We only have to set up the Hydroponics with the materials which are essentially a truckload of 3/4 river-rock gravel and a bunch of Tilapia. Pray that it works and that we work diligently and patiently to get a good crop. We have connected pipes, moved tanks, bought parts, and found pieces people in the community generously kept warm for us. It's definitely fun and beneficial to work and fellowship with Carlos, but it's nice to get to be back in the classroom steadily with our class. The pictures show Carlos while he's working, which is his default setting, and everything mostly set up, we put a few pieces together afterwards.
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The donors came yesterday, they agreed to build a pavilion and new school building! They loved CCA, as they should. Bob said we ought to be proud of how good it all looks, and we are. Since last Tuesday we have steadily worked on the Hydroponics which wound up needing 3 rectangular trenches dug 2 feet deep with islands in the middle, you can see the pictures below. Once we got the trenches dug, we put in a foot of cement (I have the formula memorized by now dos carretas de arena, dos de gravine, y una bolsa, siguen dos arena, dos gravine, una bolsa, cuatro bolsas eran necesarios por un sangrejo. Is that all spelled correctly? I'm not sure but it's close, a week with Carlos and you know the name of every tool, every material, and every job, you learn Bible stories in Spanish, you learn how to actually dig efficiently. I've learned more Spanish, Construction, and Digging in the past week than I've ever learned before. We "worked" with the 5th-8th grade students last Thursday and Friday for 5 hours each day. It was babysitting with tools. Carlos dice que trabajamos mas rapido sin los ninos, and he's right. For those of you who don't know what that means and are too lazy to use a dictionary or even google translate like I am, it means we work faster without the kids. Carlos and I spoke in Spanish the entire time even though he knows a little English, so it's comfortable now, I switch without knowing it sometimes and confuse myself. We didn't get it all done but we "put on a show" for the donors and have continued to work, hopefully we can finish within the next 2 days. We cleaned out all of the weeds in both Galeras, Alex is a middle schooler and can use a machete faster than I could use a weed-wacker, the boy is insane. We stacked wood, scrubbed walls, filled mud holes, filled ditches, organized piles of materials, and many other things, whatever needed to be done. I enjoyed teaching the boys how to dig. We have a long To-Do list to prepare for the donors that are coming on Tuesday including:
- Finishing our Hydroponics Project - Cleaning out the Galera's - Getting the weeds off of the Galera's - Finishing the septic tank drainage hole - Cutting grass (see Yardwork for full appreciation) - Moving cement chunks big and small - Picking up trash So far we have done allot of work on the Galeras with cutting grass with Roberto and Angel, moving pallets of wood, removing tarps, taking weeds off etc. We have begun to level and cement the hydroponics frames. We do not have school Thursday or Friday, the 5th-8th graders will come from 7-12 to help us clean walls, move cement chunks, de-weed, whatever they can help with. It's allot of fun. I was up on an old shed on a board cutting weeds off of the top of the Galera, it was so fun. It's tough work but the family we get to work in makes it so enjoyable. All for Jesus! He tends to make you enjoy the work you wind up doing for Him anyway, pray that we get it all done on time and correctly. Who owns a riding lawn mower? Not us. Who owns a self propelled mower? Not us. Who owns a push mower? Not us. Who owns one of those green metal rotating blade "lawnmowers" on wheels? Not us. Who owns a machete? Jacob. Jesus is good at providing, that right there is not sarcasm, and never will be. If we need a drill, we ask Ines, Roberto, or Carlos. If we need a drill bit, we ask Carlos. If we need screws, usually Roberto. Roberto and Angel will help cut grass with a machete when we need it. We use buckets from our neighbors, there is one "machine" (weed-eater) which is generally hard to get hold of. It's amazing to see this level of community, even if it is insanely frustrating sometimes chasing something down based off word of mouth because someone else generally has what you need, usually across the village, until you get there, but it builds patience. If you want to try cut your grass with a dull machete, 1) you don't deserve your lawn mower, appreciate it more, give it a hug or give it to us 2) you won't get anywhere until a Honduran teaches you how by doing a few square feet for you 3) you are lacking spiritual guidance, read your bible more 4) it'll take a few days once you muster up the motivation to start, then continue, then post about it before you actually finish.
Today we had 45 gringos come representing multiple churches in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. They provided medical attention to the students and families that wanted to come. They shared the Gospel, helped lay the pipes to drain the septic tank, helped dig holes to set up an irrigation system to grow food for the school to become more self-reliant. We had to clean up the ditch, mark spots for digging, obtain shovels, pick axes, pole diggers and buckets in preparation. We worked 8-12 with a bunch of fun dudes, I was covered in mud, got sunburnt, and I officially wore through my jeans. It was an amazing day. This little girl is Soy, I'm not sure about the spelling but she is Maria's little sister, she is precious. |
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August 2017
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