ONE: MOZAMBIQUE -

Welcome to Travel Grace Mozambique and South Africa!

The need in Mozambique - ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN
Behind the smiles and the songs of our beautiful homeowners in Mahubo Mozambique there is trauma and sadness. Some faces wear it more than others, they all have something in common; they've lost someone and because of that the children are vulnerable. Husbands and fathers die of AIDS or don't come back from working in another country.  HIV/AIDS, abondonement and other reasons cause many children to live with a extended family or someone in the village. Mud houses fall apart in the rain and floors flood. This creates a need that Habitat has answered by offering houses with no loan. Sweat equity is still an important part of the homeowner's contribution.

Read more about the Orphans and Vulnerable Children OVC on http://www.habitat.org/ame/stories/Mozambique_grant.aspx

25 things you should know about poverty:

http://www.habitat.org/hw/june_2009/feature3.html

HALFWAY AROUND THE WORLD, A DIFFERENT HEMISPHERE a DIFFERENT CULTURE
Re-entry trauma,  a capsule hurtling at full speed through 17 hours, slamming back into atmosphere. OK, it isn't that dramatic, but going back to "normal life" and work mere hours after being with a great team and incredible villagers in Mozambique is an abrupt juxtaposition from somewhere and doing something important that ended much too soon. My third build and the first time I set foot on the continent of Africa was over. Over except for the memories for our group of 16 and the completed houses that won't last as long as our memories and provide as much warmth and happiness for the homeowners. This African build was more, it was different and it was better than I imagined it would be. Writing is my way of processing , preserving and clinging to the sights, smells, sounds, tastes, feelings and precious faces, I’m compelled to try and relive the moments that have become surreal and share the stories of the characters that made this trip to Mozambique so incredible. I'm not a writer, this isn't about me and I welcome any comments. It is about people and circumstances in another place as experienced through my trip. Here goes, Enjoy Travel Grace!

Before departing for Mozambique I had a brief time for a buzz around REI during a sale and found some hiking shoes (on sale) that are (not very attractive) an odd reddish, brownish, salmon color and I thought “this is perfect” as from what I’d seen in a couple of photos of off road Moz villages and from Google earth, these shoes could get dirty and it wouldn’t show very much! Little did I know how much dirt……as our commute was mostly on a dirt road to the village. Before departing there was so much work to be done there wasn’t a moment to slow down until the flight, two very long opportunities to anticipate meeting the team and the homeowners, to be excited for the opportunity to smell, taste, touch, see and feel another culture.

First an introduction, after flying in from the US, Canada, Taiwan and China our group met in Maputo Mozambique, the largest city in the country. After a night there we continued inland northwest to Massaca village on paved roads. Mozambique is narrow and long on the eastern coastline and as we travelled inland we weren’t all that far from Swaziland and the Kruger Park area of South Africa.

Our host coordinator, Magaia lives in Maputo and travelled with us to Massaca where we stayed and Mahubo, the village where the building for OVC would occur. Magaia is amazing, hard working, capable, funny and smart. He was also the only interpreter which in itself is a big job. He knows several languages and is currently in university to study law. Magaia is amazing, good looking with a deep voice and warm smile. He is important in the village and is very important to our group. the more we watched him and learned about him the more it became obvious that Magaia is one of those special people, one who will do something great and the world is a better place because he's here.

GETTING TO KNOW MOZAMBIQUE
From the GV website:  "Housing need
Why Habitat is needed in Mozambique;   http://www.habitat.org/intl/ame/138.aspx?print=true

Mozambique has suffered a series of setbacks in its struggle to develop during 32 years of independence. Following a 10-year liberation struggle, a 13-year guerilla war took the lives of 1 million people and left 5 million displaced. Only with the rise of the African National Congress and the end of apartheid in South Africa, was Mozambique able to broker peace and disarm the guerillas in 1992.



During its 15 years of peace, Mozambique has had one of the fastest-growing economies in the region, yet the country has a steep hill to climb. Since the war, HIV/AIDS has been sweeping through the country, with an estimated 17 percent of the population infected in the country and as much as 30 percent or more in certain cities along transport lines.



As a result of these deaths, children are left orphaned, often without adequate shelter and sometimes homeless. To make matters worse, in 2000, the country was devastated by the largest flood ever recorded in Africa, which left half a million people homeless.



Formed in 2000, Habitat for Humanity Mozambique has worked with poor communities, local volunteers and international teams to build hundreds of houses in Maputo Province and in the provinces of Manica and Gaza.



Habitat for Humanity Mozambique's initiatives include providing housing in partnership with the country's most disadvantaged groups. Originally, Habitat Mozambique houses were made of cement blocks. In the last few years, Habitat has adopted local materials and methods which lower costs and increase efficiency and community involvement. Additionally, Habitat Mozambique can reach the very poorest families in each  community as rapidly as possible"

• 200 million population

• 500 people a day die of AIDS and 500 people a day contract it.

• The village where we built has very few men; many villages have lost men and women due to AIDS.

• During civil war it was the poorest country on earth, now ranks 172nd of 176 on the poverty scale

• The average income is low, villagers will often barter and trade. Some can work in banana or citrus farming. There is little formal employment. Many workers cannot even afford the bus.

