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Monday, April 16, 2012

Day 2 - Home Building Day

We started our day by sadly waking up at around quarter to seven.  We had a quick easy breakfast and then headed to the work site.  The drive up the mountain was steep with many twists and turns we were 2170 meters  above sea level in the village of Vuelta Grande – a village north of Antigua.  Then we stopped at the health clinic beside the village school and we got out of the van and formed an assembly line and transported 70 food packages to the village health clinic for distribution in the afternoon.  The other 80 food packages arrived later.  
     We arrived at the building site and split into 2 groups and then each group built two houses by 1:30.  The cement pad was already prepared for us and we started by putting all the wall panels up, which were about 4’ by 8’ and that took about an hour to put together.  Then after the panels were up some of the team started to paint the outside of the houses.  And the other team members were helping by putting the tin roof on the wooden rafters.     We met some of the children and they were really nice and shy. We brought some toys such as Frisbees, bubbles, and skipping ropes.  A lot of the children liked the bubbles.  We all learned some new skills such as painting,  using power tools and hammer and nails.  After our late lunch Luis, the director of AOJ Guatemala, and Otto came with us as our translator to bless each home.  There was a prayer and dedication for each home, including one for Mr Lloyd Coleman, a member of Amberlea Church who passed away two years ago.  (Our personal thought was that Lloyd would’ve liked this family – the Culajay Chipoc Family).  A certificate was nailed to the wall.  We gave them house warming gifts like homemade quilts from the quilting ladies of Amberlea, pots and pans, table and chairs,  cupboard, household items and toys for the children.      After the blessing of the houses we hiked back up the hill to the van that took us back to the health clinic.  When we arrived to our surprise, there were hundreds of people waiting for a food package.  By the end we had distributed 150 food packages.  As the families started leaving they were placing the packages on their heads.  Now just to give you an idea of how heavy these packages are, they are 30 pounds!!!!!!!!!  As they began their walk home we wondered how long it would take with the small children and hard terrain.


The Kids - Caroline, Katie & Nicholas 


























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