Week 1: The Volunteers Have Landed...

Unfortunately we have not received the 'diary logs' yet from the volunteers, these we will be posted when we receive them. However, a summary of the volunteers activities during the first week is below.

On last Sunday the first set of volunteers arrived in Inhambane airport (a small runway with a single room terminal building), they were greeted by palm trees and blazing sunshine. They had one evening to relax and get their bearings, and the next morning they were on site at the crack of dawn to begin construction of the school.

The opening week has involved laying foundations; both for the school and with the community. The school, located in a small village called Phembane, is run by a director named Juliao and some part-time teachers. Lessons currently take place in three grass huts next to the site, and the building they are constructing will deliver a dramatic improvement to their facilities.

The volunteers have been working alongside a team of skilled builders, picking up useful skills as well as learning some important Portuguese phrases including ‘pass the bucket’, ‘more cement’, and ‘will you marry me?’.

The days on site have been physically demanding, beginning at 7am every day and finishing at 4.30 – just in time for sunset. They’re working five and a half days a week, with a half day on Saturday. In many ways the first week has been tough, with everybody adjusting to the climate, the local food and the physical work itself.

So far their main tasks have been excavation and mixing concrete (all by hand), and helping to build a grass hut for storage of materials. They have also begun laying block work and steel for the reinforced concrete columns, and built a football pitch while waiting for a delivery of materials.

Meeting the children has been an incredible experience. They are very well behaved, full of life, and always interested in what the volunteers are up to. They love high fives and shaking hands, and laugh at efforts to communicate in Portuguese and Bitonga (the local tribal language).

The volunteer’s diet consists of eating lots of rice (important for energy levels) and fish of every variety. The breakfast is prepared on site by a jolly man called Fernando who wears a Santa hat, and lunch is cooked by three local ladies (authentic African grub which has included chickens feet!).

On their first full day off most volunteers went snorkeling. They saw dolphins, a manta ray, devil rays and a whale shark (the largest fish in the sea!). Although a mere tiddler at 5 metres in length, they described swimming alongside this creature was ‘breathtaking’.

More news next week!