• Maputo does have a university and some like Magaia work in professional positions.

• The Gorongosa Park and the Carr Foundation are trying to repopulate the animals indigenous to the area that were practically wiped out by war, poaching and other hardships. The effects of the civil war are hinted of on occasion, even through they're independent now it is a communist country with elections happening. It's been so recent that even some of our builders were soldiers then, one guarded a bridge to prevent rebels from crossing.

• The government gets support from other countries. There is little tax income and resources are hard to get to without funding.

• The people in the village grow corn and some other vegetables and raise chickens and sometimes have pigs or goats.
 - Shangaan and Portugese are spoken primarily though there are 14 languages.(There is another reference to Shangaan in the section on Soweto).  Many names are based on Portugese. Ceasear is a local man who has an African name but is called Ceasar. H ased his grandfather why he and his father are both called Ceasar. The grandfather said "bring me a bottle of wine and I'll tell you." Two years he waiting then taking a bottle of wine to his grandfather he finally learned about the big man of Rome.

As a team we first saw a glimpse of Maputo including venturing out on foot for a couple of blocks, camera in hand to explore. The local market in a side alley consists of clothing hanging on fences and shoes set out in lines of singles all pointing in the same direction, in parallel, making a pattern of lines. Across the street from the church boarding house where we were staying is a local bar and three of us had fun trying to by coke and beer with the help of the locals. One message came through clearly, bring the bottle back! The people were friendly though seemed amused by the oddity of these blonds who wanted beer but couldn’t articulate the different between light and dark.

In a short distance and even shorter period of time before dinner we discovered the juxtapositions of Maputo on one main road…two buildings looked brand new, important and bespoke of government or wealth, or both. On the same street the church stood out in its AFrame glory as one of the largest buildings, close to high end auto dealerships with fencing and guard dogs. In one direction a small bakery and the lineup single shoes of the sidewalk show salesmen. Down the hill toward an open market of everything from hardware to spices line up along the road, hiding behind these stalls the stark reality of slum. Lean to shelters built of corrugated metal walls and roofs held down by rock. Many of us have bathrooms bigger than these houses.

Guidebooks cast aside; (they have little) we explored based on hints by some expats about where to walk. Others who’ve traveled to Africa mentioned that many people don’t appreciate having their picture taken, but we found the opposite in Mozambique with one exception. Taking a side road toward the harbor past a bank we walked toward three men, one armed and looking very much the role of bank guard. He smiled at us “tourists” and spoke in quite good English asking us where we are from and saying how good it is that people come to learn about Mozambique.

It started looking a little rough on the side street so a U-turn was in order. On the other side two young men were walking toward us, pointing to the camera. They smiled and leaned toward each other and the photo was taken, they were delighted and satisfied with simply looking at their image on the camera display, smiled and said a few words I didn’t understand and moved on. After dinner with our group we settled in and it was a good day. Travelling to Massaca (luggage in one van, people in another) was on the agenda for the next morning.

It's a good day. See the culture for the first time. We aren't even at our ultimate distination, the village for the build that would leave us better than we leave it.

Seventh - Deeper stories, unpeeling the onion revealing good, bad and ugly, real life in Tajikistan

There is a gentleness in the people we've met and worked around. No doubt we are still "tourista" and even though Khujand is a large city, it is also small, word gets around that there are tourists about.

The streets are very clean, women are out every morning sweeping the roadsides and the parks. It's difficult to find trash or a trash can. Every once in awhile trash would rear it's ugly head in the form of smoke, around the apartments they incinerate a lot (and I thought that concrete stove thing was a BBQ!) and sometimes we'd catch a whiff of burning plastic, rubber and general stuff.

ROSES -

are everywhere, in Dushanbe and in Khujand and they're lovely. Maybe Portland should become a "Sister City!"

GIVING THANKS

MMJ showed us how to give thanks, they have a prayer after the meal and hold hands out, both palms up, then take both hands, put them on their face palms in and stroke downward. Hard to describe here but it is lovely.

PROGRESSIVE REALITIES

While there is a great deal of traditional dress, we also saw girls in jeans, and our sweet friend Hamida showed herself in a variety of fashions. A couple of women from the Habitat Affiliates in both cities had been to the U.S. and speak English well and wear very western, current fashions. Alot of woment work.

Relgion - like many: some pray, some don't, some drink, some don't; some smoke, some don't; some follow rules, some don't....sound like everywhere!

WHAT IS THEIRS

This historically has been a mother in law society in the sense that she is the head of the household. We heard several variations on the theme, but historically this meant that when a (usually very young) girl was chosen for marriage she would move in with her husband's family after the wedding and be under the tutelage of his mother. Sometimes the goal was to "break the girl in". Girls could refuse to marry but probably under great consequence. Divorce was allowable but the in-laws keep the children. Even our three young women friends were originally a girl gang of five friends, and two have been married, one is pregnant. The idea of what is too young, or what is best should probably be left to the individuals of the culture to change for their best interests, but I sure wanted to share with Hamida that she's so bright, she could go to Europe or the US and continue learning and carve her future.

