Welcome to the Work Site: Day 4 {#ZambiaLove2014}

Intro || Day 1 || Day 2 || Day 3

Day 4 comes and it’s daylight, so we can finally get a sense of what’s around us! Right near our home was this school run by a Korean couple. They take children from the village (right now starting in 1st grade) and offer them education at a highly discounted rate while providing for basic needs. They also provide a well with access to water for the villagers.

Around the village, we saw what appeared to be garbage holes. Dug out portions of the ground, with just little pieces of garbage left inside. We wondered more about why the holes were there than anything else.

And then we saw this right next to it and quickly realized this is where they created some bricks for building! It was amazing how they formed the blocks out of the earth just like so.

Our living quarters – this is generally how a mortgaged house by habitat looks and our house, although not yet running with electricity, was wired for it. Simple structure with locking windows and doors, three rooms large, with a latrine in the backyard. This homeowner also had a beautiful garden in the back.

When we arrived at the work site for our first full day of work on Tuesday, we were split into two teams and greeted by two work sites (two homes) near one another in generally the same starter phase. Each basic rectangular structure, would have three rooms, locking doors and windows and a tin roof slanted to allow for rain run-off. Made from concrete blocks and mixed mortar, the structures were simple and each wall would go up about 13 rows high of bricks. We had a lot of work ahead of us! Each home had 6 Habitat members from our team, two masons from the community and overseers (Hi, Checka & Jedo!). And luckily, since the rainy season had started, the weather was overcast and not too warm…

Meet “Dora” – my Zambian son. More on him later, but know that he has a special place in my heart forever. One of the most beautiful blessings to my life thus far. He holds the keys. Is he just not the most precious thing EVER?! And I’m pretty sure my boys own that shirt…so he fits right in! If I honestly could have brought him home in my suitcase, I would have.