An adventure begins…

First stop, Malawi!

10 years ago when I set foot in South Africa,  I loved this continent.  Tony and I have been mesmerized by leopards and elephants in South Africa, then the billions of buffalo in Tanzania.  Unfortunately, other than the people who are paid to bow (sometimes figuratively, sometimes literally) to our every whim, we have been as far from the average people in Africa as we are from the zebras, elephants and lions.

I’m excited to say that will change that as we work side-by-side with the locals to build a houses in Malawi.  We are volunteering with Habitat for Humanity.  If you are unfamiliar with them, here is the UK site. http://www.habitatforhumanity.org.uk

One house is for an 86 year old woman, Eletina who is looking after her deceased daughter’s three children.   The other house is for Neliya, a widow who is caring for her three children and her late sister’s three children.  Both families live in Dete Village, in mud brick houses with a grass roofs.  They leak terribly in the rainy season.  This means that not only are their belongings soaked for weeks at a time, but the water attracts mosquitoes.  All the children have malaria.

This feels like the right place to be….can’t wait to get started – -we leave tomorrow!

Map of Malawi