We are working in earnest today. Three of us are whacking river rocks with small sledges to make better gravel for the cement in the columns, some are moving dirt so that alignment cords can be strung, yet others are tying rebar. Great Haitian meal from the Foison church again!
Today our return was marked by more tent configuration. I think it was on this day we finally got the first intermediate section set up. We synthesized about 100 opinions about directions and ropes and sides and even which tent went with which frame elements.
On this day we had a little time left, and the kids wanted us to go down to the river that did an oxbow behind the shed, about 500 feet lower. So a bunch of us headed off. The path along the ridge was paved with many small rocks. Deborah and I looked at each other and one of us said, "Do you know what I am thinking?" The response, "Yes! Which of these rocks would be the best for cracking?" Correct! The work sort of grows on you.
We followed a steep path down through scrub, through belts of rocks, through yam and bean fields, the kids holding our hands, and finally got to the river where most clothes came off (of the kids) and they splashed and frolicked in the water. they were so full of delight as they swam and rolled around in the water. What pure joy! I succumbed to the gurgle of the rushing water, and sat on the bank, took my socks and shoes off and eased my feet into the soothing water. Immediately my feet were surrounded by little kids staring and touching and pinching and scrubbing. I think the last time my feet were exposed to the sun is when I was 12, so they were very white! The kids were just amazed. Then one little girl found my feet were ticklish and I had to retreat.
Soon we started up the steep trail, some of the kids got piggy-back rides on our young men's backs. The smallest asked if I would carry him, so he mounted up and we trudged and cantered up the hill-side, until the older boys saw him riding. They were mortified that I would be treated with such disrespect and chewed the poor little kid out. Being Kester's father had imbued me with a great deal of honor, evidently. We pulled each other up over the steepest parts, and the younger folks decided to go down another hill to another dam, where Sandi had observed the nude swimming last trip. Since some of us had slipped badly on this trail during that trip, several of us headed back to the house to get ready for supper. Kester said he was just going to watch them go down the hill, but he felt some responsibility for watching them, so he went down to the dam with them.
I have not written about anyone specifically yet, so I will start with Dan, who was so quiet last time. This time he has a good bit to say, because he has been reading first aid books backwards and forwards for months. He is our expert on heat exhaustion and sunstroke, and he is the only one of us who can come close to keeping up with the Haitians in doing the heavy work. Calm, quiet, kind, quick with a smile, and deep in the devotion he led for us, he has grown a lot in many ways over the past two years. I am thankful to know him.
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