We’ve done it! 2 Homes for 2 Families

2 families, skilled tradesmen, Habitat staff, the Salvation Army,  volunteers from the US and Canada, Rick, Mike, Steve, Jim, Anne, Peggy, Ann-Marie, Brenda, AJ, Katie, and a whole community in Lusaka work together with the support of Habitat for Humanity Global Village Program

We’ve done it! 2 Homes for 2 Families We are excited to hear we will be building 2 homes. The families have been living in tents made of scrap materials, unsafe and broken down. Our day starts at 7 AM, we arrive by bus into the township greeted by kids pouring out on the streets waving and smiling at us. We meet the families who are overwhelmed with happiness. We work side by side with the local tradesmen who are young, energetic and very skilled. They teach us how to mix the mortar, lay the bricks, and take time to do it well and make it Shine! The tools are basic, wheelbarrows, trowels, wire, levels, shovels, a hammer, a small saw. Tools we didn’t have were made on the spot, pieces of wood to smooth a floor, make a ladder & lay a foundation for a concrete slab. We work hard and we work fast, with great camaraderie by all at the end of Day One we had 4 walls built up to a height we could not see over! And there was always time to stop and make new friends, play a game of soccer, throw a frisbee, blow some bubbles, even do a little Yoga. We are amazed at how pleasant, open, caring and polite our Zambian friends are who have virtually nothing. A little boy happily playing with a badly broken plastic truck, a little girl proudly combing the hair of a dolls head. Our families express their gratitude, never believing they would live in a house made of bricks, having a proper roof so they no longer have to stand up in the middle of the night during the rainy season. They now have a place to lie down and be warm and dry. We are all grateful and fortunate to be a part of this build.

We also visited Bfwana school and clinic to bring them medical and school supplies given to us by family and friends back home. And an orphange where we donated to cutest handsown dolls made by the ladies ……

Day 7 – 2 Homes for 2 Families are completed!

Thank you to our Zambian hosts Paul, Graham, Linda-Sharon & Petronella

A Big Thank you goes out to Bang On. A retailer that specializes in custom T-Shirts and Accessories located on Robson St, Vancouver, BC.  Graham helped me with finalizing the design for T-Shirts for our team. He was so helpful and was really enthusatic about what our Team Zambia was up to.   Thank you so much, they look so good!

http://bang-on.com/retail/locations/bang-vancouver-robson

Our team member Mike sent us this perfect message to start off our travels to Africa.  We will have a time or two that we will be able to get to an internet cafe, (yes they are everywhere), so check out our site for updates.

Butterflies in the stomach, we are very excited !

Thank you to everyone who helped make this trip possible for us.  Your support will help make a meaningful difference to peoples lives.  Today, tomorrow and always.

Remember Our fellow Team Member Thai on the 2010 build ?  The fabulous fella who put together the video for our memories of that trip – This July he will be co-leading a volunteer group of UC Berkeley students to go to Vietnam to provide basic medical care (health check ups, vaccinations, health education, etc.) to impoverished villagers (mainly children).  The organization I represent – Aid to Children Without Parents (ACWP), is partnering up with a Berkeley organization, Volunteers for Medical Outreach (VMO) on this annual trip. The first trip is already underway and the second trip is this July.  I’m helping VMO with a push to raise some money to buy more medical supplies for this second trip.

This is a cause he strongly believes in and he can assure you that 100% of the proceeds will go to the impoverished people in villages outside of Hue and Ho Chi Minh City.  Any little bit will help and grately appreciated!  (and it’s tax deductible).

Follow the blog here: http://calvmo.blogspot.com/

or to donate directly: https://bos.etapestry.com/fundraiser/ACWP-Aidtochidrenwithoutpa/vmo2011/

How Amazing is That ! Go Thai ! Spread your good energy around the world.

Hey everyone,  This is Thai Nguyen the artist of the amazing video taken in 2010.  Thai joined us on that build and his energy was so positive and refreshing.  He made friends with lots of the kids and took those fabulous photos that even made us look good after a day in the sun with sweat and grime all over us.

Thai builds computer applications for an internet/media company in NYC, but lives in the San Francisco area. He was born in Vietnam but has lived most of his life in California.

Thanks very much for sharing the memories with us Thai.

We wish we could explain in words and pictures what the experience was like but it can barely touch it

We hope to return some day

We are all back home safe and sound. But we brought a bit of Africa back with us. It was an amazing experience and we hope to do it again.  We wish we could explain in words and pictures what the experience was like but it can barely touch it.  The people that we met in Africa were so gracious and thankful for what we were doing to help.  The kids stole our hearts the first day we were there. They greeted us with big smiles, they worked alongside us, the little ones took care of the tiny ones, they got so much pleasure from a soccer ball and a skipping rope. They sang as they played.  The ladies and the men at the village took such good care of us. We hope to return some day. Many thanks to teammate Thai for sharing his great photography.

Ohhhh here we go! We are so ready to go and meet our new mates. We will get to Lusaka on the 19th so check out our travel adventures there. We will then meet our team on the 21st and start our build. Once we start to build houses we won’t have contact with you again until Sep. Watch for us!

Thanks again to my family and friends who helped me with my bottle drive and brought me well over my target of $1,000.!! Perserverence pays off! Pam who collected from neighbors and co-workers. Vicky who did the same, and Natalie and the gang from PLC pharmacy department!! THANK YOU,THANK YOU!!