A Hard-Working, Wet Day at the Work Site

We spent our entire day at the work site which was what I and many wanted to do. Today I was assigned to the cement crew again led by Sean - I shoveled lots of gravel - our job was to finish the foundation which we did and more. We were a little worried that the cement mixer might not last since the bottom had worn a hole and was patched together with two pieces of sheet metal and some rivets - and was starting to leak cement.

Right after lunch, we got back to work and noticed some rain storms heading our way. We worked as fast as we could, but were not able to finish before the rain came in. Two batches later, we finished laying all the cement for the foundation and of course celebrated our accomplishment! I didn't mind getting wet, and it actually stopped and started raining 2-3 different times so by the end of the day a good number of us were soaked. I didn't mind so much especially since I had a baseball hat on and my hair didn't get soaked.

Other jobs I did today included helping unload a truck full of cinder blocks, dirt from the foundation, and another load of gravel for one of the huge low spots in one of the dirt roads. At one point while it was raining I went inside the school and helped Father Andy and Becca put the desks and chairs back in place in one of the classrooms as the work was finished in it. I also spent about 45 minutes in the community center during the heaviest downpour and spent that time interacting with many of the kids who also sought shelter there. I drew pictures and tooks picture with some of the kids. One of the older boys, mi amigo Jose Almando, was 12 years old which is the same age as my son Alex. I took three years of Spanish in high school 20-some years ago, but remember enough to get by the language barrier. Body language and acting things out works well too.

One of the things I enjoy about the mission is not just doing the work but the opportunity to interact with the residents - those who we are helping - and in many cases to work side-by-side with them especially on the manual labor jobs. There are signs around the area that show they appreciate all we have done for them (hands helping hands, god is love, etc.). There are even holiday messages and surprises left for us in the community center and the school (feliz navidad and a nativity display). In the earlier trips, these types of things never happened, and seeing these show signs of progress that we are changing behaviors as much as we are changing their physical environment.

As for our meals, we were back to the same routine for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We were all fine with that since the past two days we had many special treats for our meals.

Tomorrow is our last day at the work site. We have more items to distribute to the residents and will end our day there with mass and hopefully a group picture. Stay tuned!