Rockpile Blues

This past Saturday I, gordon elliott, had to do manual labor. Yes, I know that it is hard to believe but I, a missionary, soiled my hands (well, I was wearing gloves) to help pour the loza for our new building. What is a loza, you might ask. Good question. A loza is what the guys here call the cement slab that serves as the ceiling of the rooms on the first floor of a muti-story building and the floor of the rooms on the second story. It is an interesting process because the hermanos don't have the money to contract it all done so everything is done by hand.

The first step was to get the forms put up to hold the cement in place, since it will not just hang there in mid-air. The Roberta, Georgia work team provided both labor and financing to finish this part.

After the columns that support the wall are built, cement rafters (I am sure this is not the right work in English but my building knowlegde is very scarce) are then lifted into place. These are very heavy. I would not want to be hit on the head by a falling one. Next styrofoam slabs are set between the rafters. The cement is then poured on top of the styrofoam.

To get the cement up to the second floor is a bit of a trick. A bucket brigade is the easiest way. The low man on the brigade fills the buckets with cement by scooping them into the trough where the mixed cement is waiting.

The guys running the cement mixer are responsable for putting in the water, sand, rock and cement. The people shoveling sand and rock

 (me - among others) have the responsability of filling the correct amount of buckets with sand or rock for each batch of cement mixed. I tried to make the job go quicker by singing such songs as Whistle While You Work and Just A Spoon full of Sugar Helps the Medicine Go Down. I don't think I was appreciated. Neither were my references to concentration and forced labor camps. At least, I noted, we were not being told to make bricks without straw.

It is a perfect picture of cooperation and harmony. When everything is finished a good hot and hearty meal is enjoyed by everyone.

This loza is a part of the ongoing Santa Cruz district headquarters project which will house the soon to be opened tutoring center. The plan is to open the center the first Monday on March. The goal is to help neighborhood kids not only do better with their homework but to show them God's love and introduce them to Jesus. If that can be done then I guess a day of hard labor on the rock pike is worth it after all.