Arrived Safely

We have all arrived safely at the weekend pitstop. Everyone physically and emotionally drained but ready to crack on with another week. Couple of days rest should sort everyone out.
We are currently in St Lucia, KwaZulu-Natal on the edge of a game reserve. The Health and safety/Welfare of the service users has taken another twist - the sign directly outside the hotel warns of Snakes, Monkeys, Crocs and Hippo's.
All now have 'Staying away from Hippo's' support plans with associated risk assessments - the risk being death by Hippo munching on you.
Service users are missing the site already and indeed Princess - almost every hour someone will pose the question 'I wonder what Princess is doing now' - Admiring her new home no doubt.
We observed another house very close to the site that appeared unoccupied - this is due to the family requiring to slaughter either a goat or a cow as a move-in Zulu ritual - we are not sure if Princess will insist on this ritual before moving the family. Should a cow or goat not be available for Princess we have offered Shaun as a suitable replacement.
Matt, Alex and Sam have had our first 10 minutes together (All service Users are in vision) - Although Matt seems to recognise the soles of the trainers sticking out of that Crocs mouth - We have just managed to stop and reflect on the effort, committment and dedication shown by each and every service user - Alex said that she has never been on an expedition with a group of young people who have been so dedicated, shown such spirt and gelled together so well.
Matt said that his arms are about to fall off. Some of the gang has other aches and pains - but instead of complaining - everyone is proud of their pain - in respect of what the pain achieved - amazing.
Alex Matt and I are really looking forward to leading the next part of the trip which includes painting and cleaning up a school in Shongweni.
4.30am start tomorrow - and they think the door knock was loud last week......
Budgie Smuggler has a couple of rest days to top up his tan.

On to the next destination

Saturday morning already - we are just finishing breakfast and shall be heading north for our next destination. We have arranged to meet with Umthombo but are not fully sure what to expect - needless to say it will be another rollercoaster of emotions.
Unsure what internet access we shall have over the next couple of days.

this picture was takeing directly after the ceramony. during the ceramony princess broke into a dance pictures can not discribe the dance but we have recorded it on the camcorder and for those wishing to witness this beautiful moment you will have to buy the dvd that we shall be selling to raise money for our return (hint hint). as a presant and homewarming gift we framed three pictures and a signed t-shirt. i cant describe the emotions that everyone felt but we lost as many tears as we did sweat through the week

not the wrist bands princess is wearing

I never want to leave.

Well guys, Princess' house is finally complete on our part. Today the roof was finished, the outside walls have been bagwashed and the outside rubble of the house has been shifted. I must say, it looks bloody fantastic! Everyone worked so hard today to make every little detail of this home perfection, it was none stop all day for all of us and all this hard work and determination has finally payed off. We built this house for Mama Princess!! Me and Ashley spoke to her today with the help of Pearl (Build leader) and we asked if she liked her new home, she said yes and said that she would move her bed in tonight if she could! It makes me feel so proud to have been given the oppertunity to help give Princess this new and wonderful place to now call her home.
The ending ceremony took place today where we all got to thank the builders and say our goodbyes and give gifts etc. It was the most uplifting experiance EVER. To see the joy in that poor womans face, to see her stand in what will be her living room in a few days time made me proud to be a part of this team. She danced for us to show her appreciation and that was her way of saying thank you for everything that we have done. For a woman with her injuries that woman can move! I have made her a heart shape out of the dagga that was used to make the house and gave it to her at the end and she was so happy it almost made her cry. I hope she remembers us because I know we will remember her, in our hearts forever, most amazing experiance! I am so sad to leave her and hope to come back because I will miss her, I will miss them all greatly and will think of what we have done, what we have accomplished and how we have helped that woman, this has changed my opinions, emotions and outlook compleatly. I am proud to be where I am. Thank you for this oppertunity.

we finished it!!!!

After 5 days we finally did it... it felt so amazing.... the look on princesses face when we gave her the pictures and  t-shirt was amazing think we all cried but it was amazing knowing that we finished that house she really deserves it i hope she has so much happiness in that house......

We did it!!

