Hola y Dios de bendiga!
I apologize if this seems scatter brained, it’s late but I
wanted to get everything down before I forgot.
It’s been another wild few days down here south of the
border. We completed our second and
final training build earlier this afternoon (Wednesday). We built for a family of 6 this week. It was another exhausting few, but very long
days. It got up to 110 on Tuesday and
there were winds up to 50 mph both days.
These dust storms are something I can’t even describe and though they
made this week’s build much less comfortable, I feel like it was great preparation
for future circumstances. I was carrying
a sheet of plywood perpendicular to the wind and was literally thrown to the
ground by one gust. Like I said, it’s
hard to even put to words.
This work is like nothing I’ve ever done before. It’s so awesome to be able to walk away from
your week having an enduring structure as the fruit of your labor as opposed to
a grade on a sheet of paper. The house
we completed today was our third in just 9 days!!
Anyway, I have officially completed my team leader training, and will be
leading a team with my friend Andrew in Acuna this Monday, and just a week
after that, I’ll be flying solo.. I feel
very confident about the building process; the intern manager has done an
incredible job preparing us. I worry
most about the logistics of leading a team, navigation, personality management,
tactfulness, ect..
Since I am building in Acuna two weeks in a row, Casas’
supply manager for Acuna, David Quinones, who has been training will us as well
graciously invited me to spend the long weekend in his family’s home in Acuna. Generally I speak to him in Spanish and he
speaks to me in English haha. I quote “You come my house for the long weekend…you
eat my food…you hungry you go to the freezer…my wife she wash your dirty
clothes… mi casa es su casa.. all the time.. no problemo” There are few things about my summer that
have been consistent, but the thing that has is good people. They just gravitate to this place.
I’ll leave you guys with some pictures and thoughts that go
along with them. I’ll post an update
later this week when I learn more about the team I’m leading on Monday.
The Foundation. Screeding with Andrew. Monday
Marking Wall Plates with Big Dave Kruh.
Setting the walls. Monday
Setting U-Joints. Tuesday
Finishing the roof. Tuesday. It got pretty windy up there. Interns from left to right- Zach, Me, Big Dave, Andrew
Bottom- Miguel (Casas supply manager for Juarez)
The Boys of Summer. From left to right- Armando (intern from Puebla, Mexico), Me, Andrew, Big Dave, Miguel
The neighborhood we built in (Eastern edge of Juarez)
Dry Wall
Dry wall- I was about to go insane by this point.
This is Dulces, the youngest daughter of the family we built for. She is almost 5. Her mother was pregnant with her when her family applied for this house. The current waiting list for a double in Juarez is over 4 years..
Dulces and her family now have shade from the sun, shelter from the rain, protection from the dust and wind, and warmth in the cold. They have a house. It's easier to believe that there is a God who loves you when your children are warm and dry.
Their neighbors moved when their house was literally blown down.
The waiting list for a double is over 4 years.. some families can't wait that long.
I've been praying about Rolling Hills' next trip since I got here. Let's take a family off that list some day soon.
I love you guys. I am so thankful for the examples I have in you guys. It has helped more than you will ever know.
God bless,
David
