As of Saturday, we had erected 6 of 20 panels for the building. We were beginning to wonder if we could finish before it was time to leave. With much speculation and review of the building instruction, Mike Collier revised our strategies and we prayed as a group for a miracle. We upped our time to leave exactly at 7:15AM in order to hit the ground running. Brenda and Lynn went up to the sewing classroom and worked with the students until 12 noon. We then went down to the work site and lo and behold there were only six more panels to be installed. We had lunch as usual at 1:00 – pupusas with cheese or cheese and beans or mora (a locally grown vegetable that is very nutritious – looks a lot like spinach, but has more crunch and flavor)

Back to work: one by one the panels were put into place. At least 25 villagers came to assist. We had a routine going! Then a storm came with a real downpour, thunder and lightening. We all took shelter, either under the overhang of the storage or under the new building roof. It lasted about 30 minutes; the area was flooded and there were leaks in the new roof. We waited – then it stopped. The water, for the most part drained away. We got back in stride. At 4:00PM we completed the panels! The miracle had happened! We cleaned up the site, the ambulances arrived, but one last thing to do-----pray. We gathered our crew and many villagers and made a big circle in the mud and on harder ground but all holding hands together. Antonio, the mayor started praying in Spanish and several of us followed in English. What a wonderful way to end the day.

Tomorrow we will meet again to finish some small things and have a “going away Fiesta” with the villagers.

Next >> Day 9