Final Build Day and Community Celebration

(Posting these on Tuesday as we wait in the Toronto airport enroute home; our last few days were very busy, and we were without internet and electricity some of the time.)

(Friday) We got started a little early this morning, because we wanted so much to finish the walls of both houses so the roofs could be put on before we left. The builders had decided Team Jerod’s home would be finished with a roof, and that is where our community celebration would take place. When we arrived, they had scaffolding up at Patuma’s house so everyone could work on the remaining inside walls. A few people went to Rajabu’s house to help ready it for the celebration.

Meanwhile, Ashley and Kari made a short detour to a local church to deliver a Proclaimer (an audio bible in Chichewa) that we carried to Malawi from Faith Comes By Hearing in New Mexico. We wanted to leave it with a church in the local village (Fundi), but it turned out that the two families we built for were Muslim and it was a big Muslim community. Habitat was able to locate a pastor and church (“Bible Believers”) just down the road from Rajabu’s house. The pastor had gathered about 25-30 church members to come as we presented the bible to him, and after showing him how to use it, the small congregation sang us a song. The pastor was very grateful, as many in the church are illiterate.

Once we got back to the build site, we joined the work in progress to finish up the walls. We finished up about 10:30 and got back on the bus to go to our lunch spot for the celebration. Patuma’s family rode on the bus with us, and she was so proud as she waived to her neighbors from the bus. The celebration was highlighted with several dances, where they encouraged us to get up and dance with them. We heard from the village chief, who said he did not believe people would be coming to build houses in their village, until we actually showed up. He commented how other foreigners have come, looked around, but left without doing anything. He and the whole village were very grateful for the work we did and the friendships we made. We were presented with certificates, and then we all walked down to Rajabu’s house for the dedication and lunch. We prayed over the home and took photos. After lunch, we said our goodbyes, which was very sad, as we had become friends with these people. As we drove away, the kids waved and yelled “mawa”, even though we knew we would not be back tomorrow.

Our hosts took us to see a finished Habitat house, and also to a market to buy Malawian material for “wrappers” (cloth to wrap around as a skirt). The market was an interesting experience. We bargained for material and blankets, and walked through the fish market.

We had our final team dinner at a pizza place in town, sharing what the Habitat experience meant to us and what we would share with our friends and family once we got back home.