MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 2009
Camanchaj, Guatemala Monday, January 19
Our team is on site and this place is buzzing. The Dental Clinic is open today and tomorrow,
and the local people were waiting patiently to be seen when our bus pulled up. The clinic staff
on Mondays and Tuesdays swells by 14: one doctor, an intern, one dentist with three assistants,
three pharmacy staff with an intern, the registrar, and THE COOK, Marabelle. Marabelle, the
most popular of all. Barbara Travis and Chris May are very compatible as her sous-chefs, and
the three of them fed 45 to 50 hungry today on a bit more than $25.
The morning began with a devotional and then Our First Order of Business: the floors of the
two pre-school classrooms and the kitchen needed a finish grouting. Bob Keller and A.J.
Mastrullo had wind of this situation and packed their knee-pads, and everyone was more than
willing to let them take over that floor! First, of course, was the first classroom to be used. Both
classrooms are being cleaned; some of the classroom furniture needed a top coat of paint. The
seamstresses in our group are measuring for curtains. The second floor walls are rising at a
good pace; the mortar ("mud") is mixed up there on the second floor - - with the buckets of
sifted sand, water, and cement that a chain gang of souls passes along up the stairs. The same
chain passes up the cement blocks. Then, more lifting to get it . . u p o n t o t h e
s c a f f o l d . . .
Our construction albanil, boss, is Miguel. His ayudante, helper, is Roberto. Miguel and
Roberto, assisted by Texas team member Silvio Sella, are laying the horizontal block, and the
LADIES are doing the mortar between blocks. Norm Briggs monitors the mixing and supply
chain. Two new-best-friends from Team Oregon have joined us, and those two LADIES are
slabbing the mortar also. EVERYONE is working very hard.
Our Sunday was much more leisurely, a nice introduction to the country and its people. Most
enjoyed the famous Sunday market in Chichicastenango where our hotel is. Sunday afternoon,
many went to a cooperative begun by the Iglesia Metodista after the 30 years of civil war to
provide some income for the many widows left with children to provide for. Beautiful woven
cloth, embroidery items. . . . lots of Quetzals were spent for treasures. Sunday service is at 4
p.m. and we had three pews of our team there. We were so filled with the hospitality of the
members that we offered to sing our Cormeth closing song: Go Now In Peace. . . They ushered
us. . . up onto the stage. . . . where we, hopefully, displayed our sincerity much more than our
singing ability. A wonderful day of beginning for our mission here in Guatemala.
Our team is on site and this place is buzzing. The Dental Clinic is open today and tomorrow,
and the local people were waiting patiently to be seen when our bus pulled up. The clinic staff
on Mondays and Tuesdays swells by 14: one doctor, an intern, one dentist with three assistants,
three pharmacy staff with an intern, the registrar, and THE COOK, Marabelle. Marabelle, the
most popular of all. Barbara Travis and Chris May are very compatible as her sous-chefs, and
the three of them fed 45 to 50 hungry today on a bit more than $25.
The morning began with a devotional and then Our First Order of Business: the floors of the
two pre-school classrooms and the kitchen needed a finish grouting. Bob Keller and A.J.
Mastrullo had wind of this situation and packed their knee-pads, and everyone was more than
willing to let them take over that floor! First, of course, was the first classroom to be used. Both
classrooms are being cleaned; some of the classroom furniture needed a top coat of paint. The
seamstresses in our group are measuring for curtains. The second floor walls are rising at a
good pace; the mortar ("mud") is mixed up there on the second floor - - with the buckets of
sifted sand, water, and cement that a chain gang of souls passes along up the stairs. The same
chain passes up the cement blocks. Then, more lifting to get it . . u p o n t o t h e
s c a f f o l d . . .
Our construction albanil, boss, is Miguel. His ayudante, helper, is Roberto. Miguel and
Roberto, assisted by Texas team member Silvio Sella, are laying the horizontal block, and the
LADIES are doing the mortar between blocks. Norm Briggs monitors the mixing and supply
chain. Two new-best-friends from Team Oregon have joined us, and those two LADIES are
slabbing the mortar also. EVERYONE is working very hard.
Our Sunday was much more leisurely, a nice introduction to the country and its people. Most
enjoyed the famous Sunday market in Chichicastenango where our hotel is. Sunday afternoon,
many went to a cooperative begun by the Iglesia Metodista after the 30 years of civil war to
provide some income for the many widows left with children to provide for. Beautiful woven
cloth, embroidery items. . . . lots of Quetzals were spent for treasures. Sunday service is at 4
p.m. and we had three pews of our team there. We were so filled with the hospitality of the
members that we offered to sing our Cormeth closing song: Go Now In Peace. . . They ushered
us. . . up onto the stage. . . . where we, hopefully, displayed our sincerity much more than our
singing ability. A wonderful day of beginning for our mission here in Guatemala.
Pam
Silvio