We have a small team of just 7 volunteers including our team leader, making this the smallest of all the teams I’ve been on. That said, 6 of these volunteers have been on a total of nearly 60 Habitat builds, making this the most experienced team I’ve been on. One of our volunteers is brand new to Habitat and has chosen this build as his first foray outside of North America.
Yesterday’s temperature was a breezy 35C with NO breeze. That’s 35 real degrees, not fake Weather Network degrees. Humidity was high and volunteers’ energy was low. Despite that we got a fair bit done. Sadly, the intensity of the heat knocked out our newest inexperienced volunteer with what seems like a mild case of heat stroke. He had to sit out today as a result.
To cope with the heat we have decided to start our workday an hour earlier. With that, and the fact that the temperature today was a couple of degrees cooler, we were a lot more productive today.
Along with the better weather, the best news we received all day was when an electric cement mixer was rolled onto the worksite. In all of my previous builds there has never been an automated cement mixer. Everything was done by hand.
Today’s work involved completing the foundation work. Yesterday we had dug the trenches and filled them with aggregate (large rocks). Today we poured mortar into the trenches to solidify the rocks. We also began constructing rebar cages for the next phase of construction.
I often get asked what the food is like on these builds. In Asuncion there is a lady named Lourdes who was recipient of a Habitat home some years ago. She was so grateful for the house that ever since she has been volunteering as a cook for Habitat builds. We are so happy to have her. Not only is she a lovely person but she prepares delicious hot lunches for us. Today we had beef ribs that were unbelievable.
At the end of day 2 we felt a whole lot more accomplished. The heat did not diminish our efforts in the least. What the photo above does not reveal is that all the below ground foundation work is done. Tomorrow we will be focusing on brickwork.
sedativegunk 