DAY THREE
We started the day with a stop at the hardware store (which took along enough for the team to get drinks and a snack while waiting!) Then off to La Tabla to being the water project. An elaborate steel platform had been welded overnight by a few men in the community per specifications left by the team the day before. However, it was not going to be strong enough to hold both tanks of water once filled (about 2,000 lbs.) So more steel was purchased and we just so happened to have a welder on the team (Thanks, Lord!) and a plumber (Praise God!) so Kurtis got to actually sit down and have lunch for the first time on a mission trip!
The rest of us camped outside to do balloon animals, face painting and cat’s cradle with the kids. Unfortunately, it was a national holiday here so very few children to entertain. So the women on the team took off to check out a water install that had been done by an EDGE team in January at a Salvation Army feeding center in Sagrada Familia. The SA captain invited us upstairs to his home where his wife served us coffee and cookies. We discussed doing a water system at another one of his feeding centers/day care in a slum area called Villa Esperanza in June.
(A bit of info on Sagrada Familia: a community almost like the Hatfields and McCoys. 2 families who hate each other, all over “drug lord rights” once again.)
Tidbit of info: every mission team seems to adopt an “inside” joke of some sort. This is ours: when we get on the bus, we need to have a head count to make sure everybody’s on. So Claudia shouts out, “Are the Canadians here?” The 5 answer, “Eh!” “Are the Texans here?” The 3 answer, “Hook ‘em, Horns!” “Are the EDGErs here?” The 3 answer, “Whoo-hoo!” “Are the translators here?” The 3 answer, “Pura vida!”
That is hilarious!
1 | Micki J. April 19th, 2010 at 9:21 pm