Category Archives: Travel

Africa, Developing World Connections, Grace Rwanda, Rwanda, Travel, Volunteering

Kigali, Rwanda (December 2016)

In December, our team worked on a project with Grace Rwanda, sponsored by Developing World Connections. We made over 2,500 cinder blocks, installed a new library, built a guard house and had countless adventures! Thanks to a great, flexible and motivated group of volunteers who made this trip a success.

Building Educational or Community Facilities

Grace Rwanda has initiated and completed several successful sustainable community development and literacy projects since their founding in 2009. To date, they’ve built eight new classrooms for Rwinkwavu School in the Kayonza District, plus 16 latrines, a kitchen and a garden with livestock. The multi-year project was completed in 2012 and serves 1,500 students.

Volunteers on this trip were tasked construction work on one hectare of land at the site of Grace Rwanda’s headquarters on Gisozi Hill, five minutes from the Kigali National Genocide Memorial. The project will take several years and stages, and is currently at the point of having the architectural site drafts finalized. When complete, the site will include a community hall for training librarians and promoting education and social enterprise, and ecolodge for volunteers and staff as well as offices for Grace Rwanda.

In 2011, Grace Rwanda created six mini-libraries of 500 books and 250 dictionaries in rural Rwandan schools, providing more than 3,000 children access to books. In 2013, Grace Rwanda created a community library in a youth centre in Muhanga, the first of 21 planned regional youth libraries. Grace Rwanda’s priority is to supply books to youth in the Muhanga District. Muhanga of Rwanda is a rural, agricultural district of 350,000 citizens including 87,000 students. Resources and books are scarce. Three times a year, Grace Rwanda distributes books, installs new libraries and checks in on past projects.

About Rwanda

Rwanda is a tiny country in the heart of Africa, fractionally south of the equator. The population of Rwanda is 10 million people – the densest population in continental Africa. The vast majority of Rwandans engage in subsistence agriculture. Rwanda is beautiful, lush, fertile and hilly – it is known as the Land of a Thousand Hills.

Africa, Habitat for Humanity, Travel, Volunteering, Zambia

The Joy of Coloring

January 5, 2016 Tricia's Travels 1 Comment

Coloring and drawing are some of the first ways children express themselves. It’s fun, easy, and even if initial attempts are not much more than scribbling, there is no denying that creativity and imagination are developing! You can find all kinds of articles and charts about when your child should start coloring if that’s your thing…. And of course even in such a seemingly simple pleasure there can be controversy about the importance and benefits of this activity.

But really….isn’t it just fun?

Lately, even adults have gotten in on the act. Adult coloring books were one of the “it” gifts for Christmas 2015 and the #grownupcoloring hastag is popular on lots of social media outlets (Pinterest , Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and more). Adult coloring centers are opening at libraries and many workplaces offer coloring stations in their break areas. I even was seated next to a passenger on a recent flight who was getting in on the action.Adult coloring has been touted as a stress reliever but of course this comes with more controversy… “Are adult coloring books the stress relief tool they’re hyped up to be?” You can decide for yourself. But I digress.

On a recent volunteer trip to Zambia with Habitat for Humanity’s Global Village Program, I witnessed the joy of coloring first hand. During my stay I spent one week living with 13 other volunteers in a very poor (by monetary standards only!) rural community. The children were naturally curious about the foreigners who were visiting for the week and our house was a mob scene every day – in the best of ways. 🙂 We were escorted to and from meals and work by hoardes of children who wanted nothing more than to hold our hands and practice their English. And each night when we came home, there were many curious eyes watching our every move.

One night, we had a surprise for them – coloring books! We brought them out and immediately the joyful ball tossing, jump roping, chasing and laughing stopped. Silence descended on us all and eager eyes were glued to the prize.

Because of the large number of kids, we needed a system. We literally drew a line in the sand in our yard and asked them all to line up, which they did quickly and efficiently .:-)

Next they were asked to choose a “Spiderman” or “Animal” and one coloring book page was given to each child. Nobody ran off. Still standing perfectly still in line… A few milled planks were in the yard and served as a table for the kids. We distributed a few crayons and let them have at it!

The result was a bunch of happy kids as well as a group of amazed adults. I guess coloring really is for everyone. 🙂

Asia, Habitat for Humanity, Kyrgyzstan, Travel, Volunteering

Can’t top that smile. :-)

December 24, 2015 Tricia's Travels

Just last week I posted an update detailing a Global Village trip with Habitat for Humanity to Kyrgyzstan during August 2014. You can read more about how our team helped to make Jolboldu’s dream of owning a safe and decent home for his family here.

This morning I got the final piece of the puzzle – photos of Ryskiul hosting her welcome/New Years party in her new home! What a great way to ring in 2016. 🙂

Best wishes to you and your family as you celebrate the holidays too!

