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Charles F. Kettering: “Keep on going and the chances are you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I have never heard of anyone stumbling on something sitting down.”

It is the middle of the week today which means that we are just over halfway building the two houses. I checked with the foreman today who said that all goes according to plan (yay) and we *will* complete building one house, and ‘almost’ finish the second one…GOOD work team!! 😉

So, meet the team (volunteers and locals):

Look up, the tallest guy is on top! 😉
(working on the last layer of bricks):

Mid week progress:
First house is ready to have the roof on (tomorrow), while the second house still needs the top layer of bricks.

And we are really doing it for these kids:

x

Jeph Jacques: “You can either hold yourself up to the unrealistic standards of others, or ignore them and concentrate on being happy with yourself as you are.”

As with most of my trips, I took some balls with me…my *juggling* balls! 😉

It turned out to be big fun to juggle and teach the children in the community how to, they were fast learners as you can see!

Playing with the local kids ‘after work’ is one of those things that make you totally forget the hard labor done during the day…

I also brought bubbles and a soccer ball with me; both are an ice breaker (nice expression to use in sunny Mozambique 😉 ) causing the kids to be less shy and instead of staring at us from a distance they just came over to play with us…they love it, we love it!!

Juggling in Mozambique:

The cutest twins in the community:

Having fun with the twins and a soccer ball:

Bubbles, soccer and juggling:

(click to enlarge)

John Wooden: “You cannot live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.”

Yesterday we arrived at our temporary home for this week, Honeypot cabins in the Gaza province, Xai Xai district. We had a nice team dinner and I finished the day with two South Africans and a bottle; very interesting to experience that we both were able to speak our own language and still understand each other!! (the drinks helped I guess 😉 )

Today marked the beginning of our work in Mozambique; building a house for a mother, her two children and two grandchildren.
So far I have a GREAT experience: yes, it is hard physical work, but at the same time you directly see the result of the work and you know who you are doing it for…fantastic!!

Below some pictures of the first day:
The team:

The current home:

Mixing cement:

Laying bricks:

Result after day 1, not bad! 😉

(click to enlarge)

Ellen DeGeneres: “Sometimes you can’t see yourself clearly until you see yourself through the eyes of others.”

Meredith Willson: “Never let the demands of tomorrow interfere with the pleasures and excitement of today.”

Mozambique Day 2, the team is almost complete now and we used most of today wandering around in Maputo. We ended up in a small garden close by the sea which apparently is very popular for newlyweds to have their pictures taken (no wonder, as it is called ‘Garden of Love’ 😉 ). We saw five couples with family and friends in just 20 minutes (!), all taking pictures, lots of singing and dancing…completely different compared to a ‘western’ wedding, great to watch!

I also changed rooms and am sharing a room with one of the team members, John, nice guy AND a room with a much better view! 😉

William Arthur Ward: “If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it.”

After two smooth flights I have arrived in Mozambique! Both flights had enough free seats which makes flying with a standby ticket a charm! 😉 Although it upfront seemed that I could have a problem getting my luggage onboard on the the connecting flight from Nairobi to Maputo (just 1.5h transfer time and last-minute information when I left Amsterdam that I would have to check my luggage through customs and then check it in again), it all worked out just fine!

So here I am, safe and sound in Maputo, ready to change my world(-perspective)!

I already met our team leader Barbora (aka Bas, a former colleague) and two other team members, and since the Habitat program is only starting tomorrow evening with a team dinner, I have some time to myself until then; just went for a walk around the block and will see some more of the city (and beach 😉 ) tomorrow.
First impression of Maputo: this is definitely Africa, driving around it seems quite similar to my experiences in D.R. Congo, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, although already now it feels more relaxed and safe here (that said, walking to the beach is not advised as most get mugged, hmmm, lets take a cab!). Weather is obviously sunny and warm (though not too warm), and humidity is lower than I thought it would be. From what I can tell so far, people seem very open and friendly, though sometimes hard to understand because of their portuguese’ized english (mixed with some Changana, the language spoken in the Southern part of Mozambique).
Mobile internet (3G) has found its way to Mozambique too (at least, to Maputo) so ‘everyone’ is connected…I am limiting 3G on my iPhone though as costs for mobile internet are obviously sky-high. And more, I just went to a small supermarket for some water and biscuits and noticed that the prices are almost comparable to Europe: around $2,- for a bottle of water and $1.50 for some biscuits…pretty amazing considering that the average wages in Mozambique are around $1-$2! (so I read)

My plan is to put a daily update on the blog with my experiences and building progress on the two houses (which is actually the basis for my personal diary 😉 ). In case I ‘miss’ a day there will still be something to read (so, no worries 😉 ) as I already set up an automated QOTD (Quote of the Day) for the coming week! And an amazing week it is going to be!! 😉

Although I left home yesterday, I feel that the trip to Mozambique is really starting today with flying from Europe to Africa!! Fingers crossed as I again fly with a standby ticket, but as I was told that the flight still has enough available seats *and* I started with a good ‘standby-experience’ yesterday, it shouldn’t be a problem! 😉
First stop is Nairobi, a night flight likely to cause some insomnia because of the inflight movies. 😉 I have never been in Kenya before and won’t see much of it now as I have a connecting flight to Maputo tomorrow morning…other things to see and do on this trip! 😉
Excited!!!

