Wednesday am, front of church

Our construction team was full of energy today and we got so much accomplished. The girls finished painting the “windows” and doors as well as most of the 2nd color of paint (“coffee”) on the bottom half of the exterior with some help from our supervisor, Sony and some of the locals who came for a visit. The guys did a lot of heavy lifting today where they mixed 500 lbs of mortar (and had to carry the 100 lb bags in from another building), The remaining 200 concrete blocks were put in place finishing the final wall of the building. They also had to move 5 yards of clay with rock to put in place for the remaining portions of the sidewalk which they started today and will finish tomorrow. And most of this work was communicated between us and the locals without a translator just by using hand gestures.

Some of our “locals” who are working along side of us blessed us with their wonderful singing. We decided to entertain them by singing “Row, Row, Row your Boat” in a round.

On another note, our bus broke down today due to a large rock stuck in the wheel well. Yesterday the transmission went out and we had to travel in 2nd gear for a few miles up and down many hills. We even drove in reverse on the major highway to pick up one of our local helpers. Our driver handled all of these issues well and with a smile.

Check back tomorrow as our medical team will be having their clinic on site with us. (Due to technical difficulties, the medical blog was not able to be loaded. It will be updated tomorrow.)

Wendy and her awesome helper, Nao

Enrique painting across a portion of the new sidewalk.

Charlie pouring some of the new sidewalk.

Charlie getting water for the job site from a well at a neighbors house,

Our visitor of the day, a toad. Our dog friends also wandered by for their daily visit.

Edwin carrying a 100 lb bag of cement from the shed to the site.

Helen finishing up the painting on the windows.

Todd putting the last blocks on the back wall of the church. Yeah!

Judy using power tools helping the electrician.

Bob carrying lumber for the sidewalk borders.

Wendy and Pat starting to paint the new back room.

Judy, Nao and Sony finishing the door and starting the 2nd color on the exterior.

Wednesday pm, back of church

Wednesday pm, front of church