Photos for Tuesday, August 2

Internet service can be quite good in the mornings.  For some reason, a street party has begun outside our hotel, and they have even closed a street for it.  Time?  7:30 a.m.  It's rained just a little this morning.  We will leave in just a few minutes.

Our Habitat house family: Giovanni, the Father; Mirna, the Mom; Javier, the boy on the left is 10 years old, and Felipe, on the right is 9 years old.  Mirna and Giovanni are having another baby soon.  All the men have worked with us on the job site all day long.

Tyra and Jim greet Luis from Habitat.  He had visited us in Champaign earlier this year.  He dropped by to work with us for a couple of hours. 

Briseida drops by for a visit as well.  She visited with us at Good Shepherd with Luis earlier this year.

The group: Dean Olson, Bob Olson, Peggy Olson, Nathan Hack, Kara Greer, Tyra Greer, Jim Hack, Jason Fisher, Jenelle Keene, and the boys in front, Javier and Felipe.

The work on Tuesday was mostly moving the cinder blocks into place.  We probably moved a thousand blocks using a human chain to put things in place for masonry work to begin on Wednesday when the rebar gets covered with concrete.  We'll mix the concrete with shovels on a pad on the ground.  We'll deliver it with buckets to where the masons want it.

 Juan carefully sets the center and height of the bottom rebar using his plumb bob.  He has been a mason for 27 years.  He is hired by Habitat to perform and supervise the build.

Sunday night, we stepped into a cultural center with Francis.  We ran into a complete stranger wearing a Thrivent tee shirt.  Francis explained to her the significance of her shirt, and that we were in El Salvador to work on a housing project with Habitat, sponsored by Thrivent.  She seemed happy and proud to be wearing the shirt.