David mentioned that some girls end up very depressed and suicidal under the mother in law heirarchy. Hamida shared that her parents who she adores married "for love" and she misses her father and older brother so much as they are working in Moscow.

There is a system of "getting what you pay for."

For instance: say you are a student going to the local library for a book required for school. The librarian says they do not carry that book. If 20 or so Somoli appear, suddenly the book appears as well.

Apparently the "American Corner" had to restructure with an NGO because the library head was embezzling from the US Embassy. Now that middle man is no longer in the embassy and is not losing money any more.

Degrees can be paid for, test results can be paid for.

The curriculum - for English it's more detailed English structure than I ever knew. David mentioned structures I barely remember, yet the students have to know and have to pass the tests based on this curriculum. The texts are from the '70's which is better than the Chemistry texts which are from the '50's. David says there's not much he can do about the curriculum yet it also speaks to people like Farhod, MMJ, Hamida and Parvina that despite trying to learn English and not really being taught it conversationally, they SHINE and converse so well and are hungry for more.

Phillip with Mercy Corp said that women, particularly married child bearing women actually eat very little meat in this meat heavy society. The husbands and fathers get the meat first. This creates anemia amongst these young women, many of whom become pregnant right after marriage. Translate to difficult pregnancies and infant malnutrition. Plus some woment die in childbirth. Mercy Corp has done and measured education on Breast Feeding and recognition and treatment of infant dysentary. Due to the education in the region and the wisdom of Mercy Corp to reach out the the leaders, the village heads and the mother's in law, over the years they have seen an 80% improvement in dysentary rates of treatement and prevention compared to the majority of countries where they would be thrilled to see 30% improvement.

There is some malaria (though I brough my malarone and never saw a single mosquito, but it can happen), typhoid and again, the bribes. Phillip said you can pay for anything in this country.

THE BAD

Global crisis. Alot of construction work in Russia is no longer available which means local unemployment is rising.

History - MMJ talked about his parents stories of time during the USSR. During that time, people here were afraid to practice their religion. MMJ's parents were forced by teachers to eat and drink during fasting times. People were killed.

It's time for all of us to remember that "NEVER AGAIN" should mean never to anyone, anywhere at anytime. No more genocides, witholding of basic freedoms etc.

Girls get better opportunities if they are not in head dress and are not traditional.

The Cotton - farmers may own their land but the government tells them what to plant. Cotton is king, problem is it can leach nutrients from the soil and render it weak if crops aren't rotates and the soil allowed to regenerate. The labor comes from the students...best learned about in this link

http://enews.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=2475 David told us about this article he wrote about the "slave labor disguised as volunteerism" cotton harvest.

We met MMJ's boss, Phillip from Mercy Corp. He joined us for dinner one night and told us stories of his time as an expat here for the last couple of years. He actually lives in Portland, the home of Mercy Corp HQ and his wife is here in PDX, she is Uzbec. He knows the area well and talked also of the system of bribery. Though it doesn't seem the locals do many drugs, there is drug money that comes through from Afghanistan which grows a lot of poppies and the flow is through Tajikistan to Russia with stops along the way. People in the line of flow and in the know make money.

THE UGLY

Amongst our own - when someone has a problem there seems to be an emotional juggling constantly between compassion and frustration. This happened with one of our own, who would disappear sometimes. Drink more beer than anyone else. Stay out later. One morning at 6am, the room-mate of our problem child came to our room to speak with the team lead because the team member had not arrived back to the apartment at all. We decided to go out for a walk, split up in different directions and look. It was a gorgeous morning and I'd always wanted to walk before the work day, but I didn't want to do it a 6am looking for a body in a ditch anymore than anyone else did. We reconvened after 20 minutes to discover that our team member had arrived back during that time by taxi, smiling, with a black eye and no recollection of how that occured (are there prostitutes in Khujand?) Big possible YES on that one....This created anxiety, more work for the team lead, concern amongst the group, frustration and due to the involvement of alchohol a little less enjoyment in regards to beer and ice cream. God speed to you team member, take care of yourself.

Sixth - A whole new light. Meeting three wonderful girls and others who shed more light on our learning of Tajikistan

After a few days of building, Farhod announced that we would have visitors, some students from the University who heard we were in the area and wanted to meet us and practice their English. And so they arrived, three lovely smiling beacons of graciousness and excitement and chatter! That first day we learned how often cultures are more similar than different. Hamida (seated in jeans skirt and 3rd from left in lower left photo), Parvina (seated in white dress and in had in next photo) and Fatima (seated in black next to Carol in lower left photo) are lovely and interesting and interested! Time flew as we talked and talked. They showed Carol crochet styles and talked about the patchwork quilts that are so much a part of Tajik heritage. And then they described what they did as young children at play:

• Cafedor - when children are in 2 lines and they call on over... what we call Red Rover
• Lakpar - when there are squares drawn on the sidewalk and you skip from one to the other and pick things up....Hop Scotch!
• Lanka - they sew sheepskin around some pebbles and kick it around....Hacky Sack
• Oshuk - a boys game of flying kites, it sounded like the Kite Runner

Hamida and Parvina speak quite good English, Fatima is a little more shy and self conscious that she doesn't speak as well, but so very sweet. We invited them to stay for lunch but they refused saying they had not earned it and had not worked, but would come back in work clothes the next day. And Hamida and Parvina did!

