The morning started off with pretty much all of us being awake at around 4:00-4:30 a.m. Just still trying get over the different time zones and jet-lag. Hopefully tonight is the turning point where we all get a solid 8 to 9 hours...fingers crossed.
Well, this was definitely a full day of manual labour! Half of us were hand mixing sand, cement and water to create the parging, while the other half of us applied it to the brick walls. We got the flow down to perfection (in our opinion) and will be getter faster every day. No matter what job you were doing though, it was exhausting - especially when you’re not used to it. I’ve got a pretty good feeling that there are going to be some stiff muscles tomorrow morning.
Yesterday, at the opening ceremonies, we were generously presented with the gift of a young goat. We inquired about bringing it home on the plane - found out that we definitely couldn’t, so Taylor and Nico took the liberty of preparing it for tomorrow night’s supper. On the bright side, one of the nkhuku (chickens) we were suppose to have for lunch escaped. It taunted us to catch it for the rest of the day. Never did!
As expected, all of the many children around us were great, the gentlemen we’re working with (and trying to keep up to) were fantastic, and the staff at the school were exceptional. It is an absolute pleasure to be on the construction site all day.
We really are starting to feel like a productive team. Looking forward to another day - especially now that we’re getting into the parging groove.
Thanks again for all of your prayers!
The Hope 7 Team
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