Wednesday, April 9, 2008

C I A - Jamaican Style

On Tuesday we traveled up into the mountains - about 20 minutes away - to carry water for the families there. We filled 5 gallon jugs and buckets from a spigot near the church and then carried the water to fill 55 gallon drums outside their homes. It was quite an eye opener as to how others in our world still live. As Carl noted: "I'll never take running water for granted again".

Today's slideshow can give you a bit of an idea of how hard we worked and how much harder the lives are of those who live this everyday.






In the afternoon we came back and largely picked up where we left off. Gardening, painting, bike repair, organizing and prepping for concrete work.




On Wednesday, we worked HARD! Most of the men spent the day mixing concrete by hand for the hammock posts on the pool deck and parking pad in the front. The concrete ingredients had to be hauled from the back to the front. One ingredient is called marl - a gypsum-like subtance. It had to be broken up by pickaxe, screened into a wheelbarrow and hauled to the front. We called them the marl-barrow men. The parking pad was finished just before it rained.




Several of the women worked on the gardens again and did a fantastic job. They really got into their work! As this picture clearly shows....















Dereck, when he was not being one of the Marl-barrow men - worked on the play set replacing rotted rope on the rope ladder and swinging bridge. Connie spent the day with needle and thread - sewing on buttons and repairing clothes for the children. At the end of the day, I caught them relaxing and enjoying the fruit of Dereck's labor.


Several others helped out in various ways. Erin and Jen did more painting and organized cupboards, Kathy updated the website for My Father's House with dozens of new pictures. Erin's big adventure of the the day was taking the younger children on a bike ride down to the beach where they caught 15 hermit crabs which one of the little girls put them in her shirt pocket - not the best idea. But fun - which is what most of us have had - even though we are very tired - and very sore. It's been a great day of serving and falling in love with these children.

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