Wednesday

This was our fullest day yet...

We followed our regular morning routine...

6:30 breakfast
7:00 devotions
7:30 on the bus

We were at the site and working before 8:30.  One of the houses is being primed for paint!  It is very exciting to know that we are working on a house that is that close to completion!

The others are somewhat higher than waist high with their courses of concrete block.  On those sites we are still moving out dirt, mixing cement (chispa and mescla (sp) - one is more like grout, the other, like mortar.  Now we are helping to lift concrete blocks to the professional masons to make their lives easier.  We are also putting the cement and mortar inside and between the blocks.  Mixing the cement on the ground is a great thing to see.  The masons, elder family members, and now a few of our own teams know the precise blend of cement mix, sand, gravel and water, as well as look and consistency to make a perfect mix.  Sifting sand is also not something we see on a US construction site.  We use a screen box and shake it back and forth until the sand is below and the gravel on top, toss the gravel off and shake some more.

"Street" Baseball Game

Each member of the team has different stories to tell regarding the relationships they are making with local family members.  So far, I am most impressed with Don Alfredo, the grandpa of our family.  He is 58 years old, a very hard worker, but a gentle soul who can calm any of his grandchildren.  There are a number of smaller children around our site that our teens stop to play  with.  The video above is a street baseball game.