After years of planning, it took just 5 days (albeit blood, sweat and tears) to complete this wonderful home for Princess.
Every member of the team pull out all the stops to ensure completion today - this even included donning the waterproofs and working through torential thunders storms.
Dagga Dan Harrison continued to mix Dagga right to the end, Monkey Anthony swinging from the scaffolding (safely of course) El Roofio Emma could been seen all morning adding the final touches to the roof (of course) Juicer Tash and Mama Bear Alex mixed the bagwash with such dedication it stuck perfectly to the walls, Panda Josh rubbed each and every brick down ensuring the smoothest of surfaces ready for the bagwash, 'Betty' has not stopped moving scaffolding, tiles and blocks, Brickie has moved more blocks from one end of the site that he could have built a house on the side! - Duke Ashley has been the pied piper - everywhere you looked children would follow her to safety away from the site, Pointer Nat has done exactly that - pointed every brick on the building with utmost care and attention. Bagger West - has mastered bagwash - to the point where Amon has offered him full time employment - sorry Corp Oaks - you could be losing a member of staff. Shaun - no nickname for some reason - but has been great at making tea (when you can find him)..Seriously, without Shaun - we would only be halfway im sure - his abilities are truly amazing and his ability to work from the first second to the last in every square inch of the site has been an assest. Sorry - just remembered Shauns nickname - Budgie Smugglers - Sure the design department will ask.
To all the build for betterlives steering group, to all the fundraisers, to all those that donated....We did it.
9 Service Users from Young Persons Projects will be returning as 9 truly amazing people with a foundation for nothing but success.

BREAKING NEWS - SAM SACKED

Well - I have been sacked by the group - as you will see, they have already found a more mature and qualified replacement.

End of day 4

The end of day 4 looked something like this. Amazing. Everyone currently having breakfast ready for the last push of the build week.

So proud of all the team! everyone has put their everythin into this build. Even though everyone is startin to feel tired no one has let this get in the way of what we are doing. Had a slightly frustrating afternoon and the roof is taking longer than expected but half an hour playing with the local kids washed away any ill feelings in an instant, such a joy to be in this amazing community!!

Day 4!!!!!

It's about time I got to write on this bad boy! When I woke up in the morning after we arrived, reality finally kicked in. I am in South Africa! Well, it has been a ball so far, im not kidding! I knew it was going to be hard work so on the first day myself, as well as everyone worked like mad and you know what, that first day really set the ball rolling, we havent stopped and each day is more amazing by miles and miles.
Each morning I wake up not knowing what to expect and I love it! My emotions, eventhough I havent Showed them quite as much as others, are absolutly all over the place. On Wednesday when we did the Time capsual, was just, unbelieveable, I think thats the closest word I could ever say that can explain what that experiance was to me. The school. Oh my goodness. To witness such amazing talent in what is, the middle of nowhere, so much welcome, heart and trust that the community have in us is just amazing. We was playing with the children today and to hold a strangers hand and hug them in a way that they did to us is magical. To learn their songs and cute little dances is so funny and this jurney is just a barrel of laughs with them kids around! Such amazing kids its going to be a heart breaker to leave them all, and Princess. I think shes really starting to believe this is happening to her, shes being given a new chance to start a new life and a home, new mamories and amazing times, we are helping to give her this oppertunity and I can not physically put in words how good that feels.

I cannot believe this is happening to me, and to share all these experiances with such amaing people and people that have such personalities makes me happy to be a part of this project and this team. These people, what were strangers to me not long ago are now such amazing friends! And guys, I plan to stay in touch with each and every one of you, your bloomin' amazing guys! And so special to me already!

Day 4 !!!

Well, today was a real eye opener to how much we are acheving as a group.
We knew today was going to be busy, so when we left the B&B at 8.00 we were all ready to crack on with another day of hard work.When we got to site it was all hands on deck and the whole team decided what jobs we were going to do today. I decided help put the roof up with Sam, Shaun, Dan,Tom Aamon and Pearl. Putting the trellases was really hard work as well as a little scary at times but when it finaly went up just after lunch it looked amazing, it really did. Sam and Shaun then started to put the felt on. I then decided to try some bagwashing on the back wall of the house and then lots of children came to play!! I had so much fun singing, dancing and playing catch with them. It made me smile so much as well as realize how little these children have, but how just singing nursery ryhmes and sitting with them makes them so happy.

Im really looking forward to tomorow, as I hope that the house will be finished :) However, I think that the emotions might override me to.

