Upon arriving at the worksite in San Jose, we were
assigned our maestro mason for each team.
We are constructing 5 cook stoves now and hope to
complete 10-12 of them by the end of the week. We had to sift sand, add cement,
make mortar, cut cement blocks, build the firebox and learn to be masons. It
was very hot and my team was blessed with the help of the abuela, Marcella de
Leon, the grandmother of , as she says, "only" 30 grandchildren. 2 of
her "only 30" nietos, (grandchildren), Lucas, age 14, and his littlest
brother, Adrian, assisted in mixing and carrying the mortar and many other.
Each team had their assigned mason to guide us, make sure all was plumb and
level and keep us on task. I showed Lucas how to work my camera and he became a
wonderful photographer taking photos of all the worksites and their wonderful
progress. We taught him a few English words but he and our mason, Chino, taught
us even more Spanish words. We watched Lucas go from a timid participant to a
ready volunteer as he wanted to help with every task. He smiled and we joked throughout the steamy
day and he truly became part of our team. His favorite subject is matematicas
and he hopes to be an engineer in the future. He was proud to be helping his
family build their new cook stove. It was hard work and all teams made
excellent progress but we also had much fun learning and enjoying the company
of the friendly Guatemalans. It is nice
to know that many of these families will soon have a clean burning stove. Look for the photo on the Facebook page to
see the contrast in color of the new chimney and the creosote covered walls and
ceiling that they have been living with. It is wonderful to know that their
lungs will not have this punishment in the future.
To be continued.....
No comments:
Post a Comment