I actually woke up early enough to walk today to the ProWorld office, but having never done it before, other than the time we were lost with Sarah, I was not sure what to expect. I had an idea of where it was, and so I decided to start off and take whatever streets I could try and get me in the general direction I wanted to go. However, after a little while, I started to feel lost and unsure of where I was going. I looked down every street I could find to locate a landmark of some kind, but I didn't see any. I trusted myself and my sense of direction and kept walking until I saw it, the sign for the Abraham Lincoln school! It was funny to me how famous he is and how his name is everywhere, even outside of the United States. Him being my favorite president, I couldn't help but smile when his sign was the one that helped me find the ProWorld office.
When we arrived at the service site, we split up into teams of 2 again. Today, I chose to team up with Sarah and see if we would have any better luck than I did yesterday with Angie. Unfortunately, I think it is me that is the one that has bad luck with the choice of homes. Sarah and I arrived at the home and, of course, the wall going up to the roof jutted away from the stove about 6 inches halfway up the wall. So, Sarah and I lifted up some large rocks and wooden boards with LOTS of barro to help fill in the space. To go along with that, we had to make a new hole in the roof for the chimney that was going to come out of the roof. So, to help out and because of the small language barrier that stood between us and the family (I don't really know many words for construction things), I went ahead and climbed on the roof to build the rest of the chimney. However, when I was trying to nail in the boards into the roof to support them and make sure they didn't move, the wood on the roof splintered. With some small engineering miracles and loads of barro, we were able to cement in the boards and finish the stove for them. They were so very helpful and if we asked for something, the son of the family would literally RUN to go get it. They were so sweet.
After finishing the stove, we went to lunch and then went to work with Sarah, Kacie, and Stephanie at another home. In the house was the cutest little girl who could not pass a moment without telling us "hola". So cute. Unfortunately, the bad house curse followed me. The platform that the woman had built was sideways and located in a bad place, so I went with her to load some huge adobe rocks into a very old wheelbarrow and used the adobe to add onto the existing platform to make it workable. After all of that, we didn't have a lot of time to work, but we still managed to get a little more than half of it done. We had a very effective assembly line system in place which allowed us to cruise and get a lot of it done, but we will have to return to that house next Friday to finish it. I felt bad that we left her with an incomplete stove, but in a little under a week, it will be done and she will enjoy a much cleaner home and better lifestyle. She will no longer have to live in a space consumed by the smoke produced from cooking. She will no longer have to continually breath in harmful smoke, nor will her children who are probably more affected than her. That is why I am doing it. I want the future of these people to live healthier and longer. That is what inspires me.
Tonight, I was able to enjoy a hot shower for once. It was so glorious and soothing that I wish it would never stop. But, of course, it did and so I got out, got dressed, and went out to dinner around 6 pm with the group. Tonight also marks the first night I have a roommate at my house. I am excited to meet him, Javier, but he was sleeping when I came back from dinner. I guess I will have to wait until tomorrow.
Until then all, take care and talk to you later!
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