Day 4 – Playtime

Today we continued our building project. Returning to the work site after a nice restful sleep, we admired the progress that was made long after we left on the prier day. So we started where help was needed, we reformed some assembly lines and got to work. We started by moving sand so it could be sifted to mixed for concrete. We helped pass the time by singing and making up games to get the work done faster. As we were finishing up with the sand we heard a truck coming up the mountain, we looked over and noticed it was carrying the lumber and roofing sheets that will be used on the roof of the school.  Due to high spirits the team worked steadily through out the afternoon and was able to move the materials from the truck to the work site. While three quarters of the team worked on moving material there were also a few members who helped with mixing cement so that the smooth coat could be applied.  Anticipating up to 600 people for the community party on Sunday it was decided that we should remove the pile of the rocks that had accumulated from the excavation.Filling a few bags with candy and coloring books we traveled to the work site.  It was decided that we would travel to Calvaire in two teams so that we could still be productive at all times:Team 1Including kids of all ages we were able to bond through basketball, football, patty cake and duck duck goose. Besides the physical interaction there were moments to just hang out with one another. Even though we could barely speak there language it was comforting to see how a simple wave, high five or hug could bring two people from other cultures so close.  At the end of the time together we were able to hand out “silly bands” as a reminder of our time together.Team 2The second team got down to the kids and immediately broke out the skipping ropes, basketball and football, the kids were so excited! Then we brought out the coloring books, and everything dropped. There was a mad dash for the crayons and a picture to color in. When they were finished all the kids were so proud to show off their new colorful creations. At the end of all the coloring and fun was over we headed back up to the work site to finish up the day.The work day was finished so we started our trek home eager for showers and a bed to take a nap in. Upon finishing supper we busted out the many suitcases full of donations collected by the team. We sorted them by gender, then age, and then by who it would be going to. We will be giving some of our donations to the community we are building for and some to an orphanage in Port Au Prince.By Chad, Liz, and Shannon