After lunch I stopped by the job site to see the progress. There was great milling around as everyone reapplied sun block, donned work their gloves and looked with pride at what they had accomplished in the morning. They had set three of the caged columns and filled the front trench with concrete:
The trenches are each about
They are wide enough that kids took naps in them at times -sorry I couldn´t get a picture of that! But, it is now after lunch and some are having more difficulty getting motivated back to work than others:
Suddenly, it was as though someone turned on a switch! Everyone was up and moving and it brought memories of Christmas movies to mind--you know the ones where all the elves are feverishly working on assembly lines to complete all the toys.
The cement mixer operator started the mixer, added water and cement. The mixer was flipped and two guys started shoveling sand and rock into it:
Then three guys lined up with their wheel barrows, the mixer was flipped again to fill each wheel barrow in turn:
Each full wheel barrow was pushed over to the designated spot, tipped and the concrete poured into the trench:
As the cement is poured into the trench, two guys make sure the column cage has been stabilized, kept level and plumb, as they push and guide the concrete to fill the area: 
As the trenches