Day 3 starts with 35 degrees weather. All three sites are faced with finishing the concrete pouring for the foundations. Our expecation is to lay bricks for Thursday and Friday. Time is of the essence as we prepare three homes for the the major building blitz that will take place next week. It is expected that 500 volunteers from El Salvador will participate in St Vicente for this major iniative.
The support from Patty Cordero, national coordinator for Habitat in El Salvador, has been exceptional. We have felt very welcomed since we have arrived in El Salvador. Our translator Jhonny has been with us every day and has been an unexpected surprise to all of us. He has been a great addition to the trip. As recently as Monday night he represented El salvador in a major international pool tournament against Ron Dunning and Dave Gervais from Canada. It looked as though Jhonny lost on purpose in order to be a good host. As a good host Jhonny has been promised a pair of Under Armor underware for Christmas from Tony.
In today´s other activities Chris beat the beans and bagged corn. Apparently their jobsite had little to do today as they did not receive their gravel for the concrete. John Lindsay apparently likes the food, surprise surprise and Sasha Gupta did a great job reading our meetings final passage today. Ron had a minor case of upset stomach but Gerry was back in fine form after two days in sickbay.
The build was cut short today in order for the team to visit more of the disaster area. We had a firsthand look at the destruction from Chin Chon Te Pec, the volcanoe that created the mudslides. We visited Vera Paz and Guadelupe today. The destruction was enormous as we witnessed the massive mudslide tracks down the side of the volcanoe. Hundreds of homes were completely wiped out. Upwards of 70 confirmed deaths and more than 400 missing. I can assure you from the destruction most of those 400 are burried somewhere under the mud and rocks. We also came a cross Shelter in a Box. A first response group that provides immediate relief to the homeless from disaters who are homeless. It was impressive as they appear to be the only relief agency around.
Our build has become more important as Habitat has increased the number of houses it hopes to build in this region due to the disaster. Thursday promises to be a good day as Paul, Tony and Chris´s teams all pour concrete and begin to block the home. An added bonus is that the local hotel is preparing a Thanksgiving dinner for our team Thursday. We didn´t have the heart to tell them that our Thanksgiving was in early October. Tonight´s meal was pupasa, the national food of El Salvador. It was oustanding. As well as eating them we also helped prepare them. A truly El Savadorian experience. Please check tomorrow´s blog from another member of our team.
Tony Bennett
No comments:
Post a Comment