Asia, Habitat for Humanity, Kyrgyzstan, Travel, Volunteering

A Home for the Holidays (and Beyond!)

December 17, 2015 Tricia's Travels 2 Comments

What great news I received this week – Jolboldu and his family moved into their brand new Habitat for Humanity home two weeks ago! They are excited beyond words…and so am I!!! How did this happen and what makes it so exciting? Ah…read on. 🙂

I first “met” this family when I began planning a Habitat for Humanity Global Village trip to Kyrgyzstan. Yes, that’s right, Kyrgyzstan. I had heard good things about this place, it was a “unique” destination (to say the least) and I am always up for a challenge so I thought – let’s go!

Imankulov Jolboldu and his wife Ryskiul live with their children in Barskoon village near Lake Issyk Kul (a beautiful place!). Jolboldu works in the town administration. Ryskiul cares for the children during the day and earns extra income for the family as a night watchman at the local pharmacy. They were living in a home that is very old and deteriorating – irreparable cracks in the walls and roof are constantly expanding. It is also quite small for the family and to make matters worse, only one of the two rooms is heated. Here are some photos of the house where the family lived in for 10+ years:

Jolboldu and Ryskiul desired a safer place for their children to grow up and applied for a loan from Habitat for Humanity Kyrgyzstan under their New House Construction Program. When I arrived in Kyrgyzstan in August 2014 with 10 other volunteers, we were the 4^th Global Village team to work on this home.

We spent two weeks doing what we could to bring their dream of owning a safe home closer to reality. The home is different in many ways than others I worked on during previous Global Village trips. For one thing – there was wood. 🙂 Kyrgyzstan is in an earthquake zone and housing recipients are trained in building techniques designed to withstand the forces of nature. Walls in Habitat homes in Barskoon are constructed by affixing wood strapping to each side of the studs and then filling the ~6 inch gap in between with a mud-straw mixture (a different technique is used in the urban areas of the country’s capital, Bishkek – a subject for a future post).

Our first task was to complete the exterior walls. Jolboldu was an expert at the pitchfork-mud-throw technique…and under his tutelage, Tony soon became an expert too. The rest of us relied on the more traditional “mudball stuffing” method. 🙂

After about 2 days, we finished the exterior walls and thought we were really getting ahead! But not so fast…the interior walls needed stuffing next. Oh my!

We were undaunted…and very safe. Don’t worry Terry, there’s only about a 10 foot drop under your round-barrel scaffolding. Jolboldu won’t let you fall! We also recruited extra help from every extended family member who stopped by the worksite. Well, it was more like we couldn’t keep them away, they were so excited. 🙂 How does she stay so clean when I have mud in my hair, in my mouth, even on the inside of my glasses…???

By the time Pat and Julie placed the final mud ball, we all felt like we had accomplished so much! And Ryskiul, who was sidelined with a broken arm while we were working, was all smiles. 🙂 🙂 I mean who wouldn’t be – the walls were complete, the roof was going on and check out the view from the bedroom!

We still had a few work days left and spent them installing the concrete floor. If you’ve never participated in a bucket brigade, you’re missing out. We passed buckets of sand, leveled the base layer, laid insulating foam and a waterproof barrier, then passed what must have been thousands of buckets of concrete. OK. Maybe just a few hundred, but it really did seem like a lot… The floor was finally leveled and – wow, it’s starting to look like a home!

By the time we said goodbye, Jolboldu and Ryskiul were much closer to moving in. They are incredibly kind and we each left a little piece of our heart with them in their new home. ♥

In two weeks, we were able to make great progress and met the goals we had for ourselves, but there was still much to do. We left Kyrgyzstan knowing that there was a good chance the house would not be complete before the winter. Two additional teams came but there was simply too much to finish before the cold set in. The family would have to wait a little longer…

And this brings us back to where I started – over the summer, the finishing touches were added and as of two weeks ago, Jolboldu and his family are living in their new home! Here are some photos of the finished home in all of it’s glory…stay tuned for updates and pictures of this wonderful family at home after New Years Day! 🙂

Habitat for Humanity, Paraguay, The Americas, Travel, Volunteering

Guarambare, Paraguay (November 2014)

What better time to give back than on Thanksgiving? I spent Thanksgiving 2014 in Paraguay volunteering with Habitat for Humanity‘s Global Village Program, the second time I chose to volunteer internationally on this important American Holiday.

We had a wonderful time. We build for the family of Victor and Edith and their three children. It was a short stay, but we got so much accomplished. It was HOT and despite the fact that one day was completely rained out, we made good progress. The farewell ceremony was as touching as ever, with the family making impassioned speeches while tears streamed down everyones faces.

Perhaps the most unexpected moments of the trip came on Thanksgiving itself, when the family, neighbors and Habitat for Humanity staff prepared a fantastic lunch, complete with hand-turkey and pilgrim decorations for our team.

It was an experience I won’t soon forget and look forward to sharing more stores with you!