Success!!!
After grueling days digging holes and shoveling out giagantic rocks, today, we were finally able to start piecing together the walls of our classroom! We started with the poles which we had to carefully align in each hole to ensure a sturdy schoolhouse. Then, once the poles were stratigecly placed, we would dump a mixture of concrete and rocks into the holes thus locking in the foundation of our classroom.
Sounds simple? Don't be decieved. Before we could sprinkle the concrete around each of the columns we first had to make the concrete. I suddenly have a great appreciation for the concrete mixers that are so easy to come by in the United States but are a little rarer in Santa Maria. Without machines to do the hard work for us we were forced to use only our shovels and our muscles. Essentially, we used manual labor to mix the piles of sand with the 125 pound cement. Then we had to add water, which completed the precious mixture but also made it five times heavier.
As I was occupied with the tedious task of mixing concrete, others helped to unload the prefabricated walls and lock them into place between the columns, an equally daunting process. Below is a video of the second wall John, Javier, and our trusty handyman Rigo lifted into place.
In total we lifted 7 columns into the holes and put up a total of 12 walls! Though we are not quite half way there yet, it is already possible to see the finish line just over the beautiful Costan Rican horizon. Wish us luck!!!
-Brittany
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