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.

Will be in an area of Lusaka called the Chipata catchment area, and will look similar to this one.

The house will not have electricity nor indoor plumbing, but will be a safe and decent place for a family. The floor (cement or concrete) will be poured after the roof is on, to avoid cracking. I imagine it would dry too quickly without the roof on. Our goal will be to finish the home- this will depend on how quickly we are able to get things done of course,

And here are the bricks we’ll be building with- they look heavy, so start weight training today, as we won’t have a fork-lift or any other mechanical device to move them!

(We will have Mike of course who has volunteered to be on brick-carrying detail I believe).

We are one of the few teams building in this area. Most of the homes built in Zambia are under the Mortgage program, to allow HFH Zambia to have an on-going renewable source of funding for other families. Homes in the Chipata area are non-mortgage build, as their focus is on providing decent shelter to at-risk families that may not have any means of support.  A lot of the building in the Vulnerable Group Program has been funded by a grant from Irish Aid, which ran out last September. HFH Zambia is delighted that we have chosen to spend our efforts here.

The Team is Building Strong.  So far there are 12 people signed up. There is a real great mix of people of all ages. Folks are coming from and all across Canada, and we even have a couple of  neighbours from the USA ! Everyone is really enthusiastic and we just can’t help but get  excited. Of course there is always room for more…. just in case anyone is hesitating.

Yes we have a blog dedicated to meeting each of the team members and preparing for out trip. We have such a fantastic mix of people!  http://thetravelinghammersgotozambia2011.blogspot.com/

Our trip dates are July 23, 2011 to August 8, 2011. We will be building in a location just outside the capital, Lusaka. This housing complex is under the Vulnerable Group Housing (VGH) designation (non-mortgage) and is geared towards Vulnerable families. See the information at the bottom of the page from Habitat Zambia’s website for details on this program

So behind the scenes Peg is busy working on all of the coordination and administration it takes to put a team together.  We are also looking at various ways to do some fundraising. So watch for more details on that coming soon.

In addition to its conventional building program, under the Vulnerable Group Housing (VGH) program HFH Zambia provides appropriate, subsidized housing solutions to vulnerable groups in Zambia and it specifically concentrates on orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) and their caregivers. Children in Zambia are one of the groups at greatest risk to contract HIV. Their vulnerability as children puts them at a greater risk of abuse, especially sexual abuse. Statistics show that more than 1 in every 7 adults is living with HIV, which has resulted in about 600,000 children being orphaned due to AIDS.

Miriam Dube is a widow who lost six of her seven children to HIV/AIDS. She is looking after her only remaining son as well as four grandchildren. She is part of the Habitat Zambia Orphans and Vulnerable Children program. To bury her children used up all of her savings, so now she collects and breaks rocks and sells them to Habitat Zambia for construction.