Tuesday 1/8

Today was our first day of work at Common Hope. We arrived at the compound bright and early at 8 am. We met our "jefes" for the week, Pablo and Felix. These two men are in charge of all the construction projects at Common Hope and speak little to no English. Nevertheless, we got right to work and loaded concrete pallets and large bricks into the back of Felix's truck. We then hopped in the back of the truck and were on our way! We arrived at the home of the family we would be working for; they live right off the road on land that is owned by another more wealthy family that farms coffee. There are 6 families living on this plot of land and they all act as both guardians and workers on the plantation. We unloaded all the heavy concrete and began construction. The outline of the house to be built had already been laid out with string. First, we dug holes for all of the large concrete bricks that would act as a foundation for the house. This took quite a long time, as the ground wasn't very malleable and we needed to make sure all the bricks were level and in line with the projected outline of the house. Soon we were sweating and dirtier than I think I have ever been in my entire life. Once all the bricks were in place we tried to level to dirt and rake up at much of the trash as possible. My OCD came in handy here; I spent a good 20 minutes trying my best to make sure the dirt was perfectly raked and as level as possible. Suffice to say I got quite a few laughs from Felix and Pablo. Working with them was great! Despite the language barrier, we laughed, exchanged jokes and even tried to teach each other new words and sayings. The family watched their children, cleaned dishes and harvested coffee beans while we worked. There were about 6 or 7 people in the family that we were working for. We made some new special friends, Joel (6) and Emily (3.5?). They were shy at first, but once they saw us laughing and playing around they soon warmed up to us. By lunch time we were absolutely exhausted and drove back to Common Hope for lunch. Lunch is provided by Common Hope every day and it has absolutely delicious today. Nothing too complicated, but everything is fresh and homemade.

The work day here is interrupted by a 2 hour siesta, so after lunch we had time to lay in the sun and digest our meals. But after the rest time, it was back to work! Caroline went to go shadow the visiting dentist and me, Lindsay, Brian, John and Tyler went back to Pablo and Felix. During the afternoon, we worked on the prepping phase of construction. We broke the concrete pallets and bricks out of their molds, then cleaned the molds and floor, reconstructed the molds and then prepped them. By this time we were drenched and covered with a thick concrete dust. The final step in prepping, before pouring the actual concrete, was my least favorite part. In order to make sure the concrete didn't stick to the molds we had to paint the insides of the molds with tar. It got everywhere and the smell was less then appealing. But once the pallets were prepped, our first day of officially over. We are exhausted, dirty and hungry, but to be honest, I couldn't be happier. There is something rewarding about being able to make something and see the actual product, to volunteer your time and actually witness the rewards. Can't wait for tomorrow!