Construction Day 3

Another beautiful day in Guatemala.  The morning always starts with the taking in the gorgeous views of two volcanoes on the way to the construction site, Agua and Fuego. The family is happy to see us and excited about their new home. The students are quickly bonding with the family as we work and play together.   Small holes are made in the lids of used water bottles and then the bottles are refilled to wet the concrete. They also make great water pistols. The children giggle with delight as they spray each other and us.  

 

Kelby and Niamh carrying a 50 kg bag of concrete

 

Asucena (the mother) shares her  weaving with us. She weaves very detailed flowers and birds and makes the weaving into bags and belts to be sold at the market. One inch of weaving takes one day to complete. We purchased a small piece of weaving to display at school for 300 quetzales (40 dollars).

The children are polite and kept very clean despite not having any indoor plumbing. They quickly change out of their school uniforms when they arrive home from school. Antonio having a bath.

The children happily join in with filling in the cracks. They are much more agile at climbing on the scapholding than I even though they have sandals and skirts on.

We asked the family what they need. They said that the children really need new shoes. Chelsi’s shoes are too small and her toes are coming through the front.  Dad is working in a worn pair of flip flops.They also said that they do not have a bed to sleep on. The cornstalk house that they lived in was torn down to build the new home because space is very limited. While we are building their new home they are sleeping on the floor in Grandma’s kitchen.

After work we walked to the Mercado  and bought a new pair of shoes for each family member. The children got  “school shoes” which must be black to wear with their uniform. We also bought some Spanish books for the students to read with them.

We have ordered pizza to be delivered to the construction site for lunch tomorrow. Can you believe it Dominoes two for one day.  Pizza is expensive and quite a novelty for the Guatemalan workers and the family. Most  homes do not have ovens so bread and pizza is not a possibility. 

 Dawn