Oh. My. Goodness. How can 6 months have passed since my last post? I’ve had so many amazing and wonderful adventures…I guess I just get caught up in experiencing the moment rather than writing about it. Forgive me – stories to follow, I promise. 🙂
It’s time to make some changes, starting with this unplanned, in the moment post! I can’t think of a more appropriate time …let me explain.
I am currently spending my last night (on this trip!) in Americus, Georgia. Where’s that? Yeah…you’ll need to check the map. 🙂 Americus is a quiet but lovely town in southwestern Georgia. Look!
I arrived over a week ago right ahead of Hurricane Irma (it literally started raining as I unpacked the car…). I have spent the past week at the headquarters of Habitat for Humanity. It’s been fantastic!
During the first few days, I spent time in the office with some great people preparing for the big moment… On Thursday, the event started! This was the first of several sessions where Habitat for Humanity Global Village Volunteer Team leaders are coming together to meet, talk, learn, share and recommit to serving the mission of this organization. We were given an extra special reception at the historic Rylander Theatre downtown:
On that first night, the initial 17 team leaders to attend recertification training got to know each other and learn more about the roots of Habitat. We were treated to a special showing of “Briars in the Cotton Patch” – a movie describing the roots of Habitat set in the Civil Rights era. I had no idea…definitely worth a watch., look for it
Over the next two days, we attended talks that ranged in content but had the overall impact of bringing this group of individuals together as one cohesive unit with a common goal. I feel so privileged to be a part of this crowd! And it is reaffirming in a multitude of ways
So this day seems fitting to kick off a renewed commitment to posting updates, as I am reenergized about the future and my renewed commitment. I can’t wait to be the best I can be, to serve to the best of my ability, and to make the most of every moment that life grants me.
Thanks for joining me on the journey and having faith. Our best is yet to come. ❤️
In February I had the opportunity to lead a team of 9 volunteers on a one week Global Village build with Habitat for Humanity in Yunnan Province, China. What a fantastic experience! Everything about this trip – the location, the culture, the team, the community, the food – was so much more than I expected. I’m excited to introduce you to Mr. Long and his family, who we worked side by side with for 5 days.
Mr. Long belongs to the Miao minority and has lived in Yunnan Province for his entire life. Being the youngest son in the family (he has 4 older sisters and 1 older brother), it is his responsibility to care for his parents as they age. Living in his household are his parents, his wife, and their three children. Soon his wife’s parents will also come to live with the family. The house where they have been living contains just 4 rooms: a kitchen, an attic storage area, a dedicated bedroom and a combo living room/bedroom. The house has been deemed “uninhabitable” by the government due to its age and the fact that it sustained severe damage in an earthquake a few years ago.
Photos of the Long Family’s current home. Clockwise from top left: the outside of the house (2), the attic storage and drying area, the living room/main bedroom, the second bedroom, the living room/main bedroom, the kitchen.
The family was able to build a temporary home, but they could only afford a small, 3-room basic structure. There is no steel reinforcement within the walls and the home is built of hollow bricks, which will collapse easily in the case of another earthquake. For these reasons, the government has also deemed this house unsuitable for permanent residence.
Take a minute to imagine, really picture in your mind, living in such conditions as a family of 9… There is no security or safety for you or your belongings, no privacy, limited conveniences (intermittent electricity, no running water or indoor bathrooms)…and the prospect of another earthquake which could destroy your home is ever present.
Habitat for Humanity China provides help to low/middle income families throughout several provinces. There are government programs to help the poorest of the poor in China, so the families that HFH China helps have stable jobs and can afford to make small payments on their home, but need a little extra help. I chose to take this trip to Yunnan because it offers an excellent cultural immersion. I actually had no idea what I was getting into! In a good way, of course. 🙂
Our team arrived in Kunming and traveled by bus to a small town called Gaoqiao. The guesthouse was basic…including squat toilets…and special rules? 🙂 This would be our home for the next week and we ate well in town, but our work was in an even more rural location.
Each day, we set out by bus for 30 minutes and then on foot for a 45 minute hike to reach Mr Long and his family. The hike was no walk in the park, with an up and down path and overall elevation gain of almost 1000 feet over one mile! The setting was beautiful though so in between gasping for air we all enjoyed the scenery.
When we first arrived, we found our project already started. Mr. Long and his community had already completed the first floor (3 rooms) of the new home!
Our tasks for the next 5 days were to pour a porch on the first level and begin building the walls upstairs. This meant lots of mixing of concrete and mortar, moving materials, and laying bricks! On the first day, we mixed concrete (with an actual mixer – a luxury on a build like this!) and poured the porch floor.
Everyday, Mrs. Long and other members of the community prepared a delicious home cooked meal for us at lunchtime. What a treat! Chopstick skills required. 🙂
For the next 4 days, we sifted sand, carried countless buckets of sifted sand and water upstairs, mixed mortar by hand and laid bricks to build up the walls.