They did pitch in too, in the bucket brigade and with the brick transfer at the second house. Parvina had to leave on Friday early as it was her mother's birthday and she wanted to get a cake and put on a good party. With Mahmudjon she also told us that she wanted us to come to her house on Sunday night (May 31st) to celebrate her 21st birthday which was June 2. Fatima was ill for the next few days and Hamida worked with us on Saturday, gushing about her birthday and how important 21 is as it is the transition to adulthood. The girls spoke a great deal about a woman who had visited and made an enormous impression on them, Brenda Flanigan, an author. They also spoke a great deal about David, their English teacher from Seattle. We discussed politics, music (they love the Backstreet Boys), their friends, Hamida talked about milking her cow twice a day and of her mother and grandmother. They also spoke a lot of time that they were out of school for several weeks to go and pick cotton. Of the builders and the girls it was so refreshing that the topics of discussion were many and varied, delving into politics, culture and social issues such as poverty and "global crisis". They have phones and the internet (albeit slow), everyone knows of Obama and asked us about him. They're very encouraged. As we learned more about their history and politics we could as more as well. MMJ and Farhod would talk about the civil war and the time of the USSR in detail, also even though things are better now, so much that was promised has yet to be seen. The museum tours taught us much, and meeting the locals and expats brought out even more and show us the layers of this wonderful place; the history, the struggles, the current status, the mother -in - law as family head.

As Saturday ended we had dinner at a new place for kabob, a bit of a drive but terrific outdoor food. All kabob, all the time, a place Farhod held in memory as good since his days in Khujand as a University Student. It was fantastic and the workers at the restaurant waved good by to us, in the photo there is a man with his hand on his chest, I loved this greeting pose for hello and goodbye. Taste the culture. Feel the culture.

R&R - ADVENTURES IN EXPLORATION AND CHANGE OF PACE

Sunday, first R&R day! So much planned, first we walked to the museum which is very well done. At the end some children arrived and Barbara had them swarming around her as she took photos and I had photos of them looking at her photos! (Also a note, about that time some strange things were appearing on my camera like no more memory messages etc. The card had slipped out just a bit so I put it back in and since I'd not had a chance to backup since Istanbul, I replaced the card with a new one....only to take about 400 photos and have that card fall out of the camera the last day in Dushanbe...and the only Kodak shop in town I could find had a disc drive that didn't work so my attempt to backup failed). Future photos of May 31 onward will be shared because my team members graciously share and will be given credit.

After the history museum, a small architectural museum and then to the palace. This is not a residential palace but a place of government and forums. It's very pink! The community built the palace, in the auditorium each panel in the ceiling and on the walls is hand painted, each different. There is a big focus on literature and literacy, on farming and the crops that Tajikistan can produce. Also history of USSR and the civil war after the breakup. Civil war peace negotiations took place in the auditorium of the palace. MMJ did a wonderful job of interpreting what our guide said as he spoke in both Tajik and Russian. We learned that women earned war medals during WWI and WWII as well and there were many references to both. Two posters struck me as so on point and touching, first, a blindfolded man walking toward the edge of a cliff depicting a metaphor for illiteracy. Another was a woman with her arm around a small boy, their backs to us looking at the images of two soldiers marching, several feet above the ground which I took to mean a widow or a mother seeing her lost husband or sons. The ceilings in every room are gorgeous, all hand painted, each very different from the other.

THE REAL DEAL, MARKETS AND OSIM'S KABOB

Osim had been talking for days about having us to his kabob stand in the market. So on our day off we made our way out to one of the market's quite a distance from town. Driving in we could see the livestock, many black sheep and some cows. We were led into a tight little enclave filled with people and kabob stands and there he was, Osim with a huge smile on his face! (Currently I have not photos from this point onward, but keep checking!). He put us into a room with long tables and the feast started arriving, first the best bread we've had, then tea and salad. Soon the kabobs started coming and they were really good. Some with ground meat, some cubed. Osim introduced us to his partner, the bread man, a tall, lanky fellow with a kind face and incredible almond shaped eyes. They have worked together for many ears. We were probably there for almost an hour and were treated like celebrities and the goodbye was like many in theis area, one of being escorted out by our new friends, with many smiles, "rahmats" (thank yous) and the posture of putting the right hand to the chest and holding it there which looked and felt to me like genuine gratitude, a "pleased to meet you and pleased to have served" kind of stance. This was truly a local meal in this meat based society and it was so good. Only upon leaving did we also learn that Osim had treated us to this lunch, it was on him. Throughout they gave more than they received, but they probably don't feel that way. They're very gracious.

