Working hard in Esmeraldas!

Tuesday, we were all over the place! The organization we are working with is giving us so many opportunities. First, breakfast is always delicious-lots of fresh fruit, freshly squeezed tropical juices, eggs, and rolls with jelly. Then today, the big bus was here to drive us the 25 minutes to Esmeraldas since it arrived yesterday with the medical team- so no more cramming 13 bodies into a minivan and pickup truck as we've done for the past two days--including the loooooong drive from Quito to here. On the way to the job site, Kathryn entertained us with tales that exemplify her passion for all things Red Wings. I'm quite sure the medical team didn't know what to make of this rowdy group in the back of the bus!

Once we arrived at the house site, Kathryn went to work in the clinic while the rest of us went to begin building a house and made a wonderful discover: all 9 two feet deep holes for the beams that would hold up the house were dug by the men helping us yesterday!!! This is no small accomplishment since we had worked for at least an hour and a half at the end of the day with a chisel and hammer and an empty coconut shell to empty the dirt once the chisel did it's work-and got 2 holes dug! Needless to say, helpful big tools were scarce! But the men had some tall tool that they could use to knock the dirt right out, so they finished all the holes after we left.

The morning was filled with leveling the floor posts about 3 feet off the ground, adding some beams, and then hammering the floor boards into place. Before we went to lunch, we had the prefab walls in place and by the time we got back, the 3 neighbors had the roof started. Bob and Adam decided to build a staircase out of scrap wood to help the family get into their home, so after they did the math, the two of them and Becca and I all did an awful lot of sawing. All by hand-not a power tool in sight!

Meanwhile in the afternoon, Annie, Alexandria, A.J., and Alex all went to help at the clinic. Good thing ,too, because the dentist's office alone saw 150 patients-the doctor's office even more! Our Facebook page has a picture of them all in their scrubs! Kathryn helped fill prescriptions, a job that terrified her at first, but by lunch she was a pro, even though everything was in Spanish! Alex was an oral surgeon's assistant-really and truly! He held spit cups, rinsing tools, whatever she needed him to do while she filled cavities and pulled teeth! Pretty high level jobs they would never have been able to experience back home!

It was a long work day-we didn't get back to the hotel until nearly 6:30!! It had drizzled on and off all afternoon, but we easily finished the house (thanks to our neighborhood friends!) and gave a lot of help at the clinic!

We talked a lot about the sense of community and looking out for each other that we've observed here. I think that's one of the powerful reminders of what we could have if we slowed down our lives some that motivates me and Todd to plan these trips each year. We always see vividly how much more people matter than anything else we might want. Why else would family members and neighbors help to build a house that has plenty of volunteers to do it? Why else would doctors and dentists give up multiple weeks of vacation to provide free dental and medical care to the poor throughout the summer? I'm always humbled by how people in every nation show their love for each other.