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I didn’t change the winter tires on the LEAF yet, but after a week with the sun high in the blue sky I feel that chances of unexpected snow are really gone now. Ha, *about* time to swap winter rubber for some sticky summer tires! To change tires on a new car for the first time turned out to be interesting; it took me a quite while to find out how to release the jack from its compartment (implemented in a more than stupid way, pffff!!). Anyway, the job was easy and straightforward enough after I got the jack out: four brand new tires are ready for a test-drive, tomorrow! 😉

Wow! Misha turned 8 months today, that is 2/3 of a year…already!! It is amazing how fast the baby months fly by; the little baby is becoming a little child (walking and talking is still on the to-do list though 😉 ). Oh well, there is a time for each growing phase and I am excited to witness them all! It is fantastic to spend a full week alone with the little angel again, enjoying his continuous smile and happiness!

Just two clips that I saw in the past days make me wonder if NL is losing its openness and tolerance; the first one shows some ‘town-guards’ taking down a man who rode his bicycle in the wrong direction (or on the pavement or so)…my mouth fell open, I am astonished!

The second clip is taken at a gathering of the radical Islamic fringe group Sharia4Holland (a strange name since Holland is *not* the name of the country ‘The Netherlands’!)…don’t misunderstand me, I am all for freedom of speech, but I do have a ‘problem’ when it is being used by people who don’t respect the freedom of speech for others than themselves, who are even  threatening them and insulting the dutch people in general. The crazy thing in this clip is that when someone wants to intervene, trying to stop the verbal harassments, HE is the one being removed by police with force…for doing virtually nothing…ridiculous!! (about 4m30s in the clip below)

…yeah, I think that NL is losing it…

It has been yet another fantastic day in Norway, filled with sunSunSUN…a great start of my father-son week!

Haha, I can get used to this life; being outside on the veranda and in the garden the whole day, playing with Misha, getting suntanned and finishing it with white wine… 😉

It always amazes me how a couple of hours in an airplane can make such a difference; Mozambique to NL in 18h including a 4h layover in Lissabon…just a short time, yet a world of difference. Experience tells me that adjusting to what was ‘normal’ before is what happens most of the times, yet this life changing experience is stored deep in my heart, is there to stay and has changed my perspective of ‘normal’…

It was a good move to stay some extra days in Mozambique after building houses/homes for over a week; a great opportunity to see a little (just a little) bit more of this country.
Me and one of the team members, John, went to a beach resort in Ponta d’Ouro for a good 1.5 day (! 😉 ) of sun, beach and relaxation…well, it has been a bit too cloudy and way too windy to sit on the beach and do nothing, but we still had a great day. Ponta d’Ouro is a 3 hour bumpy drive from Catembe (just 15 minutes by ferry from Maputo) and that 3 hour drive turned out to be *more* than bumpy and driving slower than walking speed on many occasions, an interesting experience. 😉
Anyway, it was all worth it; Ponta d’Ouro is a beautiful place, even off-season (I can only imagine how wonderful it must be ‘in season’, besides being overly crowded unfortunately)…I got to swim in the Indian Ocean (my first time!) and body surf, the water temperature of 24.5C made it perfect!
Tomorrow will be my last day in Mozambique as I am flying out late in the evening…once again, time flies when you are having fun (or doing volunteering work 😉 )!! I am looking forward to see Misha though…a lot!

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So, that was it: the house build is done!!

We worked hard to meet the target and: we have made it!! The floor was put in this morning and in about three days (when the concrete has dried out) the family will turn ‘our’ house into their home!!
We had the decoration ceremony today, a fantastic ‘handover’ experience with lots of singing and dancing. We obviously took part in that…heaps of fun! 😉
We are heading back to Maputo tomorrow for the final day with the team, so tonight is our last night in the Gaza province…and that means PARTY time, celebrating the accomplishment!!

The end result after a week of hard work, when a house becomes a home:

Dedication ceremony, lots of singing and dancing:

The two oldest sons of the two families; Crimildo and Jose:

The Global Village team with the two families:

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Today Norway is (/almost has 😉 ) celebrated its Constitution today, May 17 (‘syttende mai‘), so here is a GRATULERER MED DAGEN (congratulations with the day) for all my Norwegian friends!

Here in Mozambique we are congratulating ourselves with the fact that we are still on schedule and have put the roof on the house! Inside plaster work is done, and we’re halfway on plastering the outside…that and the floor is the target for tomorrow followed by a ceremony with lots of singing and dancing to handover the house to the family!

Some pictures from today:

Drawing water from the waterhole:

…and carrying the HEAVY 20 liter jerrycan…oof!!

Putting plaster on the outside walls:

Roof is on top, finalizing the house:

Ain’t she gorgeous??
Once again, it is kids like this one that we are really doing this work for:

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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

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:

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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! 😉

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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! 😉

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!!!

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!! 😉

I know, I know, time is relative, merely a human invention to prevent us from getting lost in the 3D world we live in, still…time can be magical, especially when represented via an alternative clock…two of those made it on the blog some years ago (direct links: The Human Clock, and Industorious Clock) and recently I saw three fantastic (real) clocks by the dutch designer Maarten Baas (check’m out on Youtube: Analog Digital clock, Grandfather Clock and the Sweepers Clock).

Today I saw another great clock alternative; ha, give a bunch of guys some pallets, a ladder, some tools and 24 hours ‘time’ and record the result…it is awesome, go check it out!!