Pour Day

For those of you who work in construction (or have spouses who do) you will understand this…pour day. It is the day when you need all hands on deck. You have set forms, tied rebar and snapped lines in preparation for pouring concrete. You have double checked that all safety regulations are being met on site. You have done all your calculations, scheduled the pump truck and communicated with the cement company how much you need, what kind you need and when you need it to arrive on site. I remember many days like that back in Canada. 

And on a day like this in Guatemala, I think of Jon, Peter, Dean, Josh and others whom I have had the opportunity to work alongside pouring  concrete. I draw on those experiences to help me make decisions here on the mission field. Today we poured concrete for the roof of a water tank. This tank will enable the village of Yalicoc to collect water that will sustain them over the dry season. Currently, they hike to a cave during this time to retrieve their water. Those who came on a team in October from Pritchard/Scotch Creek know this cave.

So… we have set forms, tied rebar, and snapped lines in preparation for pouring concrete, but here’s where the picture changes. There are no safety standards to meet and no pump truck to call.  Mission 2 Guatemala has a portable cement mixer we used for the pour, but the rest is all in the hands of the men (and boys) of Yalicoc.  Modesto (the village leader) summons the men of the village by blowing through a conch shell. It takes about ½ hour for everyone to show up. They have prepared a breakfast for the two lead bricklayers and me. We eat during this time of summoning. Fried eggs, onions, tortillas, and coffee of a sort.

They set a platform in place to reach the roof of the tank (not quite up to WCB standards) and begin to arrange themselves as the lead bricklayers shout out orders. They fire up the mixer and away we go. The men are in good spirits and there is a lot of laughter as they move the cement in 5 gallon buckets down the line.

Guatemalan Water Truck

Guatemalan Gravel Truck

Guatemalan Line Pump

It is always a joy to watch this process and I marvel at the way these men find comradery in the act of physically working together. What would take 20 minutes or less with a pump truck in Canada, took about 5 ½ hours here. I would consider this a successful pour. No one was hurt, we didn’t have any blow outs and the job was finished in good time.

I am very thankful to be a part of the work that results from the teams from North America.  They come and invest their time, energy and money into a community and the love of the Lord is expressed to the people by helping to meet a practical need.  What a blessing!