Dear Grassroots Heroes,

Building More Than A School

The construction mission team is working hard in the hot sun, dust and wind at Grippis Farm. They are doing manual labor in a very rustic way. At first it was just them toiling. As the villagers witnessed their hard work, one by one they began to join the volunteer effort. They grabbed picks and shovels the team bought for the project and began to dig out the hard, dry soil for the footers of the foundation. They chopped out roots and stumps with a pick axe. Together the growing team knocked out the work in good time.

The next phase was to transfer the concrete blocks from where the truck had dropped them to the building location. The team started carrying the blocks one at a time to the site. The teachers, on their first day of school vacation, arrived to help them. Soon, the children of the village saw the effort and wanted to help. Little tiny children were carrying the heavy blocks. Someone had the idea to form a “bucket brigade” to move the blocks. So, the Americans, the villagers and the children formed a long line passing the blocks along. For hours they moved blocks. The little children didn’t tire. The block layers began to lay the blocks – filling he holes in the center with concrete as they went. By days end they had four layers of blocks laid.

Today they are trying to mix the concrete to pour the slab for the floor.

The well is not yet opened, so the villagers have to fill huge barrels with water at the old well and roll them UP hill to the new site. It takes one hour to fill and roll one barrel of water to the site. No wonder they had requested a well at the new construction site! The new well won’t be useable until tomorrow. But, the workers aren’t daunted by the task at hand. By noon, they have 4 barrels of water, and they can start to mix when they have 5. A total of eight will be required for the work today. Tomorrow they will continue to build up the walls, which should be completed by Friday!

There is more than building a school going on here. Vincent said it this way “It is like the people of the village just woke up. They have started working on their own plots of land now – clearing the trees, and stumps, getting them ready for their own building projects. Somehow they have been inspired by seeing the school started. They have realized that there is hope, and it can be done, and they can make it happen! It means a lot to them that these people have come to help them – without getting anything in return. They feel by the team’s hard work – that they are valuable enough to help.” Who can measure the impact of being loved and served? One day we will all look back and be able to trace the path of the villagers as they were touched by the love of

God through his children!

Rich Blessings, Tanya