MARKET TIME, NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH MARKET TIMING....THINGS LOST IN TRANSLATION, SOMETHING GAINED

So we expressed wanting to see clothing and textiles in a market, things authentic to the area. Just a short drive from Osim's Kabob we Farhod took us to an extension of the same market. Here is where the locals shop, it was full of clothing and shoes, housewares and some shawls and textiles. And it was different than we thought it would be...this is an important market for the people, most things made in China, of prices affordable to the locals and so we had a glimpse of real life. Remembering the average wage is about 200 Somolis a month ($50). I loved the dress Parvina wore the day we met her, a white gauzy dress and she said it was in the Sunday market. Well here we were! All of us split up and I was with MMJ and as we cruised through one hallway where every booth started to look the same, I saw only 1 place that had two dresses like Parvina's. MMJ helped, no actually did the negotiations and I skipped away with two dresses for 50 Somoli, $10, not knowing if they would fit (they do). Everyone in our group was a little restless thgouh wanting to find a place that had more traditional and historic textiles and crafts. So we met at the van early. Farhod did a good job of taking us to what we asked for "textiles and clothing"...and Carol came away with a cute pair of shoes for her daughter. We also had to be more specific about what types of items we would like to see, so Farhod took us to a crafts shop that was closed that day, but we went on Monday and Barbara came away with an antique traditional quilt that is quite something.

One of our missions was to find a birthday present for Hamida, they guys were of little help even though they're Tajik. So was asked MMJ to ask his wife for her suggestion that that wasn't such a good idea, the poor guy said he couldn't call his wife, only 19 and pregnant, her first thought would be why is he buying gifts for another woman? So he did what any self preserving young man would do and he called his mom who said we should buy her something for entertaining guests. We went to the Thursday Market, closer to town and open every day. We bought some glasses and a pitcher then later went to a flower shop where we bought pink roses and had the gift wrapped. Success! Herding cats, a couple of the guys went into the Thursday market and all us had 15 minutes. We met back at the van on time and found that MMJ had gone to pray. We're a restless bunch, don't like to sit and wait, could have stayed in the market longer. Farhod and I took a few minutes to find him a Coke and I found a bottle of wine for the apartment, we met back at the van and many had dispersed on their own for the few minutes and come back to the van, so in the end all was well. (A note about the wine..most restaurants don't serve alcohol at all, Jeri and I enjoyed having a little to share in our apartment. Wine was hard to come by so we made it last. Made in Monrovia, not high on Wine Spectator's list!

We returned to the Thursday market the next day, Monday and it was a sight, a very open hall with a second story on the perimiter. There is a section of spices, a butcher's section against the wall, a section of produce, a section of nuts that we went nuts over - sweet almonds and roasted pistachios, yum. These made great snacks for the work site. The camera was working hard in their and the second story gave us a great overview of the place.

IN A TAJIK HOME, SWEET HAMIDA'S 21ST BIRTHDAY DINNER IN HER FAMILY APARTMENT, THE FEAST AND A GLIMPSE OF HER HOMELIFE AND HER COW

Free time to relax, clean up and prepare to go to Hamida's for birthday dinner. Dressed up (as builders can be) our driver found her apartment actually quite close to the job site, but to the west a bit, past the University. The outside of the apartment looked very much like the outside of the apartments where we stayed. A lovely Hamida in traditional dress of light blue greeted us with her beaming smile. We took our shoes off in the hall and entered a room set with an astonishing array of foods. Parvina was there as well in a lovely dress. We all sat around the table and Hamida catered to us, never sitting but flitting about while brining in the next course until the coup de gras of Plov! She was so happy. David was awaited and he did arrive after walking back from where the taxi dropped him due to directions lost in translation. He is their English teacher and has been in Khujand almost a year through the embassy. He's a high school teacher in Tacoma.

No one else came to the party, it was clear that she wanted to have an evening with us and with David. Hamida served us cake as mother and grandmother came in for an final appearance. They would come in briefly, both beautifully dressed. Mother looks quite lovely, grandmother is full of smiles. Women of older generations have had some tough times and it shows, the younger ones in general are beautiful. As we started to leave Hamida cried she was so happy and then insisted we go to the back of the apartment and meet the cow, two goats and the chickens! Grandmother came with us and showed us a gazebo with beds on it where she relaxes on hot days in the shade near her animals. Time to go, but we knew we would see Hamida again and maybe the other girls. Sweet little Fatima was still ill. It was a nice evening, long for some as some foreign exposure issues were taking effect (food problems not too bad here, but it happens).

Next post - what David and Phillip from Mercy Corp say, the good, the bad and the beneath the surface ugly.

Fifth - On the job site

The job site is only 15 minutes van ride from the apartments and our driver is terrific. We follow the main road from town, cross the river, toward the mountains up hill onto dirt roads. And here we are, our work site # 1 is a plot of land with a house under contruction next door. The family are currently living in an apartment, the mother, 5 sons, daughters in law and the children, 18 people in all. They qualify for a Habitat house meaning they will put in the many hours of sweat equity and be able to pay the 0 interest loan.

INTRODUCTION TO THE JOB SITE, SAFETY BRIEFINGS AND THE END OF CLEAN CLOTHES!

