We are underway! We had a great kickoff last night. Most of the partner families joined us for dinner at the Estero y Mar, where we were welcomed by the mayor of San Luis Talpa, Johalmo Varela—El Tito—and long time Fuller friend Ildeko Tesak. We spent some time talking about the week and getting to know one another, and called it an early night so that everyone would be well rested for the work to come.
We got off to an gentle start today—the buses picked everyone up at 7:30 and we got things underway, after a few fits and starts, at about 8:15. John Schaub led us in devotions, we gave out house assignments, and everyone went to work. By the blitz build standard many of us have come to know this event is a little, shall we say, organic. We’re shooting from the hip, as it were, but with amazing accuracy. The first day has gone very well—the volunteers are full of spit and vinegar and raring to go. The pre-builders were so enthusiastic that there was some concern at the beginning of the day that we’d get the houses built too quickly. After 8 hours of toting block and mixing mud most folks will be happy with the gentler pace that the solid prep work will allow. The amazing thing is how everything has come together—just like we’d planned, of course.
The houses are almost raised to the bottom of the gables. Going to the peak will take a little longer as a lot of block has to be cut on the diagonal to make the peak. Some of the houses are already reaching for the heavens. One thing’s for sure: you couldn’t hope to find a more dedicated and hardworking group of volunteers.
I forgot to mention a moment or two of excitement we had on Saturday. The board meeting was just wrapping up when we felt the earth move. I thought it might be from the heavy equipment that’s working on the road outside of the hotel (just in time for our arrival), but it kept on coming. Turns out we were in the midst of a 5.8 quake with an epicenter about 50 miles south in the Pacific. Some of us figured it was Heaven’s way of telling us that it was about time to draw the meeting to a close.
FYI-- there is a lot of information going out from here through a number of blogs, photo sites and YouTube. Check the web page, http://www.fullercenter.org/, for more information. If you click on the little cameras on the web page they’ll take you to our photo galleries. The two photos above are of the work site as it stood at the beginning of work today
We got off to an gentle start today—the buses picked everyone up at 7:30 and we got things underway, after a few fits and starts, at about 8:15. John Schaub led us in devotions, we gave out house assignments, and everyone went to work. By the blitz build standard many of us have come to know this event is a little, shall we say, organic. We’re shooting from the hip, as it were, but with amazing accuracy. The first day has gone very well—the volunteers are full of spit and vinegar and raring to go. The pre-builders were so enthusiastic that there was some concern at the beginning of the day that we’d get the houses built too quickly. After 8 hours of toting block and mixing mud most folks will be happy with the gentler pace that the solid prep work will allow. The amazing thing is how everything has come together—just like we’d planned, of course.
The houses are almost raised to the bottom of the gables. Going to the peak will take a little longer as a lot of block has to be cut on the diagonal to make the peak. Some of the houses are already reaching for the heavens. One thing’s for sure: you couldn’t hope to find a more dedicated and hardworking group of volunteers.
I forgot to mention a moment or two of excitement we had on Saturday. The board meeting was just wrapping up when we felt the earth move. I thought it might be from the heavy equipment that’s working on the road outside of the hotel (just in time for our arrival), but it kept on coming. Turns out we were in the midst of a 5.8 quake with an epicenter about 50 miles south in the Pacific. Some of us figured it was Heaven’s way of telling us that it was about time to draw the meeting to a close.
FYI-- there is a lot of information going out from here through a number of blogs, photo sites and YouTube. Check the web page, http://www.fullercenter.org/, for more information. If you click on the little cameras on the web page they’ll take you to our photo galleries. The two photos above are of the work site as it stood at the beginning of work today
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