We started our "work week" on Monday and many of us were excited to go into the "community" and serve Honduran families who we would be helping to
improve their living conditions.
The team was grouped into three sub-groups and we went to three different family homes. For each home, the first thing we would do is white wash the walls of the home. Some of us did it on the outside ...
... some of us did it on the inside of the house ...
... and some of us did both the inside and outside of the home ... until we thought our hands/arms were going to fall off!!
There were a few of us started to go a little crazy ... hahaha ... just kidding! This is Doug and Leah and they really enjoyed working hard!
And Barb and Brittaney decided that white-wash is the new fashion statement!! Gorgeous, ladies ... you look gorgeous!!
The white-wash, or CAL, as it was being called is very important as it acts as a sealer to prevent bugs from making their homes within the walls of these Hondurans' homes. These homes are basically made with cement and/or bricks made from sand, dirt, and straw, all natural things that are creepy crawly things are accustomed to living under, on and within. If the bugs take over, the home will not be sustainable and the family is then also at greater risk for illness and disease.
After the CAL is applied (sometimes two coats), the cement floor is prepared. That starts with lots of buckets of sand, rocks, water and then 90lb bags of cement mix.
Here's Matt and Dave ... pretending to look like they've been working really hard.
NO! I'm just kidding ...
At this home, they were able to provide the family with a front porch.
Nice, huh!
Good job team!!
Here's the team members with the members of the family whose home they worked on.
Here is the home that Brian and I, along with Molly, Brynn, Doug, Leah, Emily and Ben worked at.
This is the view from the gate of the home ...
And this is the view from the front door ... hey, look at those two cute girls.
Preparing the cement is hard work, especially as it is very manual.
The sand, rocks and cement mix is combined and then water is added to get it all combined.
The mixing is done methodically and needs to attain a certain consistency before it is ready to be spread.
Even Brynn gave it her best shot to help in the mixing process!
After the mixture is "just right", we shovel it into the buckets and then the buckets are carried into the room that is being done. These buckets are SUPER HEAVY! See the guy to the left of me in the photo below? He lives in the home and is about 17 years old. He would pick up the bucket and then hoist it onto his shoulder and carry it in that way. WOW!! That was super impressive! He never seemed to tire!
There were three rooms in this home and we cemented all the rooms.
These little boys came home from school mid-day and that added a whole new spin on our experience. They were, of course, curious about us as we were about them.
The finished rooms were quite nice! We can only imagine, but not truly understand, how much this really means to the family!
At the end of the day, we gathered around the family and presented them with the gifts we had brought for them. Through the translation of Tony, Brian shared the Gospel with the family, who openly understood what it means to be saved; the 17-year-old son stated that he had accepted Salvation once and the mother of the house stated she had not and was not willing to do so at that time. We pray that she will accept the LORD one day soon and that our work upon the home of the family will continue to sow seeds and at the right time reap the harvest that God has planned.
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