The Soccer Field is Almost Finished!

At first glance, it may not look like much, but to the people in Yorkin the recovery of their soccer field has been an important task.  It is one that has brought the whole community together to work - old and young, men and women.  In addition, there have been several groups of volunteers who have joined in the efforts.  Thanks to the inspiration and motivation provided by Benson Venegas, the people have seen the task as a challenge and opportunity.  Instead of just leaving the plaza as a field piled with sand and debris, they have organized themselves and their efforts to bring this soccer field - and this community center - back to life.

Tile and Ceramic

Hugo and I made a quick visit to Yorkin yesterday to check up on the progress of things.  You can see below that they have finished the tile on the walls in the bathroom, and the ceramic flooring is over halfway done.  As things are moving along, it's becoming more of the finishing work, the details that aren't as immediately noticed as putting up walls or painting, but all in all things are starting to take shape!

The ceramic tiling in the bathroom

Tile floor before the grout

Finished tile floor

Tubing for the septic system

Recovering the Soccer Field

The flood in November left the local soccer field in complete ruin.  It was covered with uprooted trees, parts of trees, all kinds of debris, and with a mountain of sand that left one half of the field about 3 feet higher than the other half.  Seeing the importance of restoring this" "community center" - a place where families, friends, old, and young could gather together and play - to funcional use was something that caught the personal attention of our fearless leader Benson.  He was able to organize the local youth, kids and some of the men, as well as recruit the hard labor of our volunteer teams from Colorado to transform the "mess" into a smooth, level place to play soccer.  It was inspirational to see the way the young kids got involved and you could literally see their excitement growing as they realized that their soccer field was not lost forever, but in fact, about to be restored.  And despite the fact that we saw the situation as ideal for a backhoe, it was all acheived through several days of hard work by many hands, many shovels, and just one wheelbarrow.

some of the tree trunks and debris that was removed

some of the local men and kids working the shovels

Benson encouraging and motivating the local guys 

the kids got excited about helping out too

some of our Colorado crew

The Fine Art of Splattering Cement on a Wall

During the time that our first mission team from Colorado Community Church was in Yorkin (July 5-9) some of us got to test our stucco-ing skills.  About half of the interior walls of the clinic had already been done by the local laborers, but some of the CCC team helped out with finishing the job.  It's a fine technique of using a trowel to throw a wet cement mix on the wall such that it spreads out - not too thin and not too thick - and sticks to the wall.  Turns out there are some people who have more of a gift for the wrist action it requires... While some of us are better at part 2 - the smoothing process with a wooden paddle.  Working alongside Benito, our team was able to help complete the rest of the interior walls leaving them ready to be painted.

Pastor Hugo and Jeff mastering the art...

Benito, the foreman, preparing to tile the bathroom

making progress....

Pastor Hugo inspecting the work

Destruction and Reconstruction of a Jungle "Highway"

One of the projects that our volunteers from Colorado Community Church took on was a little "highway" reconstruction.  A portion of the main pathway in and out of the village had been in pretty bad shape for a few months.  What used to be an elevated boardwalk was now missing several planks and had collapsed to one side in various points.  As a result, the people were forced to use the dirt path on the side, which is also used as the horse path.  With all the rain and subsequent soft terrain, plus the high level of traffic on the path, it had become quite the muddy, slippery mess.  

We worked along side the locals to rebuild the path in such a way that it would withstand the rain as well as lots of users.  They showed us how to line the borders with large rocks, lay out medium and smaller rocks to cover the path in between, and then spread sand over the top to make it firm and compact.  It meant A LOT of trips back and forth about 200 yds away to the river to collect rocks and sand and carry them back in our arms or in rice sacks.  We got dirty, we worked up a lot of sweat, and as a team we were able to see the goal accomplished! 

BEFORE  2 options = broken boards or mud & slippery logs

carrying water and other supplies on the old path

taking apart the old boardwalk

digging out and pulling up posts

carrying away the posts and old boards

picking out rocks by the river

hauling the bigger "border" rocks for the new path

carrying rice sacks full of smaller "filler" rocks

placing the rocks, one by one

almost done, just need to fill it all in with sand

some of our "manpower" getting dirty

the finished product!! 

washing & cooling off in the river after a day of hard work

the progress continues...

here are photos from the recent visit to Yorkin.  things are moving forward with the clinic.  now that there are walls and a roof and the concrete base for the floor, the changes probably aren't as dramatic in the photos, but they are making progress.

Benito - the foreman, Fredy - president of the Health Committee, and Ibo - the architect

Benito and Ibo discussing how to smooth and prep the walls for painting

the pharamacy window

view from the front

a really big and crazy bright yellow/green bug

(i put my camera case on the ground so you get an idea of the size....)

The Roof is Up & the Bathrooms Have Walls!

When doing construction in a remote jungle village, there are many unique challenges that can develop.  One of the difficulties that presented itself in building this clinic in Yorkin was the issue of welding the metal frames and braces for the roof.  Our foreman had a welding system, but unfortunately the generator that we had brought to the village last year wasn't big enough to handle the charge.  The foreman decided to make a temporary trade of equipment with a friend who had a smaller welding system, but that didn't work either.  In the end, the best solution turned out to be transporting the materials in boat, part of the way back down the river to another village - Shuabb - where they have electricity.  In Shuabb, our foreman used the welding equipment to weld the metal pieces together, then they managed to take these in the boat back up the river and back to the site in Yorkin.  They weren't able to weld everything that they had intended to because there was a concern by some in this village about the amount of electricity they were using, so our creative foreman rigged up a system of screws, brackets, and braces to get everything in its place.  All in all, it turned out to be a delay of about a week or so, but they got the job done and now the roof is in place.  As they like to say down here, sometimes you have to pull a "MacGyver" (or two!) to make it all work!

the roof gives the clinic a whole new look! 

some of the metal framing that was welded

the "MacGyver" system

the front of the clinic

main hallway with a raised section of roof to help with ventilation

Benito - the foreman, Freddy - president of the Health Committee, 

Benson Venegas and one of the local laborers

preparing for the septic tank and piping

homemade jungle tools

the public  bathrooms at the back of the clinic

The Clinic Takes on Shape

Along with the help of 7 workers who are receiving payment from the Department of Labor, and despite the challenges that arise, our foreman has led the team of laborers to make continual progress on the construction.

walls are up! - April 23

the main hallway down the center of the building

the foreman, Benito, consulting with Architect Ibo Bonilla

side view of the building

the pharmacy window where medicines will be delivered 

step one of the roofing process is underway - may 8

the columns for the public bathrooms (behind the building) are in place

cement flooring has been poured - may 8