~ HONDURAS ~ part three ~

First Work Day

Out of bed even earlier than the day before, and off to El Progresso; our first work day. 

We returned to Efrain’s church and began examining the structure that we were there to complete.  The classrooms and kitchen located to the left of the large church building was, at the time, nothing more than a concrete skeleton, much smaller than the main church building itself. Unlike the church it was going to be a low ceilinged building, far more cozy.  The one large room toward the front would be divided into two rooms later by a removable wall (creating two classrooms) and in the back, a kitchen, opening into the classrooms through a window, was what the building would contain. The basic form of the building was already laid out, meaning only that the walls were up. Our task, during the course of the trip would be to; install plumbing and electric, put on a roof, level the floors, pour concrete floors, and paint the interior.

In 106 degree weather with 100% humidity, that is easier said than done.

But by the grace of God we did it.

Our team settled in quickly and got right to work.  Thankfully, it turned out that we all worked well together; where one was lacking in the “know-how” another had the knowledge. The first task that I decided I could help with was the leveling of the floors.  I picked up a hoe and began beating level the stubborn earth.  I’d done this kind of work before, helping out my dad in his various construction projects and just being a country girl at heart who enjoys hard work, but I had never done work like that in this kind of heat and found myself getting very hot, very quickly. Under Todd’s rules, the team took a water break every half hour so as to prevent severe dehydration (with the help of Powerade mix we were able to make the best of the warm water).  During which we would retreat to the shade of the interior of the church. But even within the church, we could not escape the heat. Our one small refuge from the heat were the two ceiling fans and one large stand up fan in the main congregation area that we huddled as close as possible to during breaks.

Though we were forced to call it an early day due to the exhaustion of our water supply (by 2:00 pm we had consumed about 15 gallons of water!), we were still able to accomplish tremendous amounts.  The floor was, for the most part, leveled off and preparation had been done for the installment of plumbing, electric and the roof. Hot and tired, but with energy to spare, we were definitely feeling the effects of the day’s work; all in a good way.

At about 3:30 we decided to call it a day. Upon returning to the compound, many of us opted to use the bit of spare time for an ice cold shower. The kind of shower that most people in the states would complain about, but here it was a blessing that, for a short time, washed away the grim and the sticky heat.

This was also the day that Loyda came to cook us all dinner.  While she was in the dining room, busy with the meal preparation, many of us had some time to relax for a while.  Now that it was evening, the sun was gradually becoming less treacherous and Nathan, I and a few of the others decided to sit outside for a while near the little chapel.  Playing there were Alessandro, Sarah and Efrain’s two sons (Efrain Jr. and Brian).  The kids had created their own game involving a bike and a jump rope and were taking turns holding the rope parallel to the ground and then riding the bike into the rope. when the rope couldn’t stretch any farther the two kids holding the rope would then pull it and thus sling shot the bike rider backwards.  For a while we simply watched the children play, but eventually drew closer until they began to include us in their play. 

Hasan kicked a soccer ball around with the Soriano kids for a little bit, while Sarah and I pulled Alessandro back and forth across the slick concrete patio using the jump rope.  Various other small, senseless but entertaining games developed and through them we made a connection with the children despite the language barrier (at least with Alessandro and Sarah, the Soriano kids knew some English).  While we played around with the kids Nathan was able to converse with them all quite a bit; asking and answering many questions.  Alessandro particularly took an interest in my hair, crawling all over my back as I sat on the patio and running his little fingers (and the toy he had, which got tangled a few times) all through it.

For dinner that night we had Baleadas with avocadoes, cheese, steak and tortillas, courtesy of Loyda’s hard work. The meal was simply fantastic and it was a real treat to have an authentic Honduran meal. There was much conversation over dinner and it was a great time of getting to know one another.

Later in the evening, after the Soriano family had headed home, the team spent some quality time together over various board games, including Phase10 and Uno.  I won't forget the laughs we shared after that first work day.  Though we had certainly gotten to know eachother during our travel and at church the day before, I think it was that first work day that really brought us together as a team and as life-long friends; brothers and sisters in Christ's family.