Construction Day #1

We arrived at the church at 8a.m.,were assigned our work groups and headed out for the construction site. This is what it looked like when we got there. The corners had been blocked up and the foundation had been poured before we arrived. Look closely, you'll see that some stray dogs walked through when the cement was still wet. Those will be there forever. The floor will be cement, no carpets or rugs.



This is the pile of block that was moved into the house by each cement palette by a huge human block moving chain.



Some started assembly on electrical conduit and electrical boxes for outlets and switches. Caleb and Liesel helped sift sand through a screen and fill buckets with sand to be mixed in the cement mixers.











































































Next the block and cement work began to construct the walls. Even Caleb got in on putting cement on the end of the block so that Bro. Hyatt could put them in place in the wall. Thanks Bro. Hyatt for being so patient with your 'lil helper.














































This is the Mesa's house that they are living in now. It's really not much more than a shed. The one room has a bed in it and the other is their kitchen.






























This is Sis. Mesa, first on the right, with 2 of her daughters & one of her grandchildren.
















By the end of the first day, we had completed 5 rows of block walls on the exterior.
The final work of the day was the bond beam. Re-bar is lined all along the outside walls and then filled with cement to make it sound. It was a soupier mix that we used to fill the bond beam. The mortar for the blocks was a lot thicker. It was a good day's work. We had all learned so much.






































































Both Mike and Jesse learned how to use the block saw. It was a pretty 'manly' power tool!We all went home tired and proud of what we had been able to accomplish. Tomorrow, Construction day #2...P.S.Seth was hiding from the camera today. I'll be sure to include some pics of Seth at work in the next post.