Day 5

Wednesday, September 7

 

Today we spent the day on a separate build site. This site belongs to a family of 4 (mother, father, 2 sons) and another son on the way.  They received a microloan from an organization that allowed this home to be built for them. We arrived on site, where the ground had been prepped for us to lay rebar.

 

For many of us, it was our first time tying rebar together. We pieced it together using metal ties and a special twisting tool. One by one, we laid the rebar down in the ditches.  Once the rebar was all laid, we assembled it together in the ditch and then added the vertical rebar (not very technical construction terms here).  After the rebar was all set, we started the process of making and pouring the cement. This was very hard manual labor and we tag teamed shoveling gravel and sand, wheel-barrowing, and pouring the cement. Luckily, we had many pros and helpful workers on site that guided us.

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, today was the day our team member Lisa went to the doctor to get her foot checked out. She had rolled her foot on a little step-down on the stairwell at the hotel. Many of us had tripped or stumbled over it, because it was very hard to see. By Wednesday, Lisa's foot had begun to bruise and swell, so they insisted on her going to get it checked out. Low and behold, a fracture to the outside of her right foot. Lisa, Iris, and Natalie spent a few hours at the hospital and returned with a cast on Lisa's foot. She was in great spirits and allowed us all to draw all over her cast after dinner.

 

In the evening, after our reflection meeting, Natalie gave us a lesson in the traditional dance of Merengue! We watched videos, listened to the music, and she gave us a demonstration. Our team member Chris was the brave sole who jumped up and volunteered to try out merengue with Natalie, it was a great time!