Team time now and then dinner ! Night all x

wow africas more amazing than i ever thought it could be. All the things that i have experieanced so far are just epic and it keeps getting better. I mean ive been working on the build for 3 days now and we almost have a house. The team im working with are epic and we get on so well. we are also shattered so lets hope we can finnish what we started

Well what can i say it has been such an emotional day today one minute i was laughing with princess the next minute i would be in tears . I am soooo proud of everyone we have all done so well and managed to complete 6 months worth of work in three days :) The house is becoming to look more and more like a house and the team is bonding more and more as the days go on . I couldnt ask for much more apart from a little bit longer here its such an amazing place with some seriously amazing people .

Night all :)
x

Day 3 - Build Site & Danganya Kwa Gumbi Primary school.

Everyone settled in brilliantly again this morning, deciding on what jobs they were going to do without too much instruction, and cracking on in high spirits. The overall feeling is that we'd all love to see Princess's house finished before Friday - obviously, this may or may not happen, but given the progress we've made so far (the builders are nearly ready to start putting up roof trusses, and Aamon and Pearl are very pleased with the rate of progress in the first few days) there's no reason at all why we shouldn't get the job completely finished. Sam had arranged with Aamon to place the 'Thought Tin' in one of the blocks in an internal wall of the house, and we invited Princess to join the whole crew and to place the tin inside herself. Aamon explained the principle and the thought behind this gesture, and no one could fail to see she was really moved. I think quite a few of us got a bit choked at this point (I noticed quite a few sunglasses getting put back on - can't imagine why).

The Build for Better Lives team leaders had spoken with Carl our host affiliate earlier in the week, with the view to arrange a visit to a local school in the Danganya area, and today we broke off work for a while to visit the children just up the road from Princess's house at Kwa Gumbi Primary school. We turned up mob handed, and were met with huge smiles from the Principal and the local kids. They'd obviously been told well in advance that we were planning to visit, as the entire school came out into the school yard, and treated us to traditional Zulu songs and dance, as well as children's rhymes in English, and we were all amazed to realise that all the kids had obviously rehearsed in preparation for our visit. Pearl explained the lyrics to one particular uplifting song - the children were singing 'thank you' to us for being there, which was incredibly touching. Three of our crew, Josh, Dan and Emma had prepared speeches for the kids, saying how we were privileged to be here in such a beautiful country, the purpose of our project, and how we are so grateful for being so warmly welcomed into their community, which Aamon had translated to rapturous applause. Today also happened to be Pearl's birthday, and everyone, kids, teachers and BfBL crew sang happy birthday to her, to her obvious embarrassment, although I get the feeling she was secretly quite pleased.

The rest of the day was spend back at the build site, mixing dagga, pointing up brickwork, moving blocks, applying bag wash, and preparing for the last few days and final push towards fully completing the build and handing the house over to Princess and her family.

For those of you aware of the 'Thought Tin' - have a look at the picture and guess which block we placed it in!

We are working on a south african building site - needless to say - health and safety differs to that of the british standards - however 12 people who have limited site work - the accidents so far
1. Trapped fingers in the minibus door on the way to the site
2. The team leader ( nothing to do with NCHA) hurt her finger and was taken to the local medical unit.
3. Alex hit me in the head with a laminated health and safety poster (while in the bus).....

Day 3 - lunch time status

This was the development at around lunchtime today - before our visit to the 200 schoold children....let someone else explain that!

build status - day 2

This is how the build site looked during day 2 - the development of the site today is truly amazing - too many amazing things today - will leave this for someone else - please read all the blogs as it will be a busy evening

Princess

Princess Ngoneni Ziney was seven years old when both her father and brother Bhekokwakhe got shot by warriors and died. We moved away from that village to another and that is where she physically got shot. "we were ambushed on our way from school by a very big mob of heavily armed people. all i can remeber is that they were silent and the next thing i remember is that i woke up in Scotsburgh hospital in the ICU and I was toled it was after 12 days coma.
I am now on a wheelchair although i can walked with the aid of a walking stick.
We tried to get the RDP house but it never worked for us and nobody knows why. My sister died of HIV and AIDS, leaving behind 2 young children. one of these children died from a mother - child transmission while the other; Hlengiwe in grade 8 at Sdelile High School is under our care.
We tried to get RDP houses but in vain. We also tried to get grant for this child but instead we pay more money on transport and end up not getting it due to reasons not known to anybody.
Will you guys please build us a house? this one takes rain water in. Please help us have a home.

Morning of Day 3

We are so sorry for the lack of photos at this time - for some strange reason the PC really struggles with uploading them to the blogsite - usually 20 minutes per photo and it then sometimes crashes. Seems odd to complain about the speed of the internet then visit Princess in a home that has never had electric or running water.....

