Meeting #2, houses we will build

I had my second meeting of the weekend, this one more specific to the trips and not the whole ministry that we will be serving. I learned a little more info about the houses we will build and where we will stay while we are there. The goal of the ministry is to build the houses on land owned either by a church or a non-profit organization. The houses will be built in a circle, with a kind of courtyard in the center. Since a lot of households are child led, meaning there is no adult present, most likely do to their death from AIDS, the hope is to have one of the houses be for a "mother" and she will then help lead any child led houses. Not all of the houses will be occupied by child led families, some might actually be full families, but the circle will help if need be. It sounds like a great plan, but it really is untested since the houses we build will be the first the ministry has done. Their hope is that, in the future, they will be doing a lot more houses. From the sounds of it, the housing situation is a lot like Juarez, where the homes are really shacks. The houses we build will be a major step up, although not luxury. I was really impressed with the thought they have put into the plan, the houses themselves and the dedication of the team to branch the ministry into housing, while still working the medical side.



I also found out a little about the trip its self. Sounds like we will fly into Johannesburg, spend the night, then drive to the game lodge (I think they said it is 2 1/2 hours north), where we will spend the rest of the trip. We stay at the lodge and drive 1/2 hour each morning to the work site. The last 2 days we spend in the park with the ability to take pictures or go on a hunt. Seeing as how I don't hunt, I'll do the pictures. Since I'm horrible at photography, I'm sure my pictures will look like one of my kids did it, but oh well. Tonight, I'm filling out my forms and writing my non-refundable deposit check. Pray that everything else works out.