Building foundations in Mairowa

Another little adventure for me. No- nothing at all as exciting as the last one with the car, but a few new interesting things have happened.

I spent this last week in Mairowa with a team of 16 teenagers from Scottsdale. What a blast! The team came in to work on laying two foundations for homes for two widows that will be completed later in the year.

Now, I must confess the following:
1. I knew that laying foundations would be hard work (just didn't know how hard)
2. I knew that the team consisted of 10 women and 8 men.
3. I knew that teenage girls from Scottsdale love manicures, high fashion, and make-up.

With this in mind, our vans took off for Mairowa. The first day we spent with our pickaxes, hoes and shovels digging two 24' deep x 20' wide ditches that would become our foundations. Man alive, this was hard work. It actually reminded me of the days when my Dad would give my brother and me snow shovels for Christmas, with the expectation that they would be used regularly (in case you were wondering, they were, and thus the reason for a new shovel every year).

The next day I think was my personal favorite: roll the boulder into the ditch. I had never envisioned myself, with a stylish African skirt on, assuming the sumo squat position to roll a boulder into a ditch. I don't think any of the other gals did either because they were a bit dubious at first.

The last day was much easier. It involved mixing cement, sand, water and rocks together to form the footings for the foundation. This was really slow work but it was finished.

I think what surprised me the most about this last week was the resiliency of the gals. I expected the guys to work hard...they are men. But the girls, I have to confess that I really didn't think that they would give it as much as they did. They arrived with make-up bags in hand, fresh mascara perfectly applied, and outfits that, by African standards, were worthy of Vanity Fair. However, they rocked the work site!

Even more impressive was the attitude that they chose to take regarding the lodging in Mairowa. The first night was a rough one: pit latrines, no water to even wash ones face with, and a LOT of insects. But, by the third night, there was hardly a peep from them about the conditions and they slept like babes. They really were troopers throughout the week and I was so proud of these girls.

It was a good time for me to reflect on my own resiliency. Not necessarily involving remote living conditions, but situations that the Lord chooses to put me in to build my endurance. I am still thinking on this, so as soon as I have some interesting thoughts to share, I will. Keep you posted!

ESW