Newsletter #2

Hi Team!

Here's an update on all things GV10433.

First, the obligatory reminders section:

1) Flight info: Most of you have already sent us your flight info, but for those that haven't please do this. Habitat would like us to collect the flight info for all team members -- so even for those that will not require airport transportation (because you arriving before the trip and/or leaving after the trip), please send us your flight info.

2) Payment: If you have not paid in full yet and have not been in touch with us about your payment schedule, please call or email us as soon as possible. Habitat Home Office has been gracious in granting us extended time, but they are starting to get serious about us finalizing the roster and having all team members paid in full.

3) Bios: We have bios from most but there are a few stragglers out there as well as some recent additions to the team - please post or email us a bio (photo optional).

4) Shots and pills: This will be our last reminder that it is everyone's individual responsibility to speak to their doctor and get whatever immunizations/prophylaxis they need/desire for the trip. See previous emails and newsletter #1 for more details.

5) Passports: Hopefully everyone has taken care of this by now...

-------------------------------------------------------------

New request - Copy of Passport Photo Pages

We were lying when we said earlier that if you took care of everything above that the only thing you had left to do was pack. There will be a few little things here and there, like this:

Habitat requires that you all get a copy of your passport photo page both to the Habitat GV office and to the team leaders. You should also make a copy to keep with you during your travels.

You can do this by either mailing, faxing or scanning/emailing your passport photo page.

J.B. / Susanna Emails: you have them already because we've sent out about 20 emails in the last few weeks
J.B. / Susanna Mailing Address: 2329 Englewood Ave, Durham, NC, 27705
J.B. / Susanna Fax #: (888) 742-3465 (This is Susanna's work fax)

Habitat Email: gvteam@habitat.org
Habitat Mailing Address: Demetria Brown, Habitat for Humanity International, Global Village program, PO Box 369, Americus, GA, 31709
Habitat Fax #: (267) 295-8714

Thanks for taking care of this!

-----------------------------------------------------------
Itinerary Change

After much discussion with our hosts in Thailand, it has become clear that we will not be able to do any building from Tue Apr 13 to Thu Apr 15 because of the Songkran Festival. Our host compared it Christmas in U.S. and said basically that NO ONE will be working at that time (including Habitat staff).

As a result we have decided that the team will return to Bangkok on Tuesday April 13 after we complete building (including home dedication and farewell party) on Monday April 12. Our reasons for doing this:

1) As we will be without the assistance of Habitat Thailand staff it will be easier for us to navigate/communicate/etc in the large international city of Bangkok than in Udon Thani.
2) We are not sure that there are enough recreational/cultural activities to fill up the three days of Songkran if we stay in Udon Thani -- additional travel to other parts of Thailand is not feasible from both a cost and logistics perspective.
3) Our reading tells us that the best places to be for the Songkran Festival are either Bangkok or Chang Mei. Plus, Bangkok has a wealth of places to visit (both cultural and recreational).

We hope that our early return to Bangkok will allow the team some extended R+R time after more than a week of hard work. We still plan on providing for accommodations and meals during this time, in addition to paying for as many cultural activities as possible (depending on our final budgeting). Everyone will also certainly have free time during these days to pursue site/activites of personal interest. We will update you with more details on our options for these days in Bangkok in a few weeks.

Thanks to the team in advance for understanding this change of plans. We had hoped to build for a few more days, but that just is not possible.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Our Accomodations

So we are about 95% sure where we will be staying and we would like to relay that info to the team (95% because we have selected the hotels and given our roster and dates to the Habitat staff in Thailand -- they make the reservations and we haven't gotten confirmation this is done yet). We will let you know ASAP if we hear that the following is going to change.

In Bangkok:
Sukhunvit 11 Hostel
website: www.hisukhumvit/firstpage/index.php
dates:
Arrive Sat Apr 3; Depart Sun Apr 4
Arrive Tue Apr 13; Depart Sat Apr 17

In Udon Thani:
Karin Hotel
website: none that I could find
dates:
Arrive Sun Apr 4; Depart Tue Apr 13

Feel free to check these places out online. They are the accommodations that were recommended to us by Habitat Thailand, and past teams have been happy with them. They certainly are not luxury accommodations but they should work very nicely for our team.

