Just thought I'd follow up quick and let everyone know we made it back safe. Most of us had to jump right back into our busy work schedules, hence the lack of update. But hopefully soon a few of us will be able to post some more pictures and maybe some reflections on the week. Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers. We had a great time, but at least for me, it's nice to be home.
Cheers!
-Brandon
p.s. Please continue to pray for the students, teachers, and construction workers that are still there. The project we were working on is still ongoing, and the first semester is coming to a close soon, so it's just overall a very busy time for everyone.
Friday, November 8, 2013
Friday, November 1, 2013
Santa Rosa/End of Construction
This is Joe Van Walbeek writing the blog update on this Friday, November 1st.
What a week it has been. All this week has really given me an appreciation for how easy of a life I have in Wisconsin. When working construction I would work 50 hours without an issue, but here in La Unión I workd from 8AM to 3 PM and I would be totally exhausted from the heat. There was alot of man power needed for the construction where as in the states we had a lot of tools that would make the job a little easier. It was also very warm during the days where heat exhaustion was a concern.
Today, we were able to have at least 7 rows of blocks layed on all walls of the cafetería. It was nice to see the cafetería taking form after a week worth of work. We also had two great translators from the school. One was a 7th grader who wants to become a doctor and we also had a 12th grader who wants to become an Electrical Engineer and is applying to Dordt. (Go Dordt) One of the best blessing for me this week was the kids. We were able to play soccer and volleyball with the kids along with having two different translators everyday. At two o clock we loaded up an SUV and a truck and headed to Santa Rosa. We crammed 6 in the SUV and 5 in the cab of the truck. The principle of the school is driving the truck and is taking his two kids with him and we head to Copan to see the ruins as they had never seen them before. The kids were in the back of the truck along with two other girls from the school. They were crammed between the cab and the our luggage. The two other girls go to the Christian School in La Unión, but there parents live several hours away. We dropped the girls off in Santa Rosa with their parents as they do not see them very often. The girls stay with their Aunt in La Unión so they could go to the Christian School as their parents thought this may be their only shot at a better life as the majority of the senior class is apply to Universities in the states. The one catch is the Universities will need to sponsor them as the majority of these kids will not be able to afford an American University.
I thought I would share a few highlights as I am currently at a hotel that had internet. If we have internet we will try and update you one more time before we return state side.
(Sorry if there is any mispelled words as this computer spell checks in spanish.)
What a week it has been. All this week has really given me an appreciation for how easy of a life I have in Wisconsin. When working construction I would work 50 hours without an issue, but here in La Unión I workd from 8AM to 3 PM and I would be totally exhausted from the heat. There was alot of man power needed for the construction where as in the states we had a lot of tools that would make the job a little easier. It was also very warm during the days where heat exhaustion was a concern.
Today, we were able to have at least 7 rows of blocks layed on all walls of the cafetería. It was nice to see the cafetería taking form after a week worth of work. We also had two great translators from the school. One was a 7th grader who wants to become a doctor and we also had a 12th grader who wants to become an Electrical Engineer and is applying to Dordt. (Go Dordt) One of the best blessing for me this week was the kids. We were able to play soccer and volleyball with the kids along with having two different translators everyday. At two o clock we loaded up an SUV and a truck and headed to Santa Rosa. We crammed 6 in the SUV and 5 in the cab of the truck. The principle of the school is driving the truck and is taking his two kids with him and we head to Copan to see the ruins as they had never seen them before. The kids were in the back of the truck along with two other girls from the school. They were crammed between the cab and the our luggage. The two other girls go to the Christian School in La Unión, but there parents live several hours away. We dropped the girls off in Santa Rosa with their parents as they do not see them very often. The girls stay with their Aunt in La Unión so they could go to the Christian School as their parents thought this may be their only shot at a better life as the majority of the senior class is apply to Universities in the states. The one catch is the Universities will need to sponsor them as the majority of these kids will not be able to afford an American University.
I thought I would share a few highlights as I am currently at a hotel that had internet. If we have internet we will try and update you one more time before we return state side.
(Sorry if there is any mispelled words as this computer spell checks in spanish.)
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