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Work is Under Way |
Monday, July 9th - We arrived on the worksite at 8 am this
morning (Yes, we got the kids up a little after 6 am) and started preparing
the foundation.  It is a
very difficult worksite with the gravel and rocks for cement mixing up on a
hill at the street and the building site down some stairs below the existing
home. The home has some modern conveniences (electricity and internet) but
no water running in and a simple sewer pipe running out. This family of 6
has only one bedroom for everyone, a small kitchen, a very small bathroom,
and one area to gather. The four room (20x22) addition we are building will
be a great gift to them. We worked from 8 to 6 pm pouring the slab and got
it done just before dinner. We even had
a neighbor come by with a property line dispute just after we started. We
actually had to move cement and shorten the framing a bit, but did it and
moved on. The temperatures are very mild here since we are near the coast
(in the 70-75 degree range) with plenty of nice breezes.Everyone worked so hard today, as a team and with willing spirits. We even had fun! The two boys in the family and their neighborhood friends helped us with the concrete work as well - lots of hauling buckets and mixing cement by hand in bins. At our campfire, Sean looked at the end of the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus words about building the foundation of our lives on His words. ─Tom Here are a few of our students thoughts thus far . . . . Caitlin Young |
The first day was a tough one...It started out an early morning of a small
but satisfying bowl of cereal. As we reached the site there were many things
that needed to be done. After all the preparations were completed the laying
of the concrete began. It was a long, tough 9 hours of mixing pouring and
spreading concrete, but it was worth it to see the families faces with joy.
There were many things that stuck out to me upon reaching the country of
Mexico. One thing is, as you cross the border the diversity of living
establishments is amazing. On one side of the road are two
story stucco houses guarded by a gate and night guards and on the other are
what look to be shacks that are open to theft and vandalism. The other thing
i noticed were the number of stray dogs. On almost every street there was a
stray dog sometimes two or three. All in all my experience so far and my
first day was and has been great.
The first day was one of mixed emotions! I woke up feeling excited but
nervous at the same time. The concrete was so tiring. After mixing one
bucket it was so heart breaking to see that it only covered a tiny bit and
realizing you needed to mix a million more buckets. Even though the concrete
was so hard many children wanted to help. All of the kids were cheerful and
joyful and made our job seem so much easier. Even though it was not even
their house they worked as though it was! As tired as we all were we still
had an amazing time and we were excited for the next day to come! I hope all
my days here are as wonderful as my first!