After two false starts we finally made some progress up at the school in Limones. We had waited for a man supposedly knowledgeable and able to act as a “foreman” of sorts for the repair projects but he seems to have other priorities. Harold headed up Saturday with just the materials, one volunteer teacher, and a driver to help. Thankfully, Solomon was quite willing and two more men ( parents of students) showed up to help as well. School was in session, so the principal sent some kids out to help clean up the bathroom area where the guys planned to work. None of the stalls were functioning at the time and a lot of trash had accumulated around there and the pila, where we plan to set up a handwashing station. Right now the cement block pila is the sole water source for handwashing, rinsing mops etc. and the water in it had the murky look of pond scum-probably from whatever had accidentally fallen in as kids pushed up to use the water. I remember hearing the principal say that they’ve had a small child fall into the pila while trying to wash his hands. Eventually there will soon be some sinks too.
Each toilet tank needed functioning hardware, and one bowl was cracked beyond use and missing a supply line (project for next trip). The guys did the plumbing and worked to get water flowing from the tank to the toilets. This involved a run down the mountain to the maintenance shed to adapt pieces to fit and drop garbage at the same time.Then they scraped and painted the walls and doors a bright verde and salmon-which Harold kept teasing Solomon about since in Spanish the two are almost the same.
In two weeks there should be a big work party to get the roof on the classes. Harold was surprised while working to hear English spoken and came out to find the parents of a former student running an ESL class. She was excited to hear about the repair plans for the school and full of ideas for other ways to help out. We’ll see what develops.
The guys made two trips down the mountain with trash filling the back of the pickup each time. Trash cans are a definite priority so that the kids can start taking pride in their school. Because trash service ends about where we are on the mountain, most folks further up just burn what they can or find a convenient spot alongside the road and dump it. The school needs to devise some kind of method to dispose of trash.
Dale, who went along to help Harold commented that, “we could work here every Saturday for a year and not make much of a dent in what needs to be done.” A slight exaggeration, but perhaps not too far off.
Next time, our day will begin with a 6 am men’s breakfast at our house for guys from the church. Perhaps we can round up a few more helpers that way and invite the parents to our church plant up in that area as well. I’ll also make up a couple of crock pots of Honduran style “espagetti” because the roof will be a daylong project. Pray for all the potential in this community. It’s exciting to see how God is working things together in this area.
glad for the progress!!