Kate Mayer & Paul Nutting

58 of our family members and friends raised $3295 for the Vietnam Habitat for Humanity Big Build project. This result is so exciting! Paul and I are very grateful for the support and just thrilled that so many people deemed this a worthy cause. We promise to do you proud while in Vietnam and bring back stories to share about the difference your contributions are making via Habitat projects. Wahoo!

Our flights are booked! That's always an exciting milestone :) We depart MSP on Sept 29 and will land in Hanoi the next night. After spending the weekend in Hanoi getting to know the others on our team, we'll work at the build site Monday through Friday. After we're done with our Habitat work, we plan to travel in Southeast Asia for a couple of weeks, taking in Cambodia, Thailand, and a couple of days in Malaysia before departing from Kulala Lumpur. Can't wait!

Here's the latest - we learned more about the work we'll be doing! We will be building with red brick - some days stacking it and some days even making it. We might also be doing some plaster work. These will both be new skills for me :)

Our small team will consist of people from MN, WI, OR, FL, NM, NC. Can't wait to meet them all!

We learned some info about where we'll be and what we'll do! We'll be building homes in the Phu Tho province, which is in the north, not too far from Hanoi. Most of its population lives in rural areas; on average, people earn just $6 a month. The area is hit by many storms, and it's difficult for its poor residents to constantly repair their homes. Habitat serves the area by repairing/building homes as well as giving micro loans to better the province's water and sanitation.

We've got things updated with the Habitat administrators so that both Paul and Kate can raise funds on this same webpage - much simpler! :)

O.M.G. What a fantastic birthday I had...and a fantastic day for Habitat for Humanity! By asking friends and family to support our trip in honor of my 39th, SIXTEEN people or couples made a donation. Absolutely fantastic. A BIG heartfelt thank you to all of you.

My first donation! Thank you, Kevin!!