Tues, 01-Jul-25

Goreth & Roderick's Site

Today was our first full day on site – and everyone was eager to get started. Due to overnight rain we abandoned our bus and had great fun slipping along the mud to the site.

We did our “5,6,7,8” dance to get warmed up which was amazing. We gave it our best shot but we definitely looked silly and very soon all the local kids were laughing along with us. We began our chain of people first, moving stones up the hill to the site. Our tunes were loud, vibes were high and we danced and sang as we worked. It felt amazing helping the community and being a part of this team.

When we stopped for lunch, a funeral procession passed us, and many people were singing. This felt extremely impactful and we were all very interested in hearing what the usual traditions are when a death occurs in their community. We felt upset about the loss of a community member, but seeing the way everyone rallied around this person, singing and celebrating their life was uplifting.

When we arrived back at the site, we were greeted by a huge group of kids aged 2-12. After they watched us break rocks with a sledgehammer (in the most cases unsuccessfully which made them all giggle), we all had a huge mud fight!!! This was possibly the highlight of the day. We never stopped smiling and playing in such a carefree way, laughing with those kids is something we will never forget!! Sometimes the most impactful thing you can do to help is to put a smile on people’s faces. Never underestimate the power of music, dance, laughter and a high fives!

We came back to Berea and got quickly ready for dinner at Blossoms. We all dressed up and it gave us the opportunity to talk to our other team members who were at a different site. We had incredible food (pizza, enchiladas, burgers, steaks and more) and this was a great end to an amazing day!

- Evie Smith

 

Mama Joshua's Site

This morning was an earlier start for breakfast as we had a full day on site. After we filled into the bus and set off to our worksites. When we arrived, we were greeted by the young children. Welcoming all of us and saying hello was wonderful and was so nice for everyone. At the worksites we were all working on mixing concrete for the foundation and moving bricks. Even the children came and joined the supply chain of bricks to assist us. This was quite touching and made me think about how caring and helpful these kids are, seeing them help with the building and offering care for one another.

After our break we played with all the kids, playing with bubbles and gifting bracelets to them. This put a smile on everyone’s face and definitely brought everyone closer. After waving goodbye to the kids we felt a sense of detachment leaving our friends behind. On returning back to Berea we all washed-up and got changed to go for a great dinner at Blossoms café.

Today also held my great, not so great moment of dropping a bucket of water all over myself and I slipped and I am now nicknamed “butterfingers Burt” 

- Lewis Burt

 

Mon, 30-Jun-25

Goreth & Roderick's Site

This morning we visited Dafrosa and her team at TAWREF. We were greeted with their incredible singing and dancing! They shared a presentation with us about their moving work and goals for the year. During this presentation we got a virtual introduction to the beneficiary families that we would be building houses for. It was so emotional to hear of their living conditions and their past, and this made us very eager to begin building!

After spending a fair few pennies on souvenirs at the TAWREF charity shop we split into our two groups and headed to the worksites.

When we first met the family it was apparent that the community were so supportive of them. We met Goreth (12), and Roderick (18), who were both very positive.We quickly got to know the fundis (local construction workers), and worked really well as a team, as we began laying the foundations of the houses. The vibes were high, and there was lots of singing and dancing from the community!

We then made our way back to Berea and enjoyed a quiz hosted by Finlay and it was great fun.

Highlight of the day!! Mr Mclurg sprayed DEET in his eye and then proceeded to scream and undertake a lengthy procedure to clean his eye out!!!!

- Iona Scott

 

Mama Joshua's Site

In the morning we departed early to go to the TAWREF building. As we headed off the bus, we were greeted with a warm welcome by the team, who sang to us as a sign of gratitude. It was very nice to feel like we were appreciated and they made it clear that they were happy we had come all this way. When we were all settled, Dafrosa took us through a presentation explaining to us the aims and a little bit of what the team do.

We all climbed back onto the bus, where the group separated to their respective worksites. After the bus climbed to the top of the hill (using the bumpiest road I have ever been on!), we arrived at the site where we were welcomed by the children, the fundis and the family who we were working with. We got a tour of the current home and listened to Flor tell us about her life. Her strength to keep going and smiling in challenging times is very courageous. It filled me with motivation, as I knew the faster we went the quicker the family would have a new home.

After a quick safety brief and a tutorial on how to use the pickaxes safely, we split up into two teams to help dig the foundations. Myself who was in the pickaxing team had to break up the surface soil for the shovelling team to scoop the now loose soil into the middle. As I got to work I quickly realised that I had disturbed a black ants nest. Luckily Elly dealt with them quickly and we were all okay!

When we finished up with laying the foundations, we said goodbye to the kids then headed back onto the bus to Berea.

- Nathan Laing

 

Sun, 29-Jun-25

Our first day started off with a tour around the market by Elly and his team. In the market, we felt a bit out of place but were made to feel welcome with lots of “Jambo’s” and “Mambos” (greetings) from the market sellers! It was surreal and so different to how we live in Scotland, the fruit and veg looked so fresh! The tour continued through Moshi town and ended at the train station with a local man sharing his knowledge about the history of the train and the area!

After a delicious hot lunch at Berea, we then drove to the village of Marangu to learn more about Chagga culture and visit the local waterfall! We were given a tour and lesson on the culture of the area by our amazing guides Edward and Elly. We learnt that when girls turn 16, they get gifted a beaded anklet and other cultural practises of the Chagga tribe. The waterfalls were amazing!

On the way back, we had to make a detour off the road as traffic was stopped for a very important parade, with the torch that signifies Tanzania’s Independence traveling through the area, which only happens once a year! There was lots of celebration and singing from the passing parade.

 

Sat, 28-Jun-25

We arrived in Tanzania at 8pm local time after a very long and tiring journey from Inverness which started at 4:15am, BST. It hadn’t sunk in that by the end of the day, we would be in Tanzania. We started with a short flight from Inverness to Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam. After we got off the plane, we were told we had an hour to make it across the humongous airport, thankfully we made it in time! We had so much time to spare, that we stopped to enjoy watching the giant fish tank in the middle of the gates. Then it was time to board the aeroplane that we would be in for the next 8 hours. However, time passed quickly as we had TV screens on the flight and there were great vibes. We were even laughing at a teacher crying at a movie (Gladiators 2).