantyre resembled any small Canadian city - everything is in English (including the giant Carlsberg beer billboard - they have a plant here). There are grocery stores, pharmacies, supermarkets, banks etc. Our money exchange had to occur in the back seat of the minivan as the banks are closed for their national Independence day celebration.
We pulled into our community around noon. First stop was the Habitat office, then off to the work site. It is very surreal to travel in the minivan as children run to the roadside so that they can wave to us - we feel strangely famous.

When we arrived at the worksite we met the grandma and children that will live in the home that we build. We also toured their current home and my emotions could barely stay under control. The grandma cannot walk and so needs assistance to get to and from the house and I believe at times crawls to get where she needs to be. Her oldest grandson is going to help us with the build he is about 12 years old and lovingly welcomed us and thanked us for coming. The new home will have one of the most stunning views you can imagine - the Mulanje mountain and a brilliant blue sky face it.

We were able to participate in building a brick wall for a couple hours, they are hand made bricks and mortar and they keep everything very precise with a level and string (much like when my dad builds a fence!), several members of the group posed for photos with many of the children (some had the day off of school-others do not attend) and then we packed up to head to our lodging. We stopped at a recently built habitat house to see what ours should look like by next week and met the grandma that lives there with her 2 grandchildren. She spoke English very well and was very thankful of the Habitat program. They have a hand made sign in the window that said "thanks to Habitat".

By the time we drove by the Habitat office on the way out of town, word had spread we were there and the children swarmed our vehicle. Again it is very hard to describe the emotions of them all smiling and trying to fight for front row views of us. One adorable toddler (2 years at best) reached up to my window and when I touched his hand his eyes popped so wide and then he pulled back and stared at it total awe, then quickly reached out again to touch my hand once more again in total fascination - again I was grateful for my sunglasses so I could hide the tears that had pooled up.

The drive to Lithubuka lodge was slow but very interesting. The road had a continuum of foot and bicycle traffic - bicycles are expensive - they save similar to how we would for a car but there are many of them. Barb had the front seat and learned much from our male leader - Tadeo. At one point he mentioned that the displays in the roadside vendor were actually mice on sticks and that they are very tasty, he said we will let her taste one before we leave - she said 'maybe'. He also mentioned that if he can get some black market elephant meat he will bring it for us to try - some parts (legs) taste like chicken, shoulders like pork and the rear is like beef.

He is very informative and showed us his house on the way to our lodge, he has worked for habitat for 9 months since he left college.

When we arrived, Shaori introduced us to the lodge administrator Nancy and we got settled into the dorm. Had a bite to eat, it rained while we were eating, showered of the days brick dust and here I type. (There is a group from Scotland here too).

Cannot believe how much I typed - sorry!

official day 1 - morning

Good morning from Blantyre, we have had breakfast (I had corn flakes, a very yummy instant coffee blend and toast), others did omelette’s and sausages etc.
Wandered the grounds a bit and took some photos while Kevin and Shaori (our local Habitat co-ordinator) took the ‘missing luggage’ crew downtown to buy a few necessities (underwear) and to exchange our US money into Kwacha for the next week (we get 160 Kwatcha for a US dollar so we will sound loaded as we tour with 17000 Kwatcha for the next while.
Vera and Sue K were up very early and got a little walk in outside the grounds but most of us chose to enjoy the very comfy beds.
I was so tired yesterday as we drove through downtown that I am a bit sad I did not take in more of it (nodded off for most of the ride). What I did notice resembled the World Vision commercials that we see on TV. Children and teens everywhere, very few women at all (the area we are in has been ravaged by AIDS and there are not many) and smiles everywhere – they appear very happy with what they have – life.
We have learned that we will be building for an orphanage development that will eventually have several hundred homes for the thousands of orphan families. Some of the families have a grandparent to live with them but most have a teenage sibling as the head of the household.
The houses build by habitat will include a mat, pillows and possibly some blankets but will have no furnishings at all. We are allowed to give a gift to the family when we leave so I am inclined to put my blanket towards that gift. We will have a better idea at the end of the build as to a purchase of furnishings etc.
Unfortunately, Megan has been ill for the last 2 days but has been a trooper about it! Everyone else is doing great. After 4 full days in a variety of airports we have become one big family.
We will now sit outside and enjoy the beautiful weather as we await the shoppers. Malawians operate in their own time - very relaxed - we will get there when we get there.
hope to write again tonight after we have spent a day at the build - still unknown what type of access we will have at the Lihkubula lodge. It is very cheap here - 15 minutes for 60 cents!
later!

