Day 14
Today it was me on the thought for the day as I brought a number of things together, looking at the difference we made here and how we can embed that in life as we go from here. Breakfast and off to Lifelines. We played the boys at football and had to be very careful as the pitch was full of holes and motorbikes and cars regularly came through the pitch. Great fun and we swapped team members in and out. I missed an open goal as the ball hit the ground and bounced sideways – my excuse.
Then the lads tried on their new Man City kit one of the team had brought and sand and danced with us for a while. Very uplifting. They expressed their thanks for our help. It was all very meaningful and in truth what this team has achieved is just outstanding. We toured the compound – the boarding home fully painted, the walls up on the vocational training centre, over 400 blocks made and that is the doing. The being in their midst, the relationships and inspiring people will remain for ever in the hearts of each team member.
Then back to discuss the building proposals with the men and their builder. The reason the quote was so high was that they had put in a double story set of shops and the builder had put in a ramp that would do any multi- story car park proud. This was just great having Turleys here as their expertise is site planning. We talked how the residential would interact with the commercial and came up with a plan they felt was right. Unfortunately someone had built a load of foundations, but not put any steel in so will have to be re-done, what a waste of key resource. At the end the men were almost in tears noting how nobody had listened to them before and how much they appreciated us taking time to understand their priorities and also to get them to plan for their commercial income to go in to building the facilities and maintenance as that made them feel so much more part of the effort.
Said goodbye and then back to the hotel to freshen up and lunch then over to town, the tourist market and town. After practicing bartering skills in the market, several came back with excellent mementos – I remember once, someone bringing a monster eagle and snake carving and how he got it hope remains amazing to this day. We then headed to the Lumley where we had drinks and debriefed. It was great as each individual shared some of their experience, viewpoint and heart. There is a song that says “I will never be the same again” going round in my mind. We have each person an individual certificate with photos of themselves through the week as a token of our appreciation. A lady sells us some groundnuts; a few others bring their necklaces. Then the 50 minute ride back to our hotel. Everyone loaded up the car with all the things they wanted to leave, dirty clothes, pairs of shoes for people, toiletries and money! And so to bed