Its the end of November in Las Penitas Nicaragua. The temperature is in the high 30s and the humidity is off the dial.
I met Kyle at Atlanta airport as we were both transiting through there and heading for Managua. He from Canada and of course I came in from the Uk. The rest of the team had already arrived in Managua about 35 minutes before us and where waiting with our hosts just outside the terminal building. Following introductions it was into the bus after loading the luggage on the roof and then heading to Las Penitas, a two hour drive from the airport.
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| Old Home |
I had visited Las Penitas the previous year to meet the Fuller Center guys and take a look at the projects they were working on. Since my visit they have been working hard hosting teams and funding the building of numerous homes in the area. I was pleased to see one in particular that I had used in my marketing material for this trip. The plastic house had been replaced with a block built home and had even been painted by an artist from a previous team. I called to see the family and showed them the picture I had previously taken. They were so pleased and proud to show me their new home.
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| New Home |
This was going to be a hot and hard build. Even the 50 degree heat of Rajasthan could not prepare me for the humidity we were about to experience here in Nicaragua. Our cloths were soaked through before we even got to the build site and started working.
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| Setting Out |
Day one commenced with the setting out of the foundations and then digging them to depth. This was hard going as the ground was not very forgiving. We worked with the family who's home this would become.
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| Craig getting stuck into the foundations |
I was surprised at the strength and tenacity of the wife within the family who was there from the very first pickax strike to the last task of accepting the keys to her new home. Her husband was with her all the way except the last day when he had to travel to start work as a scuba diver fisherman some miles from home. So excepting the keys to the home was left to the rest of the family. No doubt they will prepare it for a celebration upon his homecoming.
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| Front left and far right are the home owners |
From Digging foundations to bending and tying re-bar for the strength in the walls and Crown Beam. To laying blocks, placing and packing mortar, moving blocks, mixing concrete and raising the roof. The team worked tirelessly to achieve the goal of finishing the house in 10 days
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| Jean bending re-bar |
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| Jenay and others tying Re-bar |
During our time in Las Penitas some of us took the opportunity to Visit Leon for the festival. An Amazing spectacle, sounds, colours, lights and fireworks. I was so pleased not to have missed this. The whole town put so much into it.
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| Leon |
Back on site the house rose block by block throughout our time there. With direction from our mason and our Fuller Center hosts, the team managed to get the home built in 10 days. I can only applaud their efforts and thank them for completing a home, only the second time I have achieved this in 22 builds. The first was in Sri Lanka in 2006. We would normally get it up to lintel height and then have to leave or finish off a building started by another team. So this was a milestone for me and a great result for the team.
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| The handover of the house keys |
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| Unfortunately Craig is missing from this line up |
So now it is onto the next project being Thailand. Watch this space for more information. If you want to see the full set of pictures in this album please click the following link.
https://goo.gl/photos/HqHMQdEQrCPCjqNu7
