Wednesday was going to be an easy day. Just picking up the rest of the volunteers from the airport and getting them all settled here in the village. As it turns out, it was a day that felt like three!
I woke up early and got myself together because I had scheduled a meeting with the head builder who will be helping with the community learning center. I offered to meet Paul at Adziwa, but he insisted that we drive there together. He picked me up at 8:30 and we went to the site to see where exactly the building would sit and which direction we wanted it to face. Based on what I had told him he figured he needed his crew to begin digging posts on Friday of this week. We arrived at Adziwa and took James and Tovia with us to do some measurements and discuss the exact placement of the building. The meeting went great and James and Tovia both got even more excited than they had been. Now seeing that things were actually coming together brought them both big smiles! While we were all talking we realized that I had not made a plan about bathrooms for the children. Without bathrooms near the learning center the children will have to walk all the way through the garden to get to the ones that are already on the property. Knowing what I know this wasn’t going to work. Without bathrooms near their center they would likely just use the ground behind it and we don’t want to encourage that 🙂 I told James that I would discuss with the builder a cost for toilets and then do some calculating and get back with him with an answer. As Paul and I drove back to the village we tried to figure a cost. It looked like with materials, labor and some work from the caregivers we could get one stall for boys and one for girls for around $300. I needed to double check with Guy on those numbers and then see if I actually had the funds in our account to make it happen.
My plan was to stop at the lodge, check some emails and try to find Guy so that he could help me make a plan. Sure enough Guy was around and we started talking about what it would take to get these bathrooms built. The builder Paul had told me it would be no problem to have them done before I leave at the end of July as long as I could provide the funds. As Guy and I were discussing all of this a man walked up who was staying at the lodge. Guy asked him if he had met me and when he said he had not we were introduced. Guy told him I was “the woman” with the projects at the orphanage, and this man said he had been told about my work. We made some small talk and then he asked if he was interrupting a meeting. I explained that he wasn’t and that I was just talking to Guy about how I had made an oversight when planning this years project and forgot to think about bathrooms. We all just laughed. Then the man asked what they would cost and when he heard $300 he quickly said that he wanted to pay for them. I almost couldn’t believe it! I thanked him over and over and he told me he didn’t want to be thanked. He said it was nothing and he was happy to do it. I explained that to me it was a big deal and meant more than he could know. The bus had arrived to take me to the airport to meet the rest of the group so I had to rush out. Another thank you and I was off. Guy said they would work out the details. I rushed to the bus and was still overwhelmed with the fact that I had been in the right place at the right time and that someone had such a generous heart! I couldn’t believe it…. Amazing. We now have added bathrooms to the plan!! Exciting news!!
We headed to the airport to meet Shannon’s flight and link up with the other three volunteers who had arrived the day before and stayed in a local hotel. Shannon’s flight was arriving at 12:20 and the others were to meet us at 1pm at the airport. Elizabeth was with me because I thought it was important to bring the entire group together as soon as possible. We got there a bit early and were able to see Shannon’s flight landing. I was so excited to meet her! Shannon was flying from Seattle all on her own. She has never traveled out of the U.S. and never traveled alone. I knew how nervous she was before this trip so I couldn’t wait to see her face get off of the plane! She came out of the baggage area and right away we gave a big hug and I told her how happy I was that she had made it! She was wide eyed (very tired) but so excited to be in Malawi. She kept saying she couldn’t believe she was actually in Africa 🙂 it’s so fun to watch someones first experience here. It’s like getting to do it for the first time all over again. By this time it was 1pm and I started watching for the car with the other 3 volunteers. At around 1:30 I started to worry. I began trying to call the hotel to see of they had left for the airport yet. The cell network wasn’t cooperating so the call wouldn’t go through. It did connect once but just as I started talking it disconnected me. I was able to call back to the village and have them start calling to see where they were. After many calls and another 40 min they all finally arrived. It was a big relief to have this first group all together! I could feel some the weight lift off of my shoulders.
The ride back to the village in the bus was full of chatter which is normal. Lots of questions and wide eyes.
After our arrival everyone had their introduction to life here in the village. We took a tour and went over safety guidelines with everyone. Then Sai took the team on a nice walk to see the rest of the farm. I stayed back and just got some organizing and things done.
We had a great first dinner after which I went over the program and what they all could expect for the next day. Lots of excitement! Shannon was the only one who had flown in that day so she was much more tired than everyone else. She had perked up though and didn’t want to miss anything so she was able to stay up talking and laughing with the rest of us. At about 9 the generator was shut off and we lit some candles and continued our conversation. We all had a big treat when Guy and his wife Maureen came down to meet everyone and spend some time. The volunteers enjoyed meeting them and getting more information about Malawi and how they had come to live here. It was late and we all knew we had an early morning so we shuffled one at time off to bed. I stayed up talking with Jess for a bit and then just as we were saying goodby 2 of the volunteers showed back up with a problem. Greg had cut his hand on the door to his hut and by the way he was reacting I thought immediately that it was bad. Quickly I grabbed my flashlight and ran (after just today telling all the volunteers not to run in the dark) back to my hut to grab the first aid kit. After I got back with it Jess had looked at the cut, washed it and determined it was very minor. I think Greg was just afraid being in a new place and thinking he was hurt. He hadn’t even looked at the cut before he came to show me. All of us now knowing it was minor felt much better. I bandaged him up and off to bed we all went!
Whew! A long day, but one with a lot of exciting things going on. Everyone is doing great and working on getting to know each other. I’ll write about our first volunteer day tomorrow and post it then.
Love to all who follow us here 🙂 we are all doing great!