We are here

hello everyone,
We left Nairobi to Tanzania last night at midnight and flew over mount Kilimanjaro but it was too dark to see it! Arrived in Daar es Salaam at 3 am and waited for the 10:50 flight today to Blantyre, we nearly never got on as the airline did not get confirmation of payment from the Kenya airlines and thus they weren't too excited to let 13 of us on without payment - they actually held the plane on the tarmack for us to run on and we arrived in Blantyre around noon!!! woot woot!
The streets we drove took us through some extreme poverty and really makes us thankful for all we have and extremely embarrassed for all that we packed.
5 of our group members have arrived without their luggage but thankfully we have been able to 'share with everyone' except poor Ken - hard to borrow underwear from 12 women!! Their luggage should arrive by Thursday and tomorrow morning they will go out for some supplies prior to our departure.
We took a short ride from the airport to the Gold Card Executive Lodge Limited (hotel).
We are fed and ready for bed although it is only 8:50 here we are soooooooooo exhausted!
Tomorrow we will get to the site by mid morning to build for the day and then spend the next 10 days at the Luhkabula Lodge and Conference center. Should be able to post soon with build updates!
Happy Birthday Leslie!

first post in europe

link to photos in London:
http://picasaweb.google.com/105226841757151966002/Africa?authkey=Gv1sRgCJbx9arxpJOTJA&feat=directlink

Note : Heathrow does not make typos!!
We arrived in London and are still here!!! Our layover was supposed to be for 6 hours but when we were checking on our flight it came up as 10:00 rather than 22:00 only for us to learn that the flight had been rescheduled to tomorrow. That is not actually the case either as we have been set up at the Holiday Inn until possibly tomorrow evening or maybe later. This is beyond our control and so we are simply hoping for the sooner the better as we really want to be spending our time in Africa. We are hoping to know by noon tomorrow what our new plans are and I will keep you all posted.
hugs to everyone!

July 1st has finally arrived!

In 2 hours I will be making my way to the Winnipeg International airport to begin this long awaited journey.
In the last few days I have learned that my curling buddy Wilf has a relative in Malawi working for a waterwellness project with 'Engineers without Borders' and it just happens that he will be in the Mulanje district next week while we are there. How ironic that a group from Winnipeg will be traveling half way across the world and could end up sharing a meal with a fellow Canadian?! So neat.
Having packed and unpacked my suitcase a dozen times in the last week I am pretty certain there is no changing things now. I have attempted to pre-book seats online - not certain it was a success but will figure it out at the airport.
I am looking forward to seeing Heathrow for the first time in decades and can foresee a pint in hand while watching a soccer game during our approx. 7 hour layover there!

time zones for Africa

We will have a 7 hour difference in times while in Malawi - noon our time is 7 pm over there. Thus, don't be alarmed if a blog post appears at a time that you would think I should be off building a house!
The following link shows a world clock as well as temperatures etc for other countries.
http://timeandate.com/s/rux
Temperatures this week are running around 68 -70 degrees Fahrenheit - not what one thinks of when they hear "Africa" but it is currently their winter season.

getting very close!

So we have our e-tickets (well actually I printed off Barb's instead of mine but I WILL have my e-ticket tomorrow!), lodging information (and a packing list of about 100 items with the instructions to pack light!)
I am so excited about this Habitat trip!
We will be housed in dorms at Likhubula house while we do our build and the word is that the facility has internet so I should be able to officially 'blog' most of our daily events, maybe even post a photo or two if time will permit me to do so each evening. (I won't want to be an internet 'hog')
I was kidding about the packing, but must confess that when I discovered that we could take 2 suitcases I did rearrange things and added a smaller second case. Now, I am certain I will not exceed the 50 pound restrictions they place on each piece. I am leaving several of the clothing items in Africa as a donation to Habitat global village and thus will have plenty of souvenir room for the long list of people I wish to shop for!
My goodness, in one week I will be too excited to get a good nights sleep! In 8 days, I will be leaving Toronto for Heathrow airport - haven't been there for 20 years!
and in 9 days I will be in AFRICA :)