Yesterday, I arrived late from running errands when I was told a woman had been waiting to speak to me for several hours. I went back outside and found the woman above with her baby breastfeeding. It'd been a hot day and I asked her how long she had been waiting for me. She said she had been looking for me since 4 am. Her persistance and determination overtook me. I poured her a cup of water and listened to her story. She needed an all-purpose wash station but she had not been selected as part of the 20 families. However, in the last few days donations had been made via GoFundMe.com/francostravels
Before the supply truck left to bring more building materials we were able to get one more wash station for the persistent dame and her family. Today I went and visited her home and see her new wash station. Unfortunately, the 1,500 lbs wash station had been dropped while it was being moved by her husband and friends and had cracked on one end.
Below are several pictures of Graciela and Ismael. You can see how they used to wash their clothes and dishes. Also, we were treated to a delicious breakfast before we left. Thank you Graciela for not giving up on your family and being persistent. Thanks to Project Genesis donations you now have your own was station.
Later that morning we had to purchase 3 dozen planks of wood for a latrine and a surprise project we are working on for one of the 20 families. Thanks to a $200 donation recently made, we will be able to rebuild a kitchen for a less than fortunate family on Thursday of this week.
One of our objectives during our purchasing phase of Project Genesis is that we purchase everything we need from local vendors. This allows for the money to stay in the community. We also hire workers within the community and create temporary jobs for people as there are some things our team does not know how to build.
In the afternoon, supplies were once again distributed to the last families we will be helping. Once again, Generacion Magnificat come through with trucks and volunteers to deliver the building supplies.
In the evening we decided to have a Christmas dinner as a group. We have been working nonstop and thought having a dinner together would help build moral and also a time to share about the different projects we have been working on. It was nice to relax and share a good meal together. We decided to partially prepare our meal on a stove which had been donated to Project Genesis by a Vietnam veteran who had been a helicopter pilot in the Army. I had mixed feelings about the reaction the group would have about the stove. This stove uses hardy any wood and burns for long periods of time. It is used around the world in many developing countries. Generacion Magnificat were fascinated by the stove and are willing to consider it as a useful tool for less fortunate families who are street vendors and sell fried or hot food.
Enjoy the pictures! Thank you for your continued support and reading my blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment