A little update on our time in El Salvador. It´s half way through our 4 week commitment. The foundation is nearly complete. I´m so glad for that. The exhaustion of digging, actually more accurately would be swinging a pick ax. The dirt is so compacted that you can´t penetrate it with a shovel. The work was aggravated by rocks several so big it took 3 men to roll them out of the ditch. So the physical work is done but not the exhausting work. Yesterday I had the leisurely job of preparing reinforcement rods in the shade of a tree. This did not reduce the amount of sweat and exhaustion. All of my clothes were dripping wet, after 10 minutes in a plastic chair, there was a puddle.

The mason´s helper kept moving some forms that I built saying it doesn´t need to be so thick. After the 4th time, I told him to keep his stinking hands off and if it was wrong I will take the blame.

Today we checked it for square and found it off by 6 inches; well within Salvadorean standards but again I overrode them and moved the strings. Monday, we will have 2 masons here, one starting the brick work and the other finishing the foundation.

The blueprints are a little sketchy, literally speaking, it´s only a freehand sketch on notebook paper. The bedrooms will be 9 feet square.

I´m glad to be a part of this project, and I hope that you will consider joining our efforts.

Just a few comments about their old house; 90% of all wood used was actual tree branches. We also found ants and termites. We also found a chicken nesting. We wondered if this would stop the demolition. We worked around for the first day and that night 6 chicks were following the Mother so we did not get any down time.

Some sections were sticks with mud packed in between.

Dennis and Sue