Day 4

Our great youth
waiting for flat tire to be fixed

view from Palo de Agua



old school getting paint

cement chipping work

Troy & balloons; Steve & lanyards

We leave every morning about 8:00 a.m. in the truck (with the youth and a few adults standing in the back of the pick up) and the rest of us in the back of a van. It was cooler today because of the cloud cover. Many of us picked away at the newly poured cement beams to rough them up for the stucco that will be put on later. Others painted in the old school building. Many of the children of the village joined in the painting, so brushes and rollers of white paint were everywhere. It wasn´t easy painting the beams behind the metal bars and it certainly isn´t one of the better paint jobs I´ve ever done. From a distance it doesn´t look too bad, though.

Steve helped the kids make lanyards today; Claudia practiced her Spanish with some of the children and adults. Troy did his magic with balloons.

After lunch back at SoL, the adults went to the El Provenir office to hear about the water projects they are doing in Nicaragua. They were started through SoL, but now have a separate organization. El Provenir works in rural communities with the people to build latrines and wells. We were fascinated by the simple hand-operated pump they use to get water from natural springs near surface. We found out that UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) is one of the supporters of this project.

We went into the nearby Catholic church on our walk around town, and then for ice cream again!