Our first work day began with breakfast and devotions at the CCAP guesthouse. After devotions Jerry pondered why some didn’t say amen together after prayer at which point Folkert broke into a five-fold amen song. This has since become HOPE 2 teams newest tradition. The drive to the Hoya work site was about 45 minutes where we got a glimpse of rural Zambia. We drove past many African villages; we were amazed at how small they were compared to villages in Canada. Many are only one or two families with mud huts. Upon our arrival at Hoya we had a brief meeting with some of the teachers. Many of the students were taking exams today.
After seeing the layout of the school and an introduction to the project we were divided into groups of brick layers and “cement trucks”/mixers. Half the team of brick layers continued finishing the foundation with small clay bricks and the a few others began work on the walls with larger concrete blocks. Good progress was made.
Fran abandoned her job fairly early in the day when she was reeled in by a crowd of children, she learned their version of Father Abraham and the ABC song. The children were enthusiastic to share Tumbuka words. Jerry began a song repeating the word shovel “Fosholo” over and over which the children had fun repeating. We have all been overwhelmed by how friendly everyone is. It was also amazing when the children all lined up and passed bricks.
After a delicious lunch most of us went back to the work site. Jody, Rebecca, Amanda and Ed went to help the woman carry water we needed for mixing mortar. The girls mastered carrying the water on their heads although they were quite wet when they arrived. Men are not permitted to wear the water on their heads because of the tradition that it was women’s work so Ed carried his pails with his hands.
The rest of the afternoon was spent constructing walls and the foundation for the building. After we had finished for the day we visited the Lundazi Castle. As the sun went down we toured the property with the beautiful gardens and toured the interior of the castle which was converted into a hotel.
It was very hot to work in the sun today with the temperature being 32 degrees Celsius in the building where we went to cool off in. John commented on our redneck status at the end of the day.
Comments