Drawing our energy from Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here, Dissection's Storm of the Light's Bane and Immortal's At The Heart of Winter (Maynor's requests), with pumping blood and boiling intestines, we made an incredible amount of progress at Rosa's remote outpost over the past few days. We'll try to use this blog to play catch up on the coming and goings, haps and mishaps, triumphs and shortcomings.
Really, I think we're all very satisfied with where we stand right now. For the second year in a row, we have witnessed Rosa's house undergo a transformation. Last year we built her a bathroom, complete with a toilet, shower and pilla. This year we have built a 16x9' addition (which will serve as a bedroom) in a mere five days. Last Friday we dug the foundation and footers, poured the footers, wired the rebar columns and mooked them in place. On Monday we began laying block. On Tuesday we finished laying block (save at the very top where the blocks had to be cut to fit the slant of the roof).
Yesterday we did finishing work on the block laying, mostly near the top and above the concrete beam we laid over the window, and we had to dig up some of the concrete from Rosa's stove area. We also began the roofing process. See:
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| Up-to-date photo of the new addition on Rosa's house. Notice Jerry's makeshift Coca-Cola cooler hanging from the roof - it looks like a nootsack |
This morning we picked up a load of finely cut lumber Mark had ordered specifically for the purpose of making Rosa and her children beds to sleep on. Up until today, they have slept on dirt, wooden boards and concrete. Mark, Kay, Lorie and I spent the entire morning screwing together bed frames. Three in total. We screwed all morning. The two twins were made into a bunk bed for Rosa's kids (Rosa's house is too small for three stand alone beds), and the third a full for Rosa herself. We also sent a team out shopping to buy mattresses, flour, cornstarch, sugar, powdered milk, eggs, cleaning supplies, soap, plates and cups, etc.
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| The bunk bed Mark designed and built or... soon to be monkey bars |
This afternoon we cut a doorway between a room in Rosa's house and the new addition, which will be the only access to her new room. See:
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| Digging out the door stucco over about a foot of adobe |
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| Deathtrap 3001 there in the background - scaffolding HaHa style |
We have tried to retain a healthy sense of optimism on this trip. Despite the morbid tunes and open mic - like doom ramblings, what we have really tried to accomplish on this trip, as we have on past trips, is to bring hope to the lives of those who might need it. Those who may have felt forgotten, unneeded, uncared for, hopeless. Today marked the second time our team has circled up with Rosa and her children, prayed with them, and observed firsthand the difference our time, effort, blood, sweat, tears and pain have made in their lives.
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| The women presenting Rosa with food and new belongings |
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| Too bad Chris couldn't ride this taxi up the Trail of Pain. |
A quick shout out to some personnel: Maynor and Danielson for once again guiding all us idiotic Americanas around the valleys and mountains of Quimistan, Nueva Esperanze, etc. A thanks to Javier for translating for us (even though we missed Stan the Man), HaHa for teaching us a few new tricks Honduran style, Saundra and Gloria for preparing us breakfast and dinner every day, Sam for being Sam, the Federation and all its glory for having us bid its deed, the people of the Quimistan community for making us feel like we belong here.
Until next year...
Brad
Blog Overlord
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