We started with a meeting an empty room of the house next door, a room which was our meeting room, dining room, "hide in the shade" room. Mukim was the contractor, a fun guy who has a great sense of humor even though it all came through MMJ's interpretation. Every day we had a safety briefing which consisted of: "Thank you for being here, safety is very important. Be careful. Do not drop a brick on your foot. Do not drop a brick on anyone else's foot. Do not drop a brick on Carol's foot :-)" Then we would sign the paper and off we went to the site. First order of business, meet the homeowner and his brothers where were helping, plus a few friends. MMJ and Farhod were worked continuously as interpreters and helped us off to a good start. First; DIG THE TRENCHES - the soils is dry dirt and rock and as we could gaze to and almost touch the mountains to the northwest, images of the mountains of Afghanistan, a few hundred miles to the south came to mind. So we would dig until - "chink" shovel hits a rock. Some were small enough to get out, but after the first few days we were consistently impressed by the men's ability to get boulders out of the trenches with a rope and manpower. Mike had the good idea of just pouring the concrete around some of them, but they were removed anyway. Thus brothers started consulting Mikey, aka "Ahnold" because he's from California. Smile and jokes started on the first day even though all we did all day long was dig trenches.

I'm frustrated that I've forgotten the homeowner's name, one of his brother's is Osim, tall, great smile. There is a younger brother as well, tall, big shoulders, cutie patootey! The guys were digging and they didn't have gloves. We had 2 bags or red gloves so I started handing them out and the homeowner didn't want a pair, so I tried again thinking something was lost in translation when he showed me a broken blister on his hand. So I went to the first aid kit in my backpack and grabbed a bandaid and with sign language got him to rinse and dry the blister so I could put on the bandaid, then he could wear the gloves! Many, many smiles.

As the days progressed we noticed that the brothers and their friends made progress before 8:30 am and after 4pm when we weren't there...a lot of progress. In the trenches we started putting in wood frames for the concrete. At this point there were a variety of jobs and the reminder that in third world countries things are slower because you work with what you have. 3 shovels (1 broke), several buckets, a water tank, a couple of picks, 3 hoes and some rebar. A rebar grid went into the bottom of the trenches and the brothers pulled in some sheets of metal and put them next to the two large piles of gravel. And so it started, shovel by shovel, bucket by bucket the gravel went onto the metal sheets. When it was about 1 ft high and levelled off we put on 3 bags of cement. Then the water, bucket by bucket when the brothers with a shovel each would start mixing the gravel and the cement powder from the pile while one of us would pour on the water. (No hose available from the tank, there are some great photos of Carol sitting very Zen like on the tank filling buckets for us). Mixing concrete with a shovel is not easy task, each shovel full is heavy. They would fill buckets with the wet concrete and our "bucket brigade' would pass it down to the guy at the end who poured into the frames...alot of concrete, a lot of buckets.

PLOV!

The days flew by, Farhod would always run off to get lunch and the break at mid-day was always welcome and enjoyable. Food usually consisted of meat, lentils, some vegetables after we started requesting, juice and always, every meal, bread. Round, decorated with a "pounder" the bread is something to behold. One day the homeowner said he was supplying lunch and we were treated to a fantastic "Plov" - pilaf, rice, meet and vegetables.
It was fantastic! The brothers and their friends were so kind, they learned more English that I learned of Tajik. My favorite word is "rahmat" (roll the r, gargle the h like a ch - but not like cheese, it's a throaty sound) for thank you. The brothers would come back with "you're very welcome!" A couple of times mama, the wife and the 3 children came to see us.

AN UNLIKELY PAIRING

At the end of each day we had a ritual (at least until the R&R time and a shift in dynamics) of going directly from the site to the little outdoor cafe near the apartments for the best thing ever, ICE CREAM AND BEER! After a hot day of shoveling and digging it was such a great reward. Even though as I would sit in the shade and the dust would "poof" up from my clothes...we truly looked like "Pig Pen" from Peanuts...all of us had an "ahhhh" moment at this time, usually around 4:30pm after the work day ended. It was good while it lasted and the ice cream man loved having us there and asked about us when we stopped the ritual.

Even though we made a lot of progress on this build, the foundation was about 3-4'high and 18" thick to prepare for the brick to be laid upon it, there is so much more to do for their house. Another team will be there in August and when we left it was already getting quite hot, mid-summer would be difficult. The winters are cold though so they need that thick foundation. It could be a year before the house is complete. They were so grateful though. Mama came on the last day and gave us all kisses, hugs and scarves, while the kids were checking us out, so adorable!

Everyone asks why anyone would pay to help someone they don't know build a house while on vacation. And yet the brother's friends were there everyday, helping. They indicated that strangers probably would not have helped and Tajiks probably wouldn't travel to a foreign land to help someone they didn't know build a house. And yet they gave us so much. Feel the culture.

At #2 just down the road, some of our group went to help move brick. This house has progressed beyond foundation to brick wall building and there was a lot of brick to move from piles outside the house to inside the house. The men of that house were jolly, sweet fun as well, different personalities but very happy. A pile of brick can seem infinite, thank Mikey for spontaneous trivia quizes and things to keep our minds active while passing bricks down the line!

Talking with people ; one time we were all shoveling and no one was talking, so I asked MMJ to ask the brothers and their friends what they would want to ask us. So happy that no one is shy about opening dialogue about world events, "global crisis", Obama, religion.