As I am leaving for Africa tomorrow, my Song of the Day cannot come as a surprise: here is Toto with ‘Africa‘! 😉

*Everybody* knows this song, so please sing along…I will however not sing the line: ‘I bless the rains down in Africa’ hehe…oh well, I just checked the weather forecast for Mozambique; sun, sun, sun (and some more sun!! 😉 ), so no worries!

This Thursday I will fly to Mozambique for my Habitat for Humanity Global Village trip, building two houses for orphans and their caretakers! Their current houses are made of thatch, reed and mud and are both in a very bad state; a new home made of bricks is therefore very welcome.

‘Orphans and their caretakers’ is not really personal, so I would like to introduce the people for whom we will build a house!

The first house will be the new home for Heminia, a 47 year old widow (her husband died of HIV/AIDS). She is taking care of her two sons, Jose (17 years) and Pascoal (13 years) and her granddaughter Alegria (11 years).

The second house will be build for Paulina, who is 45 years old and also a widow (her husband also died of HIV/ AIDS…). She is taking care of her two children, her son Crimildo (18 years) and her daughter Sandra (13 years), and her grandchildren Narcia (7 years) and Orlando (4 years).

You can read more in this document.

Besides my personal contribution (building the houses), YOU too can support these families by donating to this project; there are various options, so please visit Global Village trip page and click the green Donate Today button on the right side!!

I would really appreciate your support, and more important: the two families can really use it!

Please share this post as much you want!

Purpose Fairy: “Here is a list of 15 things which, if you give up on them, will make your life a lot easier and much, much happier. We hold on to so many things that cause us a great deal of pain, stress and suffering – and instead of letting them all go, instead of allowing ourselves to be stress free and happy – we cling on to them. Not anymore. Starting today we will give up on all those things that no longer serve us, and we will embrace change.”

The 15 things are:

1. Give up your need to always be right

2. Give up your need for control

3. Give up on blame

4. Give up your self-defeating self-talk

5. Give up your limiting beliefs

6. Give up complaining

7. Give up the luxury of criticism

8. Give up your need to impress others

9. Give up your resistance to change

10. Give up labels

11. Give up on your fears

12. Give up your excuses

13. Give up the past

14. Give up attachment

15. Give up living your life to other people’s expectations

There is more to read per item via this link.

I had a great father-son week in NL, both relaxing and intense days…I took the time to reflect and prepare for my next big thing, (Mozambique, leaving coming Thursday!). It was very interesting to experience that the ‘how’ your life pans out is often different as what you thought beforehand, and at the same time I realized that it all works out exactly as it should in this NOW. It is great to find and create my own balance in life and well, experience and accept change is this years motto for a good reason! 😉

All in all it feels good to be back home in Norway, where the days are getting longer and longer…I like that a lot; more light per day is a magical experience that keeps amazing me every year!

I had a very nice day to end my father-son week (the ‘dutch edition’): today was my father’s 67th Birthday (Hip, Hip, Hoorayyyy!!) giving me a great opportunity to catch up with friends and family that I had not seen for a long time!

A little unfortunate that the weather was cloudy with a little rain instead of the past years’ warm and sunny dutch Liberation Days. The clouds also cause us to miss out on seeing the supermoon, so we have to do with the associated influence this phenomenon has on mother earth and us human beings…”This Taurus/Scorpio Full Moon asks us to become aware of the people and things we give the highest value to, and to look at the emotional trauma that keeps us apart. It’s time to question our values and beliefs about money, power, happiness and our connection to each other and to the Earth. There are powerful forces at work determined to keep the old system alive, regardless of how many people and places it destroys. But we are equally powerful, and the Cosmos is lending us energy to break-through our paralysis and stand up for our beliefs.“

Whahaha…this one got me ROTFLMAO!! 😉

Today’s Song of the Day is matching the period of my life…well, it is actually matching any period of anybody’s life, coz change is unavoidable in life, and even more so in 2012, the year of change!

Good’old David Bowie wrote it beautifully in ‘Changes‘…Time may change me, But I can’t trace time…

Meryl Streep: “This is your time and it feels normal to you, but really, there is no normal. There’s only change and resistance to it and then more change.”