We all woke this morning after many of us having a very restless night. I think we are all still getting used to hearing these wonderful sounds of nature. Rick and Karen woke to a black bat visiting inside their mosquito netting. I had two monkeys playing less than 100 feet from my head. It was a beautiful sight after I realized they were not as close as I originally thought.
We all went to bed concerned for our fearless foreman Mr. Doug Wittal who called it a night well before everyone (since the onset of the trip he had been the last!) with possible sun stroke. Doug woke this morning feeling great and ready to "getter done!"
What another incredible day on the job site. We were greeted today with another beautiful sunny day with temperatures reaching low 40's.
We had five areas of the construction that we focused on today. Concrete block building, out house holding tank, finishing interior walls, rebar cutting and door board planing.
Team concrete block building (Ken, Bill, Mark) accomplished building 120 blocks. Blocks will take 3 days to dry even in this heat. Awesome job team!
Team Out House (Rick H., Harley, Brittany, Marianne, Murray) successfully completed adding another 6 rows to the 48" x 48" structure. 10 blocks per row. Never thought we would be cutting concrete blocks to size with a machete.
Team Interior (Doug, Ralph, Rick K.) got a far as placing the rebar on top of the outside structure beams.
Team Rebar (Karen, Lan) did the toughest job with minimal tools available to attempt to cut rebar. But after trying new adventurous ways to cut it the job was done!
Team Planing (Sandy) rocked as being the planer. Now she has a new profession when she returns home. No one could of got the boards smoother than she did and draw the size of the audience watching her! The local boys where amazed at her ability!
Our little friends in the Matipwilli village taught us some new words today so we thought we should share them with you. The first word confused us slightly as the little boys kept saying "pi pi" (pronounced "pee pee") so you can understand we thought they had to go to the washroom but they actually wanted candy. They also taught our friend Lan the following in Kiswahili:
Sifuri - O
Moja - 1
Mbili - 2
Tatu - 3
Nne - 4
Tano - 5
Sita - 6
Saba - 7
Nane - 8
Tisa- 9
Kumi - 10
Everyday on the way to and from the village which is an 11km trek of winding dirt and very bumpy roads, we see new sights. Our wonderful chaperons Raymond and Ashley ensure we get to take it all in. Today on the way to town we had a large family of Baboon's cross in front of us and on the way home we had an African Palm Civet come out and cross behind our vehicles. They look like a large cat with spots but very dangerous!
Each day I will introduce a team member to you. Today it is Lan's turn:
Lan is on her second Developing World Connections Trip. Her previous trip was to India. Lan is enjoying the trip, working hard and learning the Kiswahili language and communicating with the children. Lan has traveled from Victoria BC to join the trip. As you can tell she is very shy by the description she would let me write.
We are all looking forward to resting our bodies as tomorrow is an very physical labor day with a lot of concrete work ahead, more of the wonderful sunshine and heat! :)
G'nite from Tanzania!
Marianne
DWC Participant
Tanzania 2010
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