Our October Home-Building Expedition Team left for Moshi, Tanzania early Sunday morning, with Team Leader Wendy already in-country ready to welcome them to Tanzania. Wendy was honoured to be able to attend the home-opening ceremony of Bibi Angus and her grandchildren, whose new home had been constructed with the support of our School Expedition team from West Calder and James Young high schools in June/July earlier this year.

The home-building team arrived safely on Sunday evening to be greeted by our Tanzanian coordinators, Ben & Elly, and Wendy. The team took Monday morning to cover some inportant information during their in-country orientation and spent the afternoon playing games at a local children's centre. 

On Tuesday morning the team headed first to the offices of our in-country partner, TAWREF (Tanzania Women's Research Foundation) to find out more about the families they will be constructing homes for over their 2-week expedition. They also heard about the expansive work that TAWREF is doing within the community.

The team then split into two groups and travelled to two of the 3 worksites where the new family homes will be built. Team 1 travelled to the site of 10 year-old twins Dora and Nora. When the twins were orphaned, their grandparents, Ernest & Theresia, took them in to live with them. However, their home needed extensive repair due to large, dangerous cracks in the walls. With limited resources and two young girls at school, the family could not afford to repair their home. Their grandparents also worry for the future and safety of the girls once they are no longer able to care for them. This new home will give the family a secure place to live and peace of mind that Dora and Nora will have a safe future together within their community.

The team were able to begin digging the foundations and move some rocks which will line the foundations. Before the team headed back to their hostel, there was some time toplay with some of the children from the community. The team weren't able to meet the twins as they were at school, but look forward to being able to get to know them later in the week.

The second team spent the afternoon on the worskite of Samwel & Mariana. After being abandoned by his mother, Samwel now lives with his Bibi (grandmother) Mariana. Samwel has cerebral palsy, which affects his motor abilities. Having already had one brain operation to help him to walk, Samwel has complex care needs which Mariana works very hard to provide. Their home has been deemed uninhabitable so move from neighbour to neighbour, who try to provide a helping hand when they can. This new home will allow Mariana to focus on giving Sanwel the care he needs without worrying about their living conditions.

Today (Wednesday) the team will be spending the morning on the worksites and then head to Kimashuku Children's Centre to play with the kids in the afternoon before a well-earned dinner out!

Our group were delighted to hear that Heather & Peter, team members currently hiking Mount Kilimanjaro, made it to the summit early Tuesday morning after starting their climb on Friday. The team are very excited to hear about their experiece when they join the group on Saturday after a well-earned rest. Congratualtions to both on such an incredible accomplishment! Here's a photo of them on their climb up - we look forward to seeing photos from the summit!

Look out for the team's updates on our next Vine Trust October Home-Building Expedition blog!