The team are doing exceptionally well, unbelievably well - comments from the team leader, tour rep, HFH area manager are all positive.

A paramedic visiting the site commented that the stonewash was the best he had ever seen - largely due to the pointing that had been completed beforehand being of such good quality.
Dan and Emma completed an internal wall yesterday - hopefully everyone in the group will lay a block or more today - truly part of the build! - I would imagine the roof will start to take shape today - Shaun tells us this has never been the case before - the progress of our build over 2 days can usually take in excess of months to do.

We have asked everyone to write something meaningful, either a quote, a feeling, something from the heart - these have been put in a little metal tin - and at somepoint today we shall put this in a block and the lay it in the internal walls - thought that was a nice little ice-breaker idea - little did I know it would open the emotional floodgates - but in the most beautiful way of course!

Right - have plenty more to say - but we have a house to finish.

Day Two

Woke up tied, sore limbs but with very high spirits.

We left the accommodation again at 0800 ready and rearing to get onto the site. We got there and took some time to look at the previous days work. The team could not believe how much work was completed yesterday. Sam and I completed the Site safety check then the team were allowed to get on with the build. Aamon and Pearl met us on site and congratulated us on the work that we had done so far.

Throughout the day Aamon and pearl had to leave the site as there were two other builds happening in the near by area. It was great as the team knew what needed to be done without being prompted. It felt really good to know that they trusted us to continue without them being there and supervising us.

Everyone fell into their roles in which they felt comfortable doing, some mixing Dagga, some building internal walls, some moving blocks and some preparing the external walls. It was a great feeling to see that we all assumed a role and worked on whatever the build required without being told.

For an hour in the afternoon, Ashley went and had her hair braided by Princess's neighbour and Josh went along for moral support and chief photographer, and they came back having had an amazing experience with their face painted with clay (Zulu sun screen) and knowing and learning more about the community bond they have in that area.

It was amazing to see that the house started to look like a house (sounds silly to say) but all of us have never been in a situation to have hands on experience of this type of work except Shaun of course!!!!!

During the afternoon Natasha, Anthony and Natalie applied a bag wash of cement to one of the external walls and Emma and Dan were building walls internally when Princess came over to the build to visit her new home. She has been watching everything that we had been doing over the past two days but due to problems with mobility she had not ventured onto site until this afternoon. Just seeing her reactions to the progress we had made on her new home was really emotional and blew us away as she was so lost for words.

Throughout the day Alex SD, Tom and Matt worked incredibly hard shifting blocks, making dagga, preparing walls and moving scaffolding from different ends of the build.

Aamon approached the team at the end of the day and said that he was very proud of our hard work, but it is thanks to Aamon that we had materials and facilities available for us to do the work at all, as the organisation and logistics involved is very complex and without him, Pearl, Carl, and Bob we would not have been able to achieve so much is such a short time.

Sala Gashle (Stay Well)

Just finished the second day of the build and already this trip has been truly inspiring and lifechanging! I feel so amazing i can barely feel how sore all my muscles are because i am on such a high. Everyone i have met has been wonderful, cant wait to get back on site!!

Day One

First of all I just want to apologise for the lack of photo's at the present time, for some reason it is taking approx 15 minuets to upload one photo. More photo's to come........

The team we up and ready to leave the accommodation at 0800 this morning after having a hearty breakfast, everyone was very excited and very keen to get on the road.

I had so many thoughts running through my head this morning, is i did not know what to expect. It took approximately 20 minuets to get to the site and when we arrived i had to have a minuet on the bus because it really hit home what we were here to do. I saw Princess coming out of her house with a big smile on her face a had to shed a tear. Princess is the lady we are building the house for.

Looking at the site we could see where Princes currently lives and next to it was the site in which the new house was going to be build. Some builders had already prepared the site by completing the foundations and the slab and also the first two courses of blocks.

Once all the site safety checks were completed by Sam and the H4H host (Aamon) we were allowed onto the site where we were introduced to princess. She showed us her home and as the introductions were being made the H4H host pointed out to me a grave in the garden where her sister was buried, she passed away last August. My heart sunk and i felt a lump in my throat, my eyes filled up and i had to go and have another minuet. The area in which Princess lives is so peaceful and there are homes dotted all over the hillside. Princesses neighbour must live about 30 meters away.

