The LYIT team arrived back in Ireland safe and sound and all had a really amazing time. It was a marvellous experience and very enjoyable. They met wonderful people who made the team feel very welcome indeed. It really is a beautiful country and the people are simply so warm and hard working.

The team spent the past two weeks in an area called Mulanje in South-West Malawi. This project is part of the Global Village initiative with Habitat for Humanity Ireland which provides support and housing for orphaned and vulnerable children.

Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit making, non-denominational Christian housing organisation that works in partnership with families in need of shelter, to build simple decent homes. Life expectancy in Malawi is only 50 years of age and to date over one million children have been orphaned with more than half of these by AIDS. An estimated four out of five families in Malawi are living in sub-standard structures, with little hope of ever being able to afford a decent house. Conditions in these dwellings are often unhealthy, serving as hosts to life-threatening diseases.

The long term benefits of families in Malawi having their own decent accommodation are immense as they have a greater opportunity in relation to education, improved health and long term employment.

This area of Malawi in one of great poverty, with many families living in a one-roomed house and with no electricity, running water or sanitation. The family who benefited from the new house would often have to stand against the walls at night to keep dry; such were the conditions of the existing house. The family consists of a grandmother and her two grandchildren who have been orphaned due to AIDS.

The team from the LYIT were amazed and sometimes shocked by the sights that met them in Malawi which included the vast numbers living in poverty, many walking barefoot, the children with torn clothing, mothers or carers washing young children at the roadside and washing clothes in streams and rivers. This country appears so underdeveloped and appears a million miles from life in the Western world.

The team was also overcome by the welcome given to them by the locals and the happiness shown on the faces of the children. It truly was a humbling experience.

Days on the site consisted of assisting the local builders-carrying blocks, sand and water, mixing mortar, building the house and scaffolding and plastering the house. The local women were present daily on the site and the team assisted them in cooking and preparing traditional Malawian meals.

All the cooking was performed outside and it is amazing how resourceful these women are with very little equipment or supplies. The children in the villages were also ever present and were so excited to see the visitors and to play games with the team.