I was amazed at how much progress has been made since I left just a couple of weeks ago. The chapel roof structure is in place. We were a bit alarmed at the worker perched up on the wall welding the steel roof frame. The only protection his eyes had was his hand shielding the sparks! I shudder to think of the disaster if a spark got into his eye... Again we are reminded of the differences in techniques and lack of OSHA here. The playground has gone thru an amazing transformation (see picture below )
I can't believe how much work has been done since we left! All we need now is the equipment and supplies to build the play structure. It is easy now to visualize how great the playground will be.
It started to rain while we were having lunch! It is extremely unusual to have rain this time of year. It was very pleasant listening to the light rain on the tin roof while we ate. It sprinkled on and off the rest of the day - not enough to stop work but enough to cool things off.
Having 9 teenagers along makes for quite a different experience. They are great kids, very enthusiastic and open for just about anything. (at times herding cats comes to mind...) They had a great time with the children who were delighted to "school"them at Memory. Apparently the SBV children play it (we called it concentration) alot. Some of the children would coach our teens to pick up certain cards to make a match -- psych! No match! Much laughter shared by all.
The boys really worked hard - shoveling gravel onto the bed of a truck and then shoveling it off at the worksite, chiseling chunks of adobe off the walls to make for a smoother surface for the plastering, mixing concrete and hauling the buckets up a rickety ladder to fill the roof form, and tamping! Tomorrow they will spend serious time tamping the rest of the playground area.
The girls also worked hard on various tasks - mixing the mud for the plaster, making the rebar, sifting the sand, and more.
We sorted all the donations this evening and then played a game organized by Katie, the youth leader. It has been a long time since I did a youth activity with teenagers. What I missed in rooster decibels I experienced in teen decibels!
Going to bed early because tomorrow will be LOTS of hard work!
(P.S. Note that Wheeler has finally agreed to use a cane at SBV!)
(your cake is better than the store-bought cake
ReplyDeleteHello Amanda, hoping you all are well. The notes so far are great. Please tell Becky and Celeste hello for Sandy and I as well as Bonnie and everyone, we think of you all daily.
ReplyDeletehey mama. i finally figured out where your blog was (after looking all day yesterday, i simply looked through my old messages. who knew it could be that easy! i'm sorry i missed you on sunday morning. ben, for whatever reason, thought it would be a good idea to take my phone into his room, so i did not hear the calls, and he didn't think to give me my phone after 5 calls from my mother! haha. anyways, praying for y'all here and i love you and cant wait for the next installment.
ReplyDeleteby the way that last one was from hunter as is this one.
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