The family worked with us everyday – they were unstoppable and their pride in their new home was obvious. Even before we arrived, the 7-year old daughter in the family could not wait to enjoy her new home! “Though the windows and doors on the first floor weren’t installed, she took a straw mat and quilt to the new house and slept there alone. So happy was she in these days.” says Mr. Long. Decent and safe housing not only means an improvement of living environment, but also means self-confidence and hope.
On the last day, rain prevented us from continuing our work but it could not dampen our spirits. We joined together with the family for a memorable lunch and celebration, wishing each other well in the future and congratulating everyone on the progress. Our celebration started with an indoor BBQ – yet another fabulous meal.
Mr. Long is an active member of his church and a quartet performed several songs for us to kick off the official farewell ceremony!
He also gave a short speech which left not a dry eye in the audience. We all received certificates from Jerry, the staff coordinator of HFH China, and said our goodbyes after a typical Chinese fireworks display!
We made great progress in the week and the Long Family hopes to complete their home and move in before the summer.
Reflecting on our week with this family, I know that we made a huge impact on the lives of the Long family. However, I would argue that they made an even greater impact on mine. Thank you, Long family, for your friendship and hard work. You welcomed us into your community and your family – for that we will be forever grateful. ❤️️
For more photos from this build, check out my photo album!
This post contains some facts and quotes shared with me by Habitat for Humanity China. Their help and support is appreciated.
In December I had a chance to combine two of my favorite things – travel and volunteering! I spent two weeks in Kigali working on the site where the headquarters of Grace Rwanda – a charity promoting literacy and education in Rwanda – are located. After that, I was lucky enough to take a week long safari to see some of the wildlife of East Africa!
My first stop was Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda where I joined a small group of hikers in search of Golden Monkeys. In conservation areas like this, visiting primates is nothing like going to a zoo – these animals are wild! However, researchers have spent years habituating some of the populations to the presence of humans so it’s safe for small groups of visitors to encounter them in the forest. The process is highly controlled – the group stays together and follows a guide, and you are allowed to stay in their presence for only 1 hour of each day. We set off through the village and then encountered the Golden Monkeys first on an unused plot of farming land. After about 20 minutes, they moved on to the forest and so did we. You can see how they get their name – they are beautiful!
The following day we set out on a LONG drive for Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda. Bwindi is home to over 300 Mountain Gorillas and has several family groups that are habituated to visitors. These beautiful animals are endangered due to poaching and live only in Uganda, Rwanda and the DRC – they cannot survive in captivity so if you’ve seen a gorilla in a zoo, it was likely another gorilla species, probably the Lowland Gorilla. The hike to find our family was no joke (it’s called the “impenetrable” forest for a reason!) but when we got there it was more than worth the effort. This group has several juvenile members and they were very active during our 1 hour stay!
The last primates on our itinerary were the Chimpanzees of Kibale National Park, Uganda. We arrived around 2pm and quickly got ready to go into the forest, hoping to catch the chimps while they were still feeding on the ground. Once they go into trees for the night we would be out of luck! We joined our guide and set off on our trek. It wasn’t overly strenuous, but those chimps move fast! There were several times when we were running through the forest to keep up. 🙂 These animals share more than 96% of our DNA and we had lots of opportunities to observe them up close, including one elder who clearly likes having his picture taken!
What a great week with our primate cousins. It’s truly an experience you should not miss! For action shots, check out my short YouTube videos of Golden Monkeys, Chimps and Gorillas. Plan your own trip to see them in person soon!
I’m back from Rwanda! It was 2 ½ years between my last visits and so much has changed. The city is booming, with construction and development everywhere. Kigali retains it’s place as one of the cleanest cities in Africa, a result of many things, including the fact that the manufacture and use of plastic bags has been illegal in the country since 2008 and once per month all Rwandans participate in Umuganda, mandatory community service to keep their community clean and help their neighbors.
During my recent visit, I had such an awesome experience that I’m prompted to write this post. This is easily my most timely retelling EVER and a great way to reinitiate my blog postings after a long hiatus. 🙂 So what is it that brings me out of the writing drought? Nothing other than a reunion with a young girl and her father….
I met this girl (who I will not name to respect her privacy – if you know this family please also do not refer to them by name) in 2014 when I was volunteering in the small town of Gashora (Bugasera District, Eastern Province) Rwanda. Her dad was one of the construction workers on the project. Before he worked in construction he was in the army – as a morale officer! He doesn’t hold back when he’s happy. 🙂
His daughter used to come to the worksite with him and spend the day hanging out with our team. We didn’t speak the same language but who needs talking when gestures speak a thousand words? Even though (because?) she was extremely shy, we took to each other and she ended up sticking by my side throughout many of our working days. Well, that is, only when she wasn’t playing football!