For those arriving in Bangkok before April 3rd, feel free to reserve a room at the Sukhunvit Hostel -- we can't guarantee that you won't have to change rooms on April 3rd but at least you won't have to change locations.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Bio: Stephanie Novick

Hi Team! I am super excited about our adventure to Thailand and to meet all of you. Here's a little bit about me, please feel free to ask me any questions stephanie.novick@gmail.com... see you soon! I have lived all over the place (Bonton Beach, FL, Wilmington, DE, Philadelphia, PA, Long Island, NY, Misc. NJ) and absolutely love to travel. In the past few years I have been to India, Israel, Greece, France, Holland, and Scotland-- my favorite country is Greece for sure! I have always had a passion for community action work, I worked with Habitat when I lived in Philly. A few months ago I figured why not combine my love for travel and service work? So ta-da, thank you John and Susanna for organizing this wonderful trip to Udan Thani! While in Thailand I'll be leaving behind my job (only for two weeks, no worries!) as an account executive for a digital creative services company, and some of my hobbies like working out, sewing, and spending time with friends. I also LOVE to eat. I will try anything, I can't wait to get my hands on authentic Thai food :)

Bio Russ Steiner

Let me see where do i begin? I was born and raised in Ohio. Only child and my parents divorced when i was three. Grew up near Dayton Ohio and started working while in high school. I was drafted into the Army and spent two years in Germany. After getting a discharge (honorable) :) I started at the University of Dayton, going during the day time and working at night. Graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering and started to work in Columbus Ohio. Got married and had seven children (two adopted). After three years of engineering work, I decided to go to law school and worked during the day and went to law school at night. Graduated from law school and two years later , quit my engineering job and joined a law firm. Eventually gravitated to a partnership with another attorney in Newark Ohio. Handled everything from Criminal cases (including aggravated murder) to zoning appeals. Ran for a judgeship and won and was a judge for 25 years. Separated from my wife in 1994 and divorced in 2002. Married a second time but divorced in 2006 (she said i had too many friends and too many activities) Retired in 2008. I saw the movie "The Bucket List" and decided to start doing the same thing. So i have been traveling since retirement (China 3 times; Philipines, Costa Rica, Aruba, Europe) and in 2008, I drove a race car 150 mph. I read about HFH and thought it would be a perfect way to not only travel but contribute and volunteer so that is why you will see me in Bangkok on April 3rd

Bio: Peter Harris

My name is Peter Harris. I grew up and live in Hamilton Ontario Canada. I’m a 3^rd year Economics and Global studies student. I heard about Habitat for Humanity through the global studies program and have heard only good things. Recently, I’ve got pretty sick of doing school work, so I wanted a complete change of scenery. I’m no stranger to traveling. My dad’s side of the family is from England, and I’ve traveled to Australia, Hawaii, Cuba, France, Spain, driven across Canada (BC to PEI) and a few states. I’m a huge lover of the outdoors; I used to work as a camp counselor in northern Canada and I’ve been on numerous canoe trips; camping out and portaging around the lakes. I also work as a gardener at the Royal Botanical Gardens (Hamilton) in the summer. This would be my first trip to Thailand and I’m very excited to experience southeast Asia. I can’t wait to see what it’s like building houses and to meet everyone. See you in April!

Songkran in Bangkok

I was fortunate enough to experience Songkran in Bangkok two years ago. I can only describe it as a crazy but addictive time for those that are young at heart. Prepare to get wet and potentially covered with flour as well. Maybe Udon Thani is quieter than Bangkok but probably not a lot drier! It will be welcome relief from the heat and humidity that we will all experience and be happy to leave behind us on our return home. Please excuse the formatting of this blog - I'm learning as I go..........

Newsletter #1

As promised, an update on all things GV#10433...

First a few reminders:

1) Payment: Full payment or a request for a deferral were due yesterday. Thanks to those who have taken care of this. If you haven't done either please get in touch with us ASAP and let us know what your plan is.

