last few frantic moments

As the clock ticked down on our last work day, everyone raced to finish digging out for our second house’s floor

Done!

At twelve noon our Habitat partner officially ended our work in Nicaragua.  It was time for pictures and celebrating with the community.

Theresa's house (aka Bobby's house or the house in the lane)

And this is also Therea's house (different Theresa, aka the house on the road)

The roofs, doors and windows will be installed within a couple of weeks, after the floor is poured.  This house next door is slated for replacement -

typical house in La Gallina

celebration at the brick factory

Festivities are held at the brick factory since there’s a large covered area to keep us out of the sun.

The neighborhood kids enjoyed taking a turn.

Nelson, our bus driver enjoyed his job as pinata shaker.

And there was MUSIC!!

...and musical chairs.

Finally it was time for goodbyes-

tearful hugs

After a little final ocean time, we had our final evening meeting and a very short night’s rest.  The bus left with us for Managua at 3:30 am sharp.

farewells at the airport as we left on different flights

This program builds friendships that will last a lifetime.

taking a little bit of Nicaragua back home

Our Heavenly Father has blessed us richly during the past two weeks.  Our prayer is that we can apply the lessons we’ve learned in a lifetime of service – continuing to do good works in the name of Jesus.

How to convert energy into a house.

More of the rubble pile was moved into the house to form a firm base for concrete.

spreading, watering and tamping, tamping, tamping

Pictures don't really do justice to how hot it is here. To cool off you can put your back against the brick wall.

Time for some Bible reading with the family.

Nearly to the top. The joints are smoothed with a piece of rebar.

a little boo-boo

We’ve got a few blisters that need band-aids and the minor scrape here and there.

working back to back with the Nicaraguan masons

We have all been intimately involved in building these houses.  It’s been an extraordinary experience.  This is the last bit of brick work on the second house.

inventive play

These kids would roll a couple of feet, reset, roll a couple more feet, laughing the whole time.

same parts reconfigured

digging a water channel between the new house and old

two families

The last brick was placed, the last batch of mortar mixed.  We had a couple more hours so we started digging out the floor on this house.

beehive of activity

Theresa, the woman who will own this house, is part of the crew.

It’s satisfying to be able to at least get the walls all the way up on two houses.  Without our help this would take weeks to accomplish.  We have one more half day of work, then a little celebrating with the families to do.  The floors will be poured and roofs put on after we’re gone.

One of the houses is ready for a floor. Except that getting it really ready is the hardest job we've done so far.

The dirt in La Gallina is exceptionally clay-like.  Digging it is pretty hard work.  We have to dig down quite a way and then fill it back up in stages with “rubble” tamping it as we go.

Load after load.

Finally we'd dug enough.

the dirt from the floor by the side of the road

Meanwhile at the other house the bricks are nearing the top.

cleaning up old mortar around the base of the wall

24 courses of brick on the high side

the rubble pile

another wheelbarrow full

tamping it down to make a firm foundation for the concrete floor

We have a day and a half of this left to do.  This is definitely hard work.  But it feels good to be serving the family that will live here and we feel abundantly blessed.

We finished all the brick work on one of the houses.

Finishing the brick work meant that it was time to dig out the floor, some of the hardest work we've done.

This could be the last "brick line" for the other house.

Wire is cut in short pieces to be used for tying rebar.

The last of the vertical rebar pieces is tied in place.

Someone was happy with lunch.

a comfy glove, oblivious to the work going on

More digging tomorrow for sure and maybe another trip to the brick factory.  Two and a half work days left.

On your mark...

...get set...

...wait.

We got off to a bit of a slow start yesterday when the masons had an issue with the municipality over wages.  Habitat doesn’t pay the masons directly and there was an issue over wages between local government and labor that had to be resolved.  So we occupied ourselves…

"hip pocket" activity - a little time filling game

Before too long, the issue was settled and masons arrived on the building sites.  We were ready for them.

Some new masons take to the wall

More bricks!

More mortar!

We worked shoulder to shoulder to get the wall this high. A house is about twelve people wide.

About thirty kids showed up for a hygiene clinic. Rachel demonstrates good brushing technique.

practice

Only brush the ones you want to keep!

Beautiful smiles

Matt explains why hand washing is important.

"Pass the jabon (soap)!"

Perfect way to end the day.

We got back to the hostal around 4:30, in time to enjoy the ocean before dinner and our evening Bible study.

more music

ending on a spiritual note

Three speedy boats ferried us to Zapatera Island.

volcanic sand

Volleyball and swimming were the order of the day.

one approach to getting into the water

impressive

arroz, fijoles, pollo, plantain frito

wonderful friendships develop

All too soon it was time to leave. But God's magnificence was on display on the way back across the lake.

Our day ended with the daily readings, hymn singing and a talk.

We learned a lot more about Nicaragua this weekend.  It’s a beautiful country with many very pleasant people.  We’re ready to get back to work on our Habitat houses.  Watch us build this week!

