Wednesday, June 20th
Rain!
That was our main topic of conversation this morning. It had rained for a lot of the night and we use dirt roads to get to the work site which had become impassable. We had to come up with an alternate plan, so we decided to use the morning for a cultural experience. We had our driver Ramon take us to the local mall, which was an intriguing mix of local culture, like bears carved out of coconuts, and home favorites like McDonald's and Subway. After lunch we ate at a favorite restaurant of this group, Pollo Campero. It tasted pretty much like Kentucky Fried Chicken except a little less fried crisp on the edges, which could make it better or worse depending on your taste. We took a big box to go, ate that at the hotel and finally headed off to the work site around 1:00.
Today's work was pretty similar to yesterday's, involving lots of digging. The entire project requires 150 feet of footings which are all 10 inches wide and three to four feet deep, so we worked on that all of yesterday and today. Also, this work generates a lot of dirt waste, so hauling that off with buckets was a regular task. We estimate that all of the footing trenches combined had contained 16 cubic yards of dirt, most of which had to be moved three times. Added today was measuring, bending and wiring rebar. Josh worked with the head mason on this for most of the day, and they talked about various things in the United States all in Spanish. Our several Spanish speakers on our trip have let us get to know all of the other workers pretty well by now. There are various younger helpers working with us, including a 14 year old, eight year old twins, and an 11 year old. They usually work pretty well, but some of them can joke around quite a bit. In fact, one of the eight year olds would pretend to push Austin into the footing holes. The other one was beating on a bucket in rhythm, and Ken joined in to create a lively beat that everyone on the site could enjoy. We are very blessed by the gratitude of the people here and our chance to serve God and our neighbors in such a tangible way.
Josh Boeschen, Ken Green, and the El Salvador Mission Team
Good morning SLC servant team!
ReplyDeleteI have read all of your posts and am delighted to hear how you are serving. It sounds like you are making the most of your time - rain or shine! My prayer is that you continue to have strength to work with hearts open to build friendships along the way. No doubt, you will leave part of your heart there. And that is mission and service at it's best. Keep building God's kingdom (literally and figuratively) as brothers and sisters in Christ and be blessed!
Peace,
Pastor Rhonda