For the first part of April, Team Meno was in Viljandi, Estonia living and working at a church! We helped clean the church by washing windows, moving furniture around, measuring blinds and clearing out storage rooms. We also leveled the parking lot and met with the youth! Our contact Tarmo and his family live at the church and take care of it, but with two girls, Susanna who is 3 and Miriam who is almost 1, it is difficult for them to do everything on their own. They were very appreciative that we could help them out for 10 days and complete jobs that would have taken them much longer.
For the second half of the month we went to a Christian campsite where churches can book a week long camp in the summer. Our contacts Tanel and Layley have lived there with their two sons for 10 years and run the grounds. Tanel had knee surgery in March so they were very thankful we were there. We helped them prepare the camp for the summer. The men of Team Meno helped Tanel by chopping lots of fire wood, cutting down trees, building a fence around a small pond, building a bridge, making a beach area by the lake and preparing a foundation for a basketball court. While the women helped Layley rake LOTS of leaves, vacuum, wash all the windows, varnish bunk beds and completely clean out all the bedrooms, dining rooms and main rooms.
It was an amazing campsite with a lake and gorgeous surroundings. We loved the remoteness of it! We were able to take a small boat out on the lake, go in the sauna, play on the playground, take walks and have bonfires in our free time!
We were also able to explore the surrounding cities of Viljandi, Valga and Tartu on our days off!
Now we are in Riga, Latvia for our 2nd debrief! It will be a relaxing 4 days before we start Month 5!! During debrief we will also be having team changes. There are many reasons we have to have team changes. For example a couple teams only have 4 or 5 people on them now, we are raising up squad leaders and we want to be in great team environments where we can grow to our greatest potential!
I am so sad that I may be separated for the amazing people on Team Meno! These past four months with Heather, Carrie, Amy, Chris, Micah, and Derek have been incredible!! I love them all! They will always hold a special place in my heart! But I am so excited for this new season of The Race and to shake things up! And I will still get to stay in contact with them and forever be on Z Squad with them!!
