Clothes that will never dry...
The rain is coming down like nothing I have ever seen before. A torrential shower has been hanging over these mountains for the past 48 hours due to a tropical depression. In a way it's nice because there is nothing to do but sit over a hot cup of tea and chat with Rosa. Yesterday there was great excitement about the great volcano Pacaya which began erupting on Thursday evening. It spewed ash over parts of Guatemala city and the rivers of lava spread further than have in almost 20 years! Many people were evacuated from there homes and one new reporter was unfortunately killed by a rock that struck him in the head. The danger is not great for us in San Bartolomé as we are a good distance away. The Minister of Education canceled all classes for the department (like a State in the US) of Sacatepéquez and so we were unable to give our first Charla (lesson). This is a big set back since next week there are no classes due to exams, and the following week we will all be out of site for Field Based Training. This means we won't be able to work with the Institute here until three weeks from now! But this is often the way of it here (whether there is a volcano erupting or not)... and working here requires a great deal of patience and flexibility...
Everyday I walk down my street and at the corner I pass a plot of land. A small corner of dirt which a family has chosen to build their home. In just a few weeks I have seen such immense progress on this corner... At first I barely noticed what was happening. I would see some people shoveling, or raking and I thought maybe they were just cleaning up the dirty corner lot. Then I noticed one day that the ground was level, and men were there everyday morning 'til night just digging. I would leave home in the morning and say, "Buenas días" and they would greet me politely and continue working. By the time I had returned in the late afternoon to say, "Buenas tardes," I noticed the trench they had been digging had made a great deal of progress. Now I seem to notice the progress everyday and I look forward to my passing of the corner lot to see what more they have accomplished. They work so steadily and with so few tools. They do it all by hand, with buckets and shovels. In just the past week they finished the deep perimeter of the foundation and have begun putting in metal frames which are all bound together by hand with thick metal wire. Right now the foundation appears skeletal... Just spindly metal jutting out of the ground. It is hard to imagine the house that will soon stand proud on that corner lot. But make no mistake that this foundation that may appear to be nothing significant, will soon be a shelter and a home. This once dirty lot will be a place for a family to live and make memories and for children to grow and play.
This is the same with any project, big or small I think. It may be difficult at first to note the progress that is being made... But little by little, with persistent hard work, an empty space can be brought to life, and opportunity can arise from seemingly nothing.
I think we all experience this but may often times overlook it. We are always taught to value the grand outcomes of our toils rather than appreciate the accomplishment of the small tasks along the way. This is something I hope to amend in my own life and maybe living in this culture has helped me. I notice that I feel pride for the family and their daily triumphs in building their home. Perhaps pride in accomplishment is better noted objectively. Or perhaps this family rests each night counting each shovel lifted as a great success, a bucket full of hope and expectation for their future home.
Anyway, I think in the early stages of construction, our spindly ideals, hopes, and aspirations can be vulnerable to defeat, but day by day our accomplishments build up until we have achieved something great. And it all starts with a good foundation.
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