Fourth - Getting to know the area before the work actually begins

Tajikistan and particularly Khujand (which I heard pronounced "hoJHAN") were part of the silk route. A very rich history reaching back centuries into the Persian Empire, Alexander the Great, and farther and farther back to make this place impressively unique and interesting.

History - originally Persian, Islamic, this area became a buffer zone during WWI when Briain was in India. The USSR take over gave the people infrastructure, heat, oil, etc., but many poets and mullahs were killed, Qurans burned and there was little education. Culture was lost and now they are trying with celebrations and education to allow ritual and religion and pride in their culture and history to show and be experienced. Recent history is visible, the breakup of the USSR in the very early 1990's resulted in a civil war in Tajikistan for several reasons, some tribal, some financial, some to do with government. Farhod was a very young boy when the civil war occured and though his eyes things were good under the USSR, they had food, all was provided. During civil war (that lasted about 5 years) people stood in lines all day for bread and sometimes came away empty handed. Much promised support from Russian has yet to be seen, even in the current time. There was also a conflict between Uzbec and Tajikistan and apparently Uzbec was/is the favored child, so when land was divided the prized Samarkand went to Uzbec after the collapse. During the USSR the people of these regions could not exercise their freedom of religion, now that is open to express.

The average wage is about 200 Somoli = $50. Unemployment has increased because many men would work construction jobs in Russia, but those are less available due to the "global crisis" (a term heard in Turkey and in Tajikistan). In the language I could sometime hear though not understand the Russian, and most speak Tajik and Russian.

Farhod hired his friend MahmoudJon to interpret for us. Another sweetheart, MMJ :-) is in his early twenties as well and works for Mercy Corp. He speaks Tajik, Russian, Uzbek and English and was a joy to have around. Both of them were actually as they have an incredible sense of humor and weren't shy about teasing any of us. MMJ is married to a 19yo bride who will have their first child at the end of June, beginning of July. In their culture the baby's name will be selected by the father and the grandfather.

The gentle part of their history includes a pride of poets and scientists. We learned at the museum about Rumi and Sino....Sin, medisin, medicine, the father of medicine.

We spoke at lunch about the bazaars, one for each day of the week such as the car bazaar, the animal bazaar and the daily bazaar (glorious bazaar with a section for spices, a section for nuts, a section for produce, a section for meats....so beautiful to behold from the second floor looking down through the arched ceiling to the main floor). Agriculture in Tajikistan consists mostly of cotton, raisins, almost, apricots and angora (goats). I bought the best tasting roasted pistachios at the markets...loved them!

More culture in the coming days during the build as we meet expats and local students

Third - Entering Tajikistan

3am after a flight on Turkish air that was packed, a little sleep but not much. Off the plane, waiting for baggage and people are filling out...? Something that Jeri and I and others didn't have, that magic very necessary form. How to get one? The room was rather small, a few British men were there as well having the same issue, where is the *&%# form? Others have it! Finally a few more were brought in and as we waited in line to get past immigration I saw the sign:

SANITARY - QUARANTINE

Check Paint

It's just after 3am, how can that not be funny :-). Jeri worked hard at herding her fatigued cats to meet our leader from the local Dushanbe affiliate, Farhod, a very kind, soft spoken young man. They took us to the office and as it was not even 5am and no one was there to greet us, we putzed around, then just found the most comfortable spot and laid down, my favorit was on the floor under the conference room table, last thing seen before sleep: the soles of Steve's shoes on the other side of the table. After the arrival of the staff we had a briefing then took off for a walk, and Farhod took us around the neighborhood and into a market which was just being stocked for opening. Markets are always fantastic, the colors and the aromas, the people. We were getting our first glimpse of "national dress" which is a tunic shaped smock dress over pants. So many women wear the same style, yet the creativity comes out in the fabrics they choose, some very vivid! It must be hot though and scarves are often worn. After lunch it was back to the airport for the flight to Khujand and the job site, our reason for being in this time and place. And where is this place amongst the mountains in central Asia?

http://europe.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&country=TJ&addtohistory=&city=khujand Tucked into central Asia above Afghanistan, to the east and south of Uzbekistan, west of China, south of Kyrgyzstan.

THIS LAND IS GORGEOUS, THE FAN MOUNTAINS RISE UP TO GREET THE PLANE

The plane was OLD...30 or so passenger twin prop and LOUD....but the views, oh my the views. It was a clear day and as we levelled the ground came up to almost meet the belly of the plane in the form of snow covered peaks. Photos just cannot do it justice. As the mountains began to bow away after their elegant presence, the captain came out of the cockpit and went to the back for a beverage. When he tried to get back into the cockpit the door was jammed! He worked and worked at it, then went to the back again, returning this time with a pen knife! This very diminutive captain jimmied the door open with this swiss army type knife. "hope the co-pilot can land this thing alone!" Finally the captain made it back into the cockpit and all was well.

