First Day of Work

Yesterday was our long-awaited first day of work. We rose early and met at 6.30 for a devotion and meetting as we will all week. Phil led an outstanding devotion, in which he quoted a great passage from Bishop Oscar Romero, who was martyred in the 80´s for his support of the people of El Salvador. The passage talked about how we were continuing work that was started before our arrival and would be completed after our departure from this earth. It was so very appropriate because that´s literally what we´re doing on the work site.

When we arrived at Shimishal, I was astounded by all that had been done, and all that was going on. The first 18 houses we worked on the past two years are complete and inhabited, and in fact have been decorated, painted, and added on to in many cases. The other 19 are in various stages of completion, and there are easily twice as many people working there than I have ever seen.

The homeowners we are working with introduced themselves, and we introduced ourselves to them. Each one spoke of their gratitude for our help, and prayed for blessings upon us. To a cynical American, it might seem like a little social nicety, but I know there are sincere, and it is touching.

We broke into teams and attacked the work with a vengeance. After all the hours on the bus the previous two days, everyone was ready to work, and the energy was incredible. I actually had to try to slow people down so they wouldn´t burn out. We tied rebar, made adobe blocks, sifted sand, mixed mezcla (mortar), and laid block. There was visible progress after even this one day.

Everyone is stiff today (except for the young ones), but we are ready to get after it again today. Our friend and guide Luis is leaving us to go back to the main office office in San Pedro Sula, and I for one will miss him. But we are going to be very busy the next few days, I know the time will fly by...

Time to go get ready for work...hasta luego!