Manual Labour

Well, all week I think about things that I can put in my blog but when it comes to writing I always forget everything!!! Last week was a fairly average week with nothing out of the ordinary other than on Saturday we put the first floor on the construction, which required lots of cement and lots of hands to get it all laid before the cement dried. For those, like me, who are not especially up to speed on construction, basically the process was, mix the cement (with sand water and gravel) then put it in buckets lift them onto the roof then pour the bucket first into the gaps, hammering and the metal supports to make sure it fills all the gaps then all over the roof and smooth it out and wait for it to dry. Since in this heat the cement dries quickly and we were doing it all without the aid of machinery it was all hands on deck, so several guys from the YWAM base came to help and us 3 girls were all involved too. 

So for me the day went like this, woke up at 7.30am, everyone else arrived between 7-8am, from 8am filmed the foreman teaching the boys how to mix the concrete, then at about 9am climbed up to the top level and hammered the cement into the gaps, followed at 10am ish helping carry buckets of cement to where it was being dumped then throwing the buckets down into the patio to be filled again. All was done by 1pm and followed by a delicious soup made by Señora Esther. 

It was a really fun morning, although hard work, my hands after were really dry, and all my muscles are still aching 4 days later!! and when you know that you are building the house where you will live it gives you a certain sense of "I have to do this well so it doesn't collapse on me!!"

Other than that I have also decided to take part in the YWAM Cartagena fun run this Sunday, this will involved being at the beach for 7am on Sunday and running back and forth for an hour in silly heat!! this is all to raise money for another construction. For over a year now YWAM Cartagena has been building its first base here, until now they have always rented houses in the same area of the city to accommodate staff and students of the various training schools they run, DTS, Strategic missions, English, Arts etc. This new building will be 3 stories and will have classrooms, meeting room and bedrooms to accommodate all the students. So a real blessing for the base and the world as these missionaries in training will then go "into all the world" bringing the Good News to all people. 

If you would like to sponsor me in this please use the donate button above , you can sponsor me per lap or a total amount, if per lap (I don't know how far it is!!) put a comment and let me know how much per lap and I will let you know how many I have done.