The last time I saw Forth Hope, she was departing Rosyth for her epic voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. It was a truly special moment when I caught my first glimpse of her on the Puinahua river as we approached after 3 hours in the speedboat. The contrast of this modern vessel and the surrounding area she serves is striking; she is unique, unlike anything else we saw on the river. Upon boarding you soon realise there is even more to her than meets the eye. The ingenious design of the interiors helps her feel as though she is a…

As the Babcock team return to work and slowly adjust to the rather drastic change in temperature, our team members are able to begin to reflect on the incredible experience they lived together for two weeks in Tanzania. The last days in Moshi were a whirl-wind of early mornings, safari drives, rare animal sightings and emotional goodbyes. It started with a 6am departure towards Ngorongoro Crater. The team were taken aback by the spectacular views as we reached the top of the crater basin, made even more atmoshpheric by the sheet of rain that was quickly moving across the plain as…

The team experienced some heavy rains towards the end of the week and through the weekend, which was an exciting and, at times, muddy experience! On Thursday, after some rain showers over night, the teams headed towards the worksites as usual. The small team who were working on Mama Esteria's site found themselves stuck in thick mud on the windy dirt track to the worksite. After some handy use of rocks and lots of pushing, we managed to get the van out and make it down to the worksite warmed up and ready to get to work.  The team spent…

The team have been busy on the worksites as the houses begin to take shape into homes. On Mama Valentina's site, the team arrived on Tuesday, our second day on the worksites, to find the foundations ready to line with rocks and move on to the next stage of the foundations. View of Mount Kilimanjaro on the way to Mama Valentina's site Mama Valentina and her 6 children used to live in a rented house before her husband passed away three years ago. Unable to pay the rent, the family found themselves homeless. A friend kindly opened up their home to provide them…

Our team of volunteers from Babcock International, the first to participate in the Babcock - Vine Trust Volunteering Partnership, landed at Kilimanjaro airport on Saturday evening, tired but estatic to have finally arrived. The team of twenty-six will spend the next 2 weeks supporting local builders in the construction of new homes, and a new life, for 3 families in the Moshi area.  After a quick dinner at our hostel, the team headed to bed, excited to start their adventure. Sunday began with a traditional Tanzanian breakfast of chapati pancakes, egg and plantain bananas. The team then took a stroll around…

The October General Home-Building Expedition team had a busy weekend last week, with an early start to Saturday morning as they continued to work in two separate groups between the homes of Samwel and twins Nora and Dora.  The group at Samwel's site spent the day collecting water for cement mixing,mixing cement and passing buckets of cement to the fundis along with bricks, bricks and more bricks!  The team at Nora and Dora's home started their day by passing buckets of soil to level the foundations in the rooms and then moved on to lift and pass heavy bricks close to the home…