November 8, 2010:
Today Rachel, Lauren, and I worked at Km 8. We cleaned the three bedrooms: swept, dusted, and made sure the beds were cleaned. We were told that the new doctor lady was arriving this week. I’m not sure when that day will be. But I’m very excited for her arrival.
Our new home has no running water, one toilet, no shade, lots of dirt… there is a lot of work to do. It will not be easy, but we will do our best to improve our new home. The only thing holding us back is the money, of course. However, I have complete trust in God that He will provide.
Sadly, Rachel wasn’t feeling her best. And things only got worse towards the evening. On our way home she threw up. After thinking about it, we believe it was the bad mango that caused her to feel sick. Now we pray that this will pass, that she will regain her strength, and that our Rachel may return.
So what I do know:
*Our new mission is to clean up our new home and get it get ready for us to live in it.
*This coming Sunday we will start a medical campaign. Sun-Fri.
November 9, 2010:
Tuesday. Because Rachel wasn’t feeling well, it was only Lauren and I who went and worked at Km 8 with the chicos. While the guys worked hard making frames for the walls and doors, Lauren and I sawed planks of wood. These planks would then be hammered onto the frames to make the walls. For an hour we sawed about 15 planks.
We then went and had lunch at a restaurant nearby. We were served horse soup. The soup itself was very tasty, but the horse was not. We then had a very delicious dish made of: rice, tomatoes, potatoes, and onions. The dish is called Lomo. Loved it J It was a very nice and clean restaurant.
As soon as we finished lunch we headed back and started working again. This time Luaren and I had a technique figured out. We worked much faster and more efficient. We sawed about 90 boards in 3 hours! Of course towards the end of the day I could feel my arms and back weakening. When we finished working we headed towards to Pucallpa. Lauren and I used the Internet while the chicos picked up supplies for the next day. An hour later we were on the road back home.
It was a good workday. I truly feel like I’ve accomplished a lot.
Wednesday. This time it was us three girls back at it again. Thankfully Rachel was feeling much better. Today we did less sawing and more nailing. Our first job in the morning was to finish the shower. Lucho, Lauren, and I worked on it for about two hours. Our new shower is pretty much a small black box “La cajita negrita.” The wall frames are made of wood and wrapped around the frame is a thick black tarp. The floor is made of wood and that’s it. The plan is to bring in a bucket of water and shower with that. Or we might later work on rigging the solar shower that Rachel has. Like I said our new home has a lot of work that needs to be done. But its turning out really good and we all have great ideas for improvement.
I really like this work. It feels so fulfilling because I will be living inside of the walls that my hands have been building.
After the shower was done we did some cleaning. The Doctor then stopped by and brought us lunch. We ate, rested, read a little, and then headed back to work. This time we all worked really hard in finishing the three rooms. Two teams worked on nailing the planks to make the walls. All I have to say is that my partner Daniel is a machine. I wish I could have recorded him working. He worked so fast and well. A third team worked on finishing the doors and a fourth team worked on the electrical wiring of the rooms.
Another reason I really like this work is because I’m learning a lot of new things. Construction of houses has always interested me and now I can actually learn and do it. Of course I can’t really build a house in the USA with the skills I’ve learned here. Houses here are much more simpler and faster to make. But at least I have learned the basics.
We had another long day of work. But our hard work paid of. We were able to finish the three rooms! It felt so good.
You amaze me. Period.
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