And the next day....

We’ve hit the just-past-halfway-point now and forgotten what day we’re on. It’s Monday here, you do the math.

We’re all starting to feel a bit tired, but the enthusiasm for what we’re doing hasn’t wavered. We split the team up a few different ways this morning, getting lots of different things done. Dale walked back to YSU to keep helping the builders with the new project, while the rest of the team wandered up to the village for a bit of refurbishment. Greg put his profession to good use and starting his welding projects across the village – he’ll be fixing some hinges, latches on windows and doors as well as some general maintenance. It’s great for us to be able to use our own skills for various things in our work here. Each person is able to make a difference in their own ways. For the rest of us, we used the morning to paint our lovely Juliet’s house in the village! It was funny for her to watch us sweeping, dusting and eventually painting her house, when usually she’s the one cleaning up after us.

We came together at Suubi house for lunch before heading off in different directions for the afternoon. Greg, Jo, Nathan and Deb went back to the Home of Hope. Armed with colouring in and pencils, they spent a lovely afternoon with the children at the centre and again, were surprised by what the kids here can do. It was said that sometimes, it’s nice to be proven wrong. The kids loved getting creative and also spending some time outside in the sandpit. Dale went back to YSU, while Nic, Mel, Sasha, Glenn and Meagan finished the first coat of paint on Juliet’s house at the village. We got chatting to some of the older kids at the village, some of which are going into their tertiary studies. It’s so wonderful to hear about their plans for the future and know that with the help and support of HopeBuilders, they can and will achieve their dreams. We said it yesterday, but after visiting the slums we can really appreciate the enormity of what the Village of Hope and HopeBuilders is doing.

It’s been an evening of lovely food, deep conversation and finally, board games around the table for the team. We’ll be off to bed soon to do it all over again in the morning!