I have trouble deciding between two favorite memories of her from that time. The first is when she really REALLY wanted to help us with our work. We were painting walls and windows and doors and after so many hours of the same repetitive action, I figured it couldn’t hurt to let her use my paintbrush for a while… She looked so proud as she carefully painted the door trim! The second memory is of when we were sitting down at a break and I caught her eying my work gloves and safety glasses. It was very cute! I knew that if she spoke English, or better yet if I knew more Kinyarwanda than just “hello”(muraho) and “good morning” (mwaramutse!) we’d be having a conversation. Anticipating her thoughts, I held out my gloves and she nodded eagerly. She put on my safety glasses but what happened next was a surprise. She looked at my gloves but wasn’t sure how to proceed – in a country situated close to the equator with a temperate, tropical climate, she had never had a need to wear gloves and was confused about how to put them on. We spent a few minutes with me demonstrating how to spread you fingers and slip them into the right slots before she finally got it. They were twice the size of her hands, but she did it!
When I left Rwanda that February, I felt a strong pull to help her. In a country where the majority of the population is under the age of 20 yet less than 40% have a beyond-primary school education, there is a clear need to support the education of young people. I saw her potential and knew that life was a struggle for her family. The problem was just finding the right way to help.
After some hit-and-miss attempts, I connected with Africa New Life – an organization founded and run by Rwandans while operating in the US out of Portland, OR. They provide sponsorship opportunities for over 7,000 children in several communities around Rwanda, opening up opportunities for education and community. My little friend was vetted and accepted into their program, yippee! She now receives support for school tuition, fees, and materials, participates in monthly programs with other sponsored children, receives medical care when needed and more. I hope her life has changed for the better. I know mine has.
So that brings us to my visit – after 2.5 years, I got a chance to see her once again! First I went to check out the Africa New Life facility in Kigali – the “Dream Center”. It is an oasis in the city and although there were no children there at the time of my visit, I could picture it on a busy Center day. There are many buildings on the grounds including a sponsorship office, a facility for training women who previously worked on the streets (learning to sew or enrolling in beauty school), a theological college with the largest theological library in Rwanda (approximately 20,000 books are available!), a day care center, some administrative buildings and (in progress) a new medical center!
While at the center, we picked up some gifts to deliver to her and her father. You may now be thinking of toys or a bike or other things that any American 12 year old would enjoy. But this is not America. Our most important gifts to her were those of nourishment – in the form of a 25 kg sack of rice, a 25 kg sack of corn flour, cooking oil and other related staples. I did bring along other gifts that were a little bit more “fun”…a backpack filled with pencils, paper, a coloring book, a dress and several pairs of socks. It’s all about perspective.
At last we were on our way to our visit. I had some difficult conversations before we got there about how tough her life can be. But all we can do is try our best to help and provide unwavering support. When things are difficult is the time to dig in and stand your ground.
We arrived in her community and prepared to walk through narrow, winding passageways to reach her home. How nice it was to be greeted by them both! Huge smiles all around. We reached their home and sat down to visit for a while, inquiring about each others lives and families while sharing smiles. I got such a big hug with my delivery of their gifts.
She has not become any less shy but I could see joy in her eyes. Her father was also excited to give me updates on his life. He recently completed his certificate in tailoring and now works regularly as a part of a local sewing cooperative. This is definitely a huge change from construction worker or morale officer, but it means a steady income and an increased capacity to care for his family. Who wouldn’t be proud of that?
When the time came to say goodbye, it was bittersweet. I’m thankful that I had the opportunity to make this visit and hope that the day was as happy for them as it was for me. I am grateful to Africa New Life for the wonderful work that they do and can only hope to hear soon of my friend’s next scholastic achievements. The road may not be easy and the path may not be straight, but with persistence anything is possible.
Best of luck to you my friends. I hope we meet again soon.
Hola! In January, I participated in a volunteer team with Habitat for Humanity‘s Global Village program in Nicaragua. You may have read about that trip in my previous post. 🙂 Well, if you’ve been wondering…this family has recently moved into their new home. How fantastic!
When we arrived in San Ceyatano, Nicaragua, our team found Gloria (27 ) living with her husband Fredy (28) and their daughter Ashly (age 6) in a one-room metal structure with a dirt floor, which turns to mud when it rains due to holes in the roof and walls. Fredy works as a mason earning about US$110 monthly to support their family. Neither Gloria nor Fredy were able to continue their schooling after high school. Gloria is suffering from an extreme kidney infection, while Fredy has chikungunya, a mosquito-borne illness. Their daughter, Ashly, is in her first year of primary school but often misses class because of illnesses due to the poor conditions of the home.
Over the course of one week, our team of volunteers built a safe and durable home for this family. When we left Nicaragua, local masons were hired to complete the floor and roof. Now we’ve received word that their home is complete! Below are some photos – the smiles say everything.
Thanks to everyone who participated in this project in any way – team members, supporters who made donations or sent positive thoughts, and Habitat for Humanity who enabled this work. Stay tuned for the next chapter and contact me if you’d like to be a part of a future team!
Exploring and learning while enjoying life and doing my part. Here, there and everywhere…
