Today was our first day in San Raymundo, Guatemala working at the build site. We are going to be able to start and complete a house for an underprivileged family in one week. We are really looking forward to blessing this family!
Our work day started by hiking about 1/2 a mile (it wasn’t a really long hike, but a hike never-the-less) to the work site with all of our tools and equipment. Before we even began working on the house we had begun to sweat and get winded. Our morning went slow at first. We put together the walls of the house and did some prep work. We all slowly found our place and began to work as a team early on. The afternoon was definitely the hardest and most hectic part of the day.
Justin and his little helpers carrying suplies to the site, the little site with some of our supplies, and the old house in the background.
Helping David cut all the wood was a very messy job (I had sawdust everywhere) and working together to build the form for the foundation.
The worksite has very little room to maneuver and build even for our smaller team. We were constantly running over one another and apologizing for bumping into each other. We needed to mix the concrete and pour the foundation which took all afternoon until we finished around 6pm. To mix the concrete we had to take buckets of water, sand, and rocks all to the mixer. It made it a bit more difficult that all three were in different places. Everyone worked really hard which allowed us to finish the foundation before we left.
Digging the trench to get ready to pour the concrete and Justin filling up buckets of rock to take to the mixer.
During the whole build we had an audience of men, women, and children. We even had a few men from the church come and help us which was a huge blessing. Now, at the end of the day, our bodies hurt but we feel accomplished and thankful for what we were able to do today.
Our wonderful concrete mixer and about half way done with foundation. At the end of the day when the Guatemalans were perfecting our slab.
We will post the next blog soon about the completion of the house.
