Lumela!!! Hi Mom, Dad, Aidan, and Charlie, This morning we had breakfast and language lessons with Lerato. Then we went to the work with Habitat for Humanity Lesotho.
We were about 10 minutes from the Trading Post down the hill. We got to the work site and met the family that we would be helping out. We then had our safety briefing and got to work. I was super excited to see the two local builders from last year. Maddy, Sofia, Natalie, Dr. Rosenberg, and I got started being the best dirt crew ever! We started beside the out house shoveling dirt from the hill into wheel barrels and then up two wooden planks into the house. When doing this we were putting dirt into the house to lay the floor and help to make it level. (I didn't expect that we would need as much dirt as we did). We then had to switch to behind one of the rondavels. This entailed two of the local men and Dr. Rosenberg pickaxing, and Maddy, Sofia, Natalie, and I shoveling the dirt into the wheel barrels and then taking it into the house. This took quite a bit of time. We did this from the morning when we got there until after lunch. Let me tell you obviously I didn't do enough wheel barrell races as a kid as I should have. As we did this task many little kids gathered around us to watch. We were also able to interact with the two local men and ask them their names with our new phrase that we learned in sotho...granted we don't know much in sotho so our conversations weren't long but we were all able to work collaboratively together to get the tasks done. We then switched to going in the house and using our hands and a cinder block to pound the dirt to help level it out. Boy oh boy this was hard. We will have to finish moving dirt into the house and leveling it tomorrow. Don't let me forget to mention we saw some of the cutest, most fluffy dogs ever today and even a puppy. Mom I did try to take the puppy home but Dr. Rosenberg said customs would be a hassle. On the way back we stopped at the community center to see our friends. The connections that we have been able to build are so very strong and seeing their smiling faces after a long day of work made it all the better. We stayed and played a few games and came back for dinner. I am very sad though because Alison is leaving tomorrow. Trust me I have TRIED to get her to miss her flight and stay multiple times now, shockingly it didn't work. I am so excited to what new adventures we will experience in what has become like a second home to me. I miss you all especially Nova. I love you all to Pluto and back!
-Mackenzie <3
Lumela from Romabanta!!! After yesterdays snow day I was ready to get going and do some real work. I started the day off with a short run around the lodge. But after breakfast is when the real party started. We did our usual language lessons and then headed out to the habitat site! Once we got there the local builders, counsil women, and a cheif representative welcomed us to the worksite and we were off. There were a couple jobs to do like laying concrete and cinder blocks, or the dirt crew. Let me tell you the dirt crew was no joke. We all switched between shoveling, wheeling, and spreading the dirt onto the floor of the house. My back aches but we almost got it done. We were there the whole day with the exeption of lunch and are back tomorrow. So once we got back I was excited to take a warm shower and relax before meeting and dinner. So good night sleep tight, and we will update you tomorrow!
-Emily Zmuda
Lumela all! Alison here, Witt '08 alum and I did the trip as a student in '08 as well. I am lucky enough to say this is my fourth time in this amazing country as I have been back a few times as an alumni. The first day at a Habit work site is always one of my favorites as we get to start learning new skills, problem solve, and interact with other Basotho. It is always so rewarding to work together as a team to really make a difference in someone's life. Today I got the chance to lay cinderblock and learn from one of the local builders (who also happened to be at the Habitat site last year) and by the end of the day I felt like I was working with an old friend (despite the obvious language barrier). In the end, though that didn't matter - we were both working towards a common goal and learning from each other. I may not need to know how to lay cinderblock at my corporate job back home but I will always remember laughing with him and working with him and what I learned from him today. What really stood out to me, however, was at the end of the day the woman we are building the house for came out and was so appreciative and kept saying we were doing great work. I think we all felt like we were making a difference after a hard day's work and because of that we were more than ok with the body aches that came with it. Sadly as Mack mentioned today was my last day here as real life calls, but I can't wait to come back to my second home again soon.
-Alison Gaughenbaugh