And away...

...she...

...goes!

next victim

It's called an adventure for a reason!

incoming

We were always clipped into the trees. Safety was a priority and this operation was top notch.

A great morning of visiting in the tree tops.

We were very high up the side of the mountain.

This is fun!

Something different. Not quite as fun as zipping through the trees but interesting none the less.

A fifty foot drop out of the trees made for an adrenaline rush. Great way to finish!

The afternoon was spent in a nature preserve at the top of Mombacho Volcano.

A great view of Lake Nicaragua

What lies ahead? More lessons to learn, adventures to share, goals to pursue.

The weekend activity of our Build programs is a great time to learn about the countries we visit.  There’s a lot of local culture to absorb and combine with what we’re experiencing on our building sites.  Since the weekends are R & R, they’re not officially part of the Habitat program and no Meal a Day funds go toward them.  We have a little fun while seeing more of Latin America close up and learning more about each other.

Andrea gives a Spanish lesson on the way

a stop in the museum before heading to the rim of the crater

This is an active volcano. Note the instruction on the parking block.

The sulpher smell was rather strong.

It's a long way down.

grande lunch is served

Note to Kaitlin's mom: "Laura, Kaitlin is eating okay."

A stop at the artisan market in Masaya for a souvenir.

It poured down rain in the afternoon and into the evening but most of us headed out to take a look at Granada before dinner.

checking into our hotel

Later we went to a restaurant that features a demonstration of traditional Nicaraguan folk dancing.

"May I have the next dance?"

Note to Phil's mom: "Margaret, Phil is eating okay."

Morning has arrived and we’re heading off to explore the Nicaraguan forest.

morning in Granada

off to work

inside Granada's cathedral

The start of what should be a lovely day.

good progress

Both teams got off to a good start (the twenty four of us are divided into two teams of twelve.)  Mortar and bricks were flying everywhere!

helping bear one another's load...literally

schleppp!

schlopppp!

detail work

getting closer to the top

two of the masons, Ariel and Mirciel

Two masons lay brick at each house. Our job is to keep the supply of mortar and bricks coming and keep up with them.

And the LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Amos 7:8

There are little spiritual lessons to be learned everywhere.  The quality of these houses is very important to Habitat for Humanity.  A Habitat engineer regularly checks to make sure the work is being done properly.  Corrections are made when necessary.

kinda cute but not a lot of help

happy in their work

The people who will live in the house work with us.

getting to know you

plaque on the old house

some alternate activities

A big part of the experience is interacting with the people.  Emery is playing with some of the neighborhood kids, sharing a coloring moment.  They loved coloring…something new to them.

kind of mushy but good

Every day promptly at 10:30 Habitat calls for a break and delivers a snack…ham and cheese sandwiches one day, bananas in chocolate the next

an eye for detail

Did we say it is the rainy season?

When it rains it pours around here.  Enough rain fell that we called it quits.  Back at the hostel we got together after lunch to learn about the other projects Meal-a-Day is involved in in Nicaragua: supporting a clinic for rural people (Clinica Verde in Boaco), an orphanage in Jinotega, and several clean water systems.

Andrea doesn't seem to mind that she got a little wet. Neither did the rest of us!

Traditional Nicaraguan breakfast dish

Our morning starts with a hearty breakfast.  Can’t remember the name of this preparation but it was filling and delicious.  During breakfast one of the team members presents a devotional thought for the day each morning.

Breakfast and a thoughtful moment at the start of each day.

This is where the adobe bricks are made.

Adobe bricks are made of clay-type soil, some lye and cement.  The mixture is made in piles near the brick press.

mixing it up at the brick factory

Believe it or not this is kind of fun...in a sweaty sort of way.

uno fresh brick going to the pile

These adorable children seem to be everywhere. This little girl's mom works at the factory putting in "sweat equity" for a house of her own.

higher and higher

We’re really involved in building the walls to the top.  The team scampers around to keep up with the masons.  Now we know why Phil gets so dirty.

Plop! Another dollop of mortar in place.

perfection seeker

precision work

surprise visit

We had a pleasant surprise visit from Jonathan Reckford, Habitat for Humanity’s CEO.  Reckford and a team of twelve are in Nicaragua this week building a house at another site.

What's for dinner?

This is the typical kitchen in the neighborhood: a wood-fired stove outdoors.  All of our meals are prepared in a modern kitchen at the hotel but it’s fascinating to learn up close how many people in other cultures live their day to day lives.

a quick game of charades

During an afternoon downpour (it IS the rainy season) Matt struggled to get us to guess his phrase.  ”Purple people eaters” have nothing to do with Nicaragua.

What's a little dirt?

The rain made things a little muddy but that’s part of the fun, right?  We left our shoes at the door of the bus and headed back to the hotel for some relaxing and evening activities.

One more day of work this week, then off to explore a bit of Nicaragua over the weekend.