GUATEMALA 2013: Day 2...blocks, birthdays and blood!!

This is actually my blog for Tuesday, day 2 of house building. I was late joining my family at the worksite because Oscar and I showed another project from New Jersey what we do.

We met Betsy and John who have worked with their project out of Chester, NJ for many years near Centro Parque in Antigua. They jumped in the truck with us and drove to SMDJ. First they came to our building site to see how and what we build, and then we took them to Escuela Kemna'oj. It is always a pleasure to take people to the school because the children tell the whole story, they are happy and thriving, and are always glad to see visitors!! They were impressed with our project and we were grateful to take the time to show them our work. It is important for charities to work together as we all have the same goal in mind, and that is to improve the life of the poorest of the poor in Guatemala.

When I returned to the worksite our team had made tremendous progress with the house. It was just about lunchtime so I timed it right, only kidding!!!

We have not seen the Mom who lives in this house today. We see her sister who is taking care of her, run in and out quite often. Felix, our worker, who actually lives right behind where we are working, has explained that it is a very cultural tradition for the new Mom to stay in her house with her baby. My question is this: where is she going to the bathroom?? Seriously these shacks have no indoor bathroom and we have not seen her take a step outside, it's crazy! She is clearly much younger then me because this old body requires many visits to the "bano" each day...go figger!!

Today we celebrated Dan's 18th birthday at the worksite. His Mom surprised him with a cake and of course in Guatemala if it someones birthday, there are always firecrackers. Even though I know this is customary I am never quite ready when the blasting begins. Oh just a side note, I went shopping the night before to purchase the firecrackers. Bob, Sam, Pam and I went to a number of stores. I don't know why the shopping trip was a complete fail. It is quite possible because I could not say firecracker in Spanish, so every time I went to a different store and I said, "Do you have firecrackers? You know, Feliz Cumpleano's, boom boom?" I really don't understand why they didn't get it. Anyway, one of our guys was able to make the purchase and the whole Feliz Cumpleano's boom boom was a success.

We had lunch and cake and got back to work. Lots of block, lots of concreta and more block. At the end of the day we make a conga line pour cement into the block that we put down so far. Concrete, stone and sand are mixed in a huge pile, very heavy work!! We then fill spackle buckets and pour the concrete into the rows of block that we put down each day. It is the last thing we do each day and I think the hardest of the work. After we finish that task, we are done for the day.

At the end of the day the Father of our family returns from his job in the fields. I noticed blood on his pants and asked him what happened. He hit his leg with his machete while working. I asked him if I could see it and he lifted his pants. He had made a tourniquet out of a plastic bag. I had him take it off and with Kate's assistance we cleaned it up and put a bandage on it and told him to take it easy. I am sure this is not possible for him. This gentlemen most likely leaves his home at about 5AM for the long walk to the field he will work in for about 3 bucks a day. I am sure the farmer he is working for could care less if he injures himself and that is why he did not have the proper bandage on. These people are go getters, they work where they can find work regardless of the conditions or the salary. $15-$20 a week is better then nothing!

Usually after the volunteers leave for the day, the family will pile the block for the next day inside the house so it is ready for us to get to work when we arrive. I trie to tell him not to worry about this, however I am sure when we arrive the yard will be ready for us to get right to it! Funny thing as we were leaving, he was talking to 2 women and pointing to the block. One of them looked older then me, I am sure she will not even blink if asked to help. The Mayan people have a deep sense of community and help one another when needed.

Have I mentioned the view from where we are working, I cannot say enough about it..it is incredible. Towards the afternoon there is often the threat of rain and sometimes a good down pour. It is not so comfortable, but at the end of the day we return to our hot shower, dry clothes and a hot meal. it is rainy season in Guatemala and the people who live in the cornstalk shacks do not enjoy those same luxuries. When it is a very heavy rainy season, there is always the threat that their home may just wash right down the side of this beautiful mountain. At times the shacks wash away with the families in them. This is a very sad reality, and the number one reason Joe's vision was to replace the 2.1 million cornstalk shacks in Guatemala. We are almost done replacing 679 of them. Let's just say we are on our way to meet a very big challenge. Each week we try to replace between 3 and 5 more of them.

Have I said how much I love the work and Santa Maria de Jesus: well I do love being here and doing this work. It is not only a good workout it nurtures the soul! to quote a young man from Atlanta: "It's the hardest work you'll ever love!!"