Building.

July 12, 2013

Two weeks ago, Tony and I met 19 folks at the airport in Lilongwe, Malawi. Everyone came from the UK, but in addition to English folks, there were Scots, Aussies, one Greek and we represented America. Married and unmarried, gay and straight, all ages with various reasons for coming.

Within 24 hours of arriving, we had donned our fashionable steel toe boots and hard hats, learned how to lay brick using mud as mortar, and began to jell as a team. Over the next nine days, we played football, tic-tac-toe (crosses and naughts) and paddle ball with kids, snapped about a million pictures, ate a lot of nsima, discussed personal plumbing issues, learned a few Chichewa words, squirted a couple gallons of Deet, built the better part of two houses and became friends.

We started with a foundation and the corners, we ended with two almost completed houses. The ‘real’ builders will plaster the walls and concrete the floors in the next couple of weeks. The families will move in after that.

I expected to learn a tiny bit about building a house, I expected to learn something about people in Malawi, I expected to feel good about my contribution. I didn’t expect to cry when I said good bye to the families for whom we were building, I didn’t expect to boo-hoo when I said good bye to my fellow builders. I didn’t expect to be so wowed, humbled and inspired.

Favorite moments have to include watching the women of the village sing and dance their way to the Chief’s house to offer a gift as token invitation to a wedding the following day. And going to church, singing the same songs I grew up singing in such a foreign environment, the sound of Heaven kissing Earth.

Habitat for Humanity builds in 70 countries. Last year they helped over 96,000 families improve their life by improving their living conditions. I really hope to do this again and again and again.

The house upon our arrival.