We were met by vans and driven to the Khujand Habitat affiliate, along the way the Russian architecture of several decades ago was very apparent. Some lovely parks, mosques and a theater were the spectacle from my van window seat as I gazed out at the streets so very clean. At the office we saw the layout of the job site. The government had given section "29" the "New Land" for building. There are spaces for about 240 homes and 12 are complete. We were to work on 2 homes in this district each quite close to each other. This build would be a bit different than others as this development is so new no one is there except those building, so there would be little interaction with children, no village feel, too early for roads, gardens etc. On the flip side though, what an honor to be at the ground level of something so important for this area, and imagine a few years from now with more houses built and occupied, a school and some markets what vibrance will come to it. Everything has to start somewhere.

HOME AWAY FROM HOME, APARTMENTS WITH SOVIET ARCHITECTURAL FEEL TO THEM

Our homes for the stay were apartments. In the end quite luxurious! We had TV with over 600 hundred channels and only the BBC that we could find in English. We had AC that sometimes worked, a shower with hot water that worked for me but not for Jeri during the first couple of days. We even had seperate bedrooms in an alcove studio type set-up. It was the dark entrance at night and the 3 flights of stairs that could get a bit creepy, but after we initially saw the dead bolt for the door, we felt quite good about it. First night dinner, get to know each other a bit more and settle in, work begins tomorrow. Farhod picked a restaurant that served a variety of kabob from the stick and in the pot (with a good spicy sauce but not hot), rice and salads. We actually ended up here frequently and acquainted ourselved with a menu that has pictures ( fantastic help when nothing is in English). No other women were in the restaurant except the morning waitresses and sometimes we would sit on an elevated platform on cushions around a draped table. The name of the restaurant is Olive, a short walk from the apartments. Just down the street was an outdoor kabob restaurant which was always hopping and the kabob seemed to be a variety of meats like tongue, some organ meats, lamb and beef. First night in the apartment with the faux wood finish on the door.

Second - Istanbul impressions en route to Tajikistan - with PHOTO LINK

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=x9w0xi8.3xkr7k7g&x=0&y=-i2pcix&localeid=en_US - this is where all of the photos can be found in slideshow.

I shall begin with first a disclaimer, these are my impressions and my opinions of some wonderful places. During meetings with extraordinary people I took notes on their comments and experiences which are much broader than my own. In no way is this a complete story, it is however a diary of shared experiences in a place many have never even heard of: Tajikistan. Great luck that Istanbul was part of the deal, and glorious gateway to our adventure.

FIRST DAY TOGETHER, THE HABITAT EIGHT
Our little building crew of the Habitat for Humanity Eight met in Istanbul for dinner and instantly started laughing and sharing stories. Some had arrived early to explore Istanbul and Turkey while others like our fearless leader, Jeri had arrived that day. The next day was terrific with a guided tour of the Blue Mosque (my favorite), the Hippodrome and the Haja Sofya followed by Topkopi Palace and a carpet shop. One of my many regrets now that I have returned is not buying a silk rug when I had the opportunity. Our guide was fabulous! So patient with us, good English and truly loves what he is presenting. He did not rush us through anything even though we had a flight that night.


Scroll back a bit to the first night in Istanbul, I had my hotel room to myself, arrived about 1 am and about 5am this voice....and what a voice...singing, chanting and engulfing the city! This first time it woke me and yet was calming, allowing for an immediate return to sleep. It would be heard 5 times a day, that wonderful call to prayer...even in the dark the first experience was HEAR the culture.

A GREAT TOUR OF SULTANAMET AND THE HISTORICAL SITES OF THE HIPPODROME, BLUE MOSQUE, HAJA SOFYA AND THE TOPKAPI PALACE
Haja Sofya, first a church, the entire building done in mosaic on the walls and ceilings, each tile about 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch. What dedication. Build in 537 AD it was made of lower Roman columns then red stone brick. Art came later with Christian images of important people, saints and icons of that ilk. After the 13th century it was converted to a mosque (like many religious buildings, think of the Mayans and the Tultecs, and of Angkor which was Buddhist, then Hindu, then Buddhist, then Hindu, each time changing something of the appearance but keeping the structure). All the of mosaic was covered with plaster and repainted with designs as the Muslim faith does not depict people in it's artwork. . Now the building is a museum and can be cherished for it's history spanning both religions and very different times.

A note about tourists: some are fine, some are....living some stereo types! When signs say "no flash" why is it that a few just feel that they are exempt? There is a reason for no flash, to protect the integrity of the artwork and color as long as possible. Sometimes the guards were actually waving the no flash signs in front of people and they would still take a photo with the flash!

The Cat: Many saw when Obama visited Istanbul and the Haja Sofya that he petted "the cat". You will see said cat in the photos, a very calm, quite cross-eyed little fellow. Cats are everywhere in Istanbul, yet the majority seem quite well tended and healthy.

The Hippodrome is quite fascinating as well, what's left of it as it was build originally in the 2nd century and enlarged in the 4th. It was a venue for entertainment, games and at times, executions. The Byzantines and Ottoman eras of the city and the land are worth learning about. Anatolia means: Land where the sun rises.

Our flight (the one per week) to Dushanbe Tajikistan departed at 8:30 that night and landed in Dushanbe at a little after 3am. And so began our journey into a land uncharted by any of us, what a joy it turned out to be!