It can be a bit tricky for volunteers to pop across to Africa to see how their hard work has paid off, so we like to keep everyone up to date where we can ...
The people at Mwandika and Maliro send their love to the 2011 Malawi Summer Team, who built and decorated the fabulous Kumwandika Feeding Centre - check out the latest photos below:
After the much awaited arrival of the Wood for construction our last week at Villa Maria saw the construction of a new classroom for the school. Six days of hard work involving sawing, drilling, sanding, varnishing and painting (and thankfully no major DIY disasters) resulted in the completion of the walls and door of the classroom. The boys provided some much needed entertainment with their sexy builders dance (I’m sure the video will be on YouTube soon if it isn’t already on there!). Hannah starred in a construction themed video of the Cyndi Lauper classic “Girls just want to have fun” – complete with a mallet as a microphone! Lastly Liv managed to look like Bob the Builder, a Nazi machine gunner and a London builder when kitted up in a hard hat, baseball cap and goggles , holding the drill. There was also a water fight after Monday’s construction with no one avoiding getting wet!
The Bolivia Gap Year team have been away for just over a week now, brushing up on their Spanish skills in beautiful Sucre. Here's the first installment of madness compliments of Eshan...
Day 1, zero hour, arriving in Sucre was the start of an already eventful trip. Gabriella had lost her bags and Jack didn't even have a flight out. We were met at the airport by Pete and taken to the Hostel Colon for the start of our 3 week stint in the capital of Bolivia. But far from being a restful experience it was the introduction to Carnival, Bolivian style. Almost every child in Sucre was armed with water balloons, super soakers or foam sprays. Needless to say it was messy and despite having hundreds of balloons to ourselves we returned from our first visit in Sucre absolutely soaked...
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Here's the latest from the Villa Maria team who are settling into their final week on the project....Big thanks to Alice & Jaiya for this one!
By our third week in VM the team has settled into a routine involving sweltering morning climbs to reach far out communities, mass amounts of colouring (standards of castles, princesses, aliens and flowers are improving) and banterous football tournaments between gringos and the local girls. We visit two communities each day, taking the children from the second community to the swimming pool with us in the afternoon... drowning comes as standard.
We have also had the privilege of venturing into unknown Quest territory. Visiting new communities, some not even on Google-maps, brings with it an entirely different experience, the families are reserved and we need to work hard to build their trust. The rewarding feeling when the children of one such community run to hug and kiss you as you pant up the hill in a Princess outfit for the Saturday Feria cannot quite be described....
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Here's the latest from the Villa Maria Team's time at the project - keep up the good work guys!
Tuesday started as usual, we had breakfast and then visited one of the local communities with an array of games and activities in hand to amuse and entertain the children. Despite the sweltering heat, we managed to have a good time and eagerly returned to the house for lunch. We then visited another community in the afternoon and had another trip to the pool...definitely an exhausting day...
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