Once the introductions were completed we were given out first jobs to do which were to move the blocks from one part of the site to another and the easiest was to do that was to do a human chain. The next job was to mix Dagga (Motar).

We all got stuck in with these jobs but mixing the dagga was the hardest job all day. We then helped the builders to build a couple of courses and ensured the dagga kept flowing............

We had to carry blocks from A to B, shoveling sand and cement, carrying water, erect scaffolding while at the same time meeting and interacting with Princess, her family and the local children who were fascinated with us.

Today the team worked so well together. The communication was good, the morale was excellent and i feel that the team had bonded fantastically. Everyone's individual characters began to shine and i was very proud that the team openly and actively supported each other without any interventions from staff.

Sala Gashle ( Stay Well)

Day One 0800 - The team ready to get on the mini bus and start the build!!

Everyone very excited......

This is what the site looked like when we arrived. As you can see there was the foundations done, and the two first rows of bricks laid which i think were done yesterday.

When we arrived we were given a safety briefing by Sam and the H4H host and were given our first jobs to do.....

Build day 1

The pictures from today are taking forever to upload. - Shall attempt 1 at a time - please look through them.
Just for the record - today was the most amazing thing I have ever witnessed - Lost for words - will let the photos do the talking

Day 1

Just having breakfast and ready to go to site. Photos are proving difficult to upload to the blogsite, we shall keep trying this evening.
Please read all the blogsite this evening, we shall encourage all service users to upload thier thoughts - I suspect emotion overload today.

Thoughts and Feelings

After a 14 hour journey and feeling physically and emotionally drained we finally arrived in Durban. We were met by the Habitat for Humanity Rep, Carl, who drove us to our hotel. During the car journey we were allowed time to absorb the reality in which poverty is affecting people.

As it is our first time to South Africa it has really hit home what role we will have in this experience. We could clearly see a divide in poverty and wealth, being just across the road from each other. Carl told us a little on the history of the economics of South Africa which was proven to us when a car full of people being illegally driven came by as it was obviously over crowded with people who couldn't afford there own public transport.

As well as that the shacks in which we saw families living in really hit home on how lucky our economic well being is in the UK. We feel that this is going to be an extremely emotional but worth while trip and after our first hand view today we just can't wait to start the build.

We feel that the team are bonding really well, we are talking amongst ourselves about the positives we want to make on peoples lives here in South Africa.

Written by Alex H and Natalie

We're here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We`ve finally arrived we got here safely...... the plane wasnt as bad as i thought i was dreading it the closer we got to heathrow.........it was a long flight followed by an extra hour waiting because of the pilots seat wasnt right.......but Africa is truly breathtaking....On the way from Durban airport we saw some of the house`s that have been built by habiat for humanity...then you soon realise that poverty is there and its bigger than you think i dont no how many houses we passed that were for poor or homeless families......... I just hope everyone back at England is ok..... Miss everyone.......

We're here!!!

I cant believe it, in all honesty. Were here at last!
The journey outbound has been quite long and tireing but we have all got here safely :)
The flight from Heathrow to Johannesburg went better than I expected and we only had a minor delay at Johannesburg to Durban which we didn't mind :)

The trip from the airport to the B & B has already been a massive eye opener as you can plainly see a differences between poverty and wealth, and sometimes they are only a town away from each other.

Im glad Ive had a shower and freshened up as I was starting to smell!!We have also just been very well fed and watered by the hosts at the B&B :)
We're having a meeting with Habitat for humanity in a bit which is awesome, as I am ready to get stuck in to work.

We have arrived!

The Build for Better Lives team have safety arrived at the trade winds accommodation. Luggage has been placed in the room and we are now sharing a wonderful lunch with Carl and Bob from Habitat for Humanity and Pam and June from the Tradewinds B and B.
The journey has gone with military precision, with the exception of the plane from Johannesburg to Durban - The pilots chair had to be changed (honest!)adding an hour to the final part.
2 of the Service Users have never flown before - so talk about throwing them in the deep end - but no concerns at all.
On our Journey to the accommodation we have already witnessed affluent housing to the right of the motorway - and poverty stricken townships to the left, quite an amazing yet difficult concept to understand at this early stage.
I think its about 13.30 here at the moment - I'll be honest - it could be midnight on Christmas day for all anyone knows at the moment...Everyone will spend the next hour unpacking and freshening up - ready for our Habitat for Humanity brief at 15.30hrs.
We shall update later.