24th March - From Dean

We started with a call to breakfast at 05.30 !! The sun is up at 06.00 so we need to make the most of the light ! After meeting up with the rest of the team we headed off for our first day at the Orphanage. At 08.00 after dodging a few cows and chickens up the dirt track that is the road to civilization, we arrived!! To be honest, I thought at first we may have bitten off more than we could handle; there was a literal jungle where the 'jungle gyms' (kids play park equipment) was to go and a mountain of flat pack kitchens to assemble. And on top of that a path to start to dig and mark out and it was HOT !! But everyone just dived in and set to work.

I think I was on only my second kitchen unit when i thought that there must be a tap left on in my head as there was a stream of water pouring off me!! We have not one but three kitchens to set up, so most of the day was spent just building all the units! meanwhile outside the rest of the team were tearing at the jungle space with their bare hands and any sharp implement they could get their hands on to clear the site! It was amazing, within few hours they had a level site cleared down to the bare earth and were sinking holes for the gym poles. The photo's will hopefully speak more than my feeble words.

We have made massive inroads on our first day, so I am more than confident that we can achieve all our aims, these people just make it happen. I am already proud to be part of such a dedicated team of individuals who have come 5000 miles to make such a difference in such a short space of time.

Its 10pm now and we have another Early start tomorrow so I am off to keep Stuart awake all night with my snoring, so he may write in a moody fashion tomorrow !!!