Meet Emily’s Family

As I was finishing the preparation of this post, two things went through my head:

“Wow – this blog is becoming so serious! I need to post some more fun things…” I DO travel a lot for fun. OK – so the post after this will be something just for fun. 🙂
“Hmmm…this has gotten longer than I intended…” Two options: break the post into Part 1 and Part 2, to make it easier to digest, or just go for it. Well, I decided the story tells itself best as one big post. Take your time – it’ll be here when you’re ready!

So here we go. 🙂

In July, I embarked on a one week volunteer trip with Habitat for Humanity’s Global Village Program, leading a group of 15 other volunteers to Salima, Malawi building homes for families in need. This was my fifth time volunteering in Africa, but my first time visiting Malawi. I quickly learned why they call Malawi “the warm heart of Africa”!

Because we were such a large group, we were split onto two different build sites. Our goal was to complete one home per team over the course of just 5 days. Would we be able to accomplish this task? The stakes were never higher, so we gave it our all.

On my build site, the family we were working for is headed by a 45-year old woman named Emily. Emily had lost her own family some years ago, and was willing to take on responsibility for several orphaned children within the village she called home. Currently, she cares for three siblings: Mercy (age 18), Yakobo (age 13), and Brenda (age 10). Here they are!

At the start of the year, these four people were living in a two-roomed house made of unburnt clay bricks with a grass thatched roof and a dirt floor.* The house contained no windows and had very poor ventilation – which led to many illnesses including colds, malaria and skin irritations. The roof was not waterproof. There was no proper toilet. Here’s a photo of Emily, Yakobo and Brenda in front of their old home:

In fact, the house was in such poor condition that prior to our arrival it completely collapsed (luckily no one was hurt). The family was forced to move in with a neighbor. Here are some photos of the house where they were living when I arrived:

(left) Exterior view of current home (right) View of living/eating space and childrens room

Because of their poor living conditions, each of the children often miss school (Mercy is in grade 4, Yakobo in grade 3, and Brenda in grade 2). Mercy summed up their troubles in a very succinct way: “We often skip classes at school because our books get wet and clothes soaked from rain water. It’s hard to sleep when standing up but we do it because we have no choice. Our life is miserable and very hard because of the house we live in.”

Sleep standing up because your house is all wet???? I can’t imagine.

The vision of Habitat for Humanity is “a world where everyone has a decent place to live.” In a village like the one we visited, the need is obvious. We were lucky to participate in a special program supporting Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Malawi. According to the mandate of this program, community organizations and village chiefs identify families who are in the greatest need and then work with Habitat to provide a new home for them at no cost. The houses are basic, around 300 square feet, but safe and durable. There are generally 2 or 3 rooms with little to no furniture. Cooking is done outside. An outdoor, brick and cement latrine is also provided. We had a chance to visit one finished home and meet the proud home owner during our time in Salima:

clockwise from top left: a) exterior of finished home, b) sleeping area for the family, with sacks used to store all belongings (clothing, fertilizer, and food), c) living area with cooking utensils d) permanent, non-leaking tin roof!

When Emily’s family learned that they had been selected, their joy was palpable. “We are happy that Habitat has given us a chance of owning a house. A lot will change in our lives and I look forward to that day”, said Mercy.

So what can a team of 8 volunteers and 3 local workers accomplish in a week? You’d be surprised! When we arrived, the foundation and corners of the house had been already prepared.

Over the course of the next three days, we successfully built up the walls to roof level!

After the gables were added by the local workers, tin was installed and we finished leveling the floors:

Although our time was up, the family was expecting to move into their new home within 1-2 weeks following our departure. The only tasks remaining were to install the doors and windows, and then pour the concrete floor. On our last day, everyone celebrated this huge life changing moment!

My impressions of Malawi are both joyful and tragic. The people are incredibly resilient in the face of so many obstacles. I’m grateful to have experienced such a welcoming community, and to have spent a week getting to learn more about these families. My heart aches for even the most basic physical comforts that they will never know, but I have learned from them that even in hardship, there are important things in life that we should never take for granted: the pleasure of being part of a family, the incredible amount of support that a close knit community provides, the capacity of the human spirit to always strive to make yourself a better person – no matter what your circumstances. Their smiles touch your soul. I can’t wait to return. 🙂