2) Airplane: Book your flights! Send us your flight info for your flights coming into and leaving from Bangkok if you would like us to coordinate travel to/from airport for you on April 3 and April 17.

3) Passport: Hope everyone has taken care of this by now. Note that your passport needs to be valid for 6 months beyond the travel date.

4) Travel After Habitat: Those interested in traveling to the beaches of Phuket for a few days with Duncan, Susanna, J.B. and possibly other team members yet to be determined should email Duncan right now (drrussell525@gmail.com) -- last call to be involved in these plans!

5) Shots and Pills: Everyone should be thinking about what immunizations (including possibly Malaria prophylaxis) they want/need for the trip and make plans to see their doctors soon if need be. Once again CDC recs are here: http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/Thailand.aspx

6) Bios: Thanks to all who have submitted bios. If you haven't please write one whenever you get the chance and either email them to us or post them yourself (you should have all received invitation to be co-authors of this blog which allows you to make your own posts and write comments about existing posts -- so blog away!).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And now for some new info!

Unfortunately we don't have quite as many details at this time to share with you as we would have liked to... Communication can be slow at times, but we are in the process of confirming our reservations for lodging in Bangkok and Udon Thani. We will forward those locations as soon as we can. But we can offer you a peek at our tentative itinerary which I just received from Habitat Thailand (?s are things we need to clarify with our local coordinator).

Tentative Itinerary

April 3 (Sat) - Arrival in Bangkok; Team dinner and hotel room provided
April 4 (Sun) - Travel to Udon Thani by plane; details to follow
April 5 (Mon) - WORK DAY; AM visit to a completed Habitat house; Welcome dinner with local staff ~6:30pm
April 6 (Tue) - WORK DAY
April 7 (Wed) - WORK DAY
April 8 (Thu) - AM Visit to Sarnelli House (home for HIV-infected and abandoned children, http://www.sarnelli.org/pages/sarnelli.htm?sp=en); Work in afternoon?
April 9 (Fri) - WORK DAY
April 10 (Sat) - WORK DAY
April 11 (Sun) - Free day! (Sleep in, possible R+R/cultural activities?)
April 12 (Mon) - WORK DAY; 1pm House Dedication; 6:30pm Farewell party with homeowners and local Habitat staff
April 13 (Tue) thru April 15 (Thu) - Songkran Festival (Thai New Year): Our local coordinator in Udon Thani is still working on our plan for these days; it will be difficult to work a normal schedule so these days will hopefully consist of some work in addition to a R+R/cultural program; more to follow..
April 16 (Fri) - AM Flight back to Bangkok; PM Free Time in Bangkok; Final team dinner and hotel room provided
April 17 (Sat) - Departure from Bangkok

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Typical Work Day

7:30 am - Breakfast
8:30 am - Leave hotel
9:00 am - Arrive at construction site; Begin work
10:50 - 11:00 am - Break
12:00 am - 1 pm - Lunch
2:30 pm - 2:45 pm - Break
4:30 pm - Clean up work site
5:00 pm - Leave work site
5:30 pm - Arrive back at hotel
TBD - Daily team meeting
TBD - Dinner as a team
Evening - Free time

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What is the Songkran Festival?

This is the Thai New Year, where traditional religious activities are held in the morning and involve showing respect to elders and sacred temple images by sprinkling water on them. Apparently in some (many?) parts of the country (Chiang Mai and Bangkok especially from what we've read) this devolves into huge water fights later in the day. For more about Songkran check out:

http://roujakthai.blogspot.com/2009/04/songkran-festival-history.html (a fairly useful looking site in general; poke around if you have time/interest)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songkran

http://www.thailandlife.com/songkran/index.php (another cool looking site)

So this should be an amazing time to be in the country. Everybody be ready to get wet!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As always, feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns; alternatively feel free to post questions or comments to the blog in the "comments" section and we can address them for the entire group.

Cheers, J.B. and Susanna

Bio: Angela Shih

My name is Angela Shih and I was born in Canada and raised in different states in the US. I'm a Californian at heart, and currently living in Hong Kong, where I moved here 2 years ago. I have two large dogs and love hiking, running, and biking. I'm excited about joining Habitat, as I wanted to do this a couple years ago, however did not have time with my move to Hong Kong. I look forward to this journey and can't wait for April to come!

Bio: Rebecca Davidson

Rebecca is a recent post-secondary graduate who has decided to take some time off before completing a Masterʼs degree. Upon graduation she returned to Alberta where she works at Designworks Architecture, specializing in sustainable design. She decided she was tired of sitting behind the computer screen and wanted to get out and build something for someone needing a hand up. This trip is the beginning of a two month tour of Asia where she plans to hike The Great Wall and hopefully improve her Mandarin!

Bio: Nicole Wilks

Hi! I'm Nicole Wilks and a Psychology major/Criminal Justice minor at SIUE. I
plan on attending graduate school for psychology but am interested in trying to
incorporate volunteering into my life. I was raised in Edwardsville, Illinois
and have always wanted to participate in Habitat for Humanity. This is going to
be my first trip with Habitat and my first trip outside of the country (other
than neighboring countries of Canada and Mexico) I am excited to meet all of
you, and counting down the days! Hope to talk to all of you soon!

Bio: Erica Runge

Hey all! My name is Erica Runge. I grew up in the small town of Millerton NY. I moved to Carrboro NC about 3 years ago. I was born on the 9th day of April in the year 1985. The 25th anniversary of that day is right in the middle of our trip to Thailand. Get ready to celebrate! I have an older brother and a younger sister. My brother lives in Chapel Hill NC and owns and operates a restaurant. My sister, mom and dad all sitll live in NY. They visit NC often and will probably make the move when they retire, or, in my sister's case when she finishes school. I have been to 5 different schools and changed my major numerous times. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up, so for now I work at a bike shop and at my brother's restaurant. I enjoy riding my bike. I'm toying with the idea of riding from NY to NC with my cousin and sister some time in early summer. I've done a little bit of traveling to Europe and the Caribbean. I will be in Taiwan the months prior to and after our trip. I'm a Habitat newbie. I'm very excited about our trip and do not know what to expect (besides a lot of hard work and some awesome folks of course).

Bio: David Bayliss

Being a 49 year old male and having had over 25 years of full time employment in New Zealand’s food industry as a food technologist, I am now taking a well earned break. I spent my early years on a sheep farm and migrated to city life (Auckland) after completing university studies. Being happily married (to Fiona) for 26 years, and father to 3 sons (still at home), I have been released for a 10 week South East Asian experience. My most recent employment took me annually to Thailand (as well as other countries) to work with seafood suppliers. This allowed me to experience new cultures and degrees of poverty that we do not see in New Zealand. My aims for being involved with this project are to help improve the lives of local people (in a small way) and enjoy the company of being part of a team to achieve this. These aims are supported by my Christian faith and the recognition that there is more to life than earning money and that many people have greater needs than I have. I have been fortunate enough to have travelled to USA/Canada (8weeks), Europe (5 weeks), Australia (5 weeks), Thailand/Vietnam/China (4 weeks) and all around New Zealand. I look forward to meeting and working with the rest of the team and having fun during the Songkran season in Thailand!!

Bio: Yas Dannawy

I very much look forward to meeting this GV team having had an awesome time building in Alaska a couple of years ago. I am a multinational who considers myself more Canadian than my British passport belies. I can speak my native Arabic and a spot of french! I teach 16-19 years olds to be mature adults (with limited success at the best of times!) before I send them out to the world of university…Seriously I lead a large sixth form of 250 students prepping them for university life as well as teach Psychology. I love life in Dubai as it is sunny every day and I get to run a family business that keeps me grounded and not away with the magnificent and ridiculous high life that people can get lost in here! I love to travel and participating in sports as high impact as polo to my wonderful serene Yoga sessions! I am a seriously hard worker who loved the thrill of framing a wall in my last Habitat home and can’t wait for the adventure of this Easter break. A photo of my power tool skills attached!!!

Bio: Julien Prodhomme

Hi everyone !

Name’s Julien and come from Paris , France .

I was born in South Korea , was adopted by a French family, grew up in western France and as many students ended in Paris to get a job.

I already know Angela (Ang, hope you did write your bio!) and when she told me: hey! I’m gonna be part of a great experience in Thailand , wanna join? Well, I told myself why not?

I don’t know much about construction but it’ll feel great to do something usefull during holidays.

What do I expect from this travel? As John wrote, we are an extremely diverse group and I think it’ll be a great opportunity to meet new people in a very different (from what I’m used to) context. I hope I’ll learn a lot about Thai culture and from you guys! This will also be nice spending two weeks with a free mind: no cell phone, no bills, no strikes (I live in France remember?), no emails (ok, maybe one to mom to let her know I’m good)…

I’ve no previous habitat experiences but studies, holidays, business and humanitarian missions made me travel a lot: USA , Canada , Lebanon , Egypt , China , HK, Thailand , Taiwan and a lot of European countries.

Life occupations! I sing and dance (and suck at both!), I like random walking (get lost most of the time), listening to music everywhere, skiing, adrenaline shots (skydive, rollercoaster, canyoning…), I like travelling and avoid “what you do not want to miss” because crowded and overrated and mostly, I like meeting new people again and again!

Bio: Susanna Birdsong

Hi all! My name's Susanna Birdsong and I'm co-leading this trip with J.B. I cannot tell you how excited we are for this adventure! I used to work for Habitat International, and I have to say my favorite part about the work always involved getting out on build sites with the partner families and other volunteers. I'm really looking forward to experiencing that again in Thailand. I now work for a homeless policy organization in Raleigh, NC, but stay involved with Habitat in my community and through Global Village. When I'm not working I love to bike around town, play with our dog Sadie, garden in a tiny plot in my tiny backyard and make plans for the next adventure (I've been dreaming about this Habitat trip since about mid-2008). I'm so glad it's finally happening, and so glad I get to share it with all of you!

Bio : Duncan Russell

Hello everyone this is Duncan Russell from Davidson, NC. I am a semi-retired business executive and though I have been a H4H volunteer in the past this will be my first GV build trip.

I have traveled on business throughout the world for over 30 years; been to SE Asia many times but never to Thailand. I am eager to learn about the country first hand and to make an important contribution along with you to improving the life of a Thai family. It will also be a pleasure to meet new people and share our stories. This is a learning laboratory that cannot be found anywhere else on earth. Give and we will all get back more than we can imagine.

For those who may wish to come along Susanna, JB and I are going to Phuket (pronounced Poo-get) on Saturday April 17 for a 4 day stay. I am researching accommodations and have some nice villas that can support from 4-8 people. If interested please blog back asap because time is getting short for reservations...I want to get a reservation by Feb 20 latest. FYI - we will stay away from Patong ( tourists and drunken college students) probably towards the north at Bao Tang or Laguna Bay based on my research. If anyone has stayed in Phuket and has good info please pass it along.

best regards to all,

Duncan

Bio: J.B. Lykes

Hi. I'm J.B. Lykes (not John, although I know that's what my email address says). My wife Susanna and I are co-leading this trip to Thailand and we are so excited to meet everyone!

We led a GV trip to Guatemala in the Summer 2008 (the picture here is me at the build site), which was an amazing experience.

Susanna and I live in Durham, North Carolina. I am currently in my last year of medical school at UNC. After graduation this May I will be starting a residency in Pediatrics. I find out where we will be headed on March 18, but we are hoping for Washington DC (other contenders include Baltimore, Boston, and North Carolina).

I participate in the GV program because I love meeting new people, traveling to new places, and getting dirty while working outside. This is possibly my last trip for quite some time so I hope to make it one for the ages!

Welcome

Hello to GV Team 10344!

At this site we will be posting our "newsletters" with important information about the trip, as well as team member bios and other fun stuff.

Please feel free to post your own bios.

For those that still need to pay for their trip, the website again is:
https://www.habitat.org/cd/giving/donate.aspx?link=2

Enjoy...