Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Final Day of Service

Today, day seven, was our final and most challenging day. We made a lot of concrete today by hand, and spread it by hand as well. What does this really mean, you may ask? First, you must make a pile of gravel. Then, you add concrete powder and mix it. From there you make a center in the middle--much like a well. I do this when baking biscuits (my only previous reference). Next you add six buckets of the water that must be brought from behind the school and start turning it over. And over and over. And over more until Luis tells you it is ready. Or maybe Trinidad. From there, you load it into a wheelbarrow and slide over to where it belongs and dump it. Then, you smooth it out in 5 different stages. Every single student did this today, for hours. Some community children also chipped in! All I kept thinking was that their mothers would be so mad when they saw their uniforms all messed up.

In addition to laying concrete, we finished a sink, finished painting and laid some linoleum.

For several hours, I (Mrs. Berman-Dry) was in the school's technology lab. Almost all of the computers were nonfunctioning. So, I provided technical support and got them ALL working, as well as installed four new software pieces that I had brought for them. The teachers had asked for reading software and keyboarding software. We obliged! Later today, I invited all the teachers to come to the lab for lunch break and four students helped me to show then how to use it all. They also had a new printer that I installed for them, as well as three laptops that needed to be fixed. Part of me felt bad that I was not shoveling gravel, but the other realized that they NEVER get someone to fix things at the school. So, I should use my real gifts in the best possible way.

Now, we are done. I feel a bit sad. As I was fixing the computers, students would randomly come visit me and inquire about my work. They would play with my hair and lean against me--so full of love. I'll be sad to leave them, even though we are headed for the sandy beaches of Tobacco Caye in the morning. Only three days left!




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