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14 - The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday January 27, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com Heading to Africa on March Break to help By David Lea SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER While building homes for strangers is not most people's idea of a fun March Break, one Oakville teen is actually paying for the privilege. Sean Walsh, 16, is preparing for his second trip to Palabana, a small village of 300 about 45 kilometres outside the capital of Zambia. With no running water or electricity, Palabana does not seem like an ideal vacation spot, but that's not what Walsh is looking for. The purpose of his visit is building homes for the village's residents on behalf of the aid agency Habitat for Humanity. "This year we've got so many people that we've got two groups, so we're getting to build two houses," said Walsh. Walsh is one of 16 students and four staff from Mentor College of Mississauga making the trip to the African nation. Last year, Walsh's group erected one house in the village and although this may not seem like much in Canada, in Palabana it was an extraordinary gift. "It would have taken them a year at least to build the house," said Walsh. This year's project is much more ambitious. "For the first week one of the groups will build the house and the other group will be in the school. We're going to be helping out with teaching and tutoring." At the beginning of the second week the two groups will switch with the builders of the first house moving to tutoring while those in the school will build the second house. Walsh's group will provide the materials and manpower for the construction, just as it did before. Scott Cowle, Walsh's teacher, was overwhelmed by the lengths the villagers went to in order to welcome his group last year. "Beside the paths is six-to-eightfoot-tall grass and the villagers will cut back that grass along kilometres of pathway for us just to make sure we're safe from spiders or snakes," he said. Cowle says this is an amazing feat as many of the villagers are suffering from malnutrition, with many eating only one meal a day. "The poverty is very apparent," said Cowle. Besides building houses, Walsh's group will attempt to alleviate some of the poverty with a $600 donation to an orphanage in Lusaka, Zambia's capital. A donation of $8,000 will also be made to Palabana basic school. "We try to do as much as we can to help their economy, so the sup- LIESA KORTMANN / OAKVILLE BEAVER ZAMBIA BOUND: Sean Walsh, pictured with his dad, Ron, a map and a staff purchased the last time he went to Zambia, is headed back to Zambia for March Break. He'll build homes in a village for Habitat for Humanity. plies that we use to build the houses are bought locally," said Cowle. The food the group will eat while there will also be purchased from the village. The endeavor is not completely free of risk. Walsh and his classmates have to take precautions against mosquitoes infected with disease. "You've got to have long-sleeved shirts because when you're working over there, even though it's extremely hot, you don't want to get bitten because of the risk of malaria," he said. Venomous snakes also make their homes in the tall grass around the village. Last year members of Walsh's group had a close call with one while building the house. "I didn't see it myself, but apparently there was a black mamba snake when they were digging the pit for the outhouse," said Walsh. "You get bitten, then you die within a couple seconds." Despite the dangers Walsh was willing to pay the $4,000 fee to take part in this year's adventure, asking for money and equipment for his trip instead of Christmas and birthday presents. "My grandma really liked the idea of me doing it so she gave me about $500 and then my whole summer was saving for it," he said. For Walsh the reason for doing all this is simple. "It's fun to help out," he said. "To help out around the world is just something I've always wanted to do, just to know I'm making a difference, actually going there and doing something and then seeing the reaction on their faces when they see the built house." While initially very apprehensive about their son's travel plans Walsh's family is more accepting this second time around. "He's just a caring individual," said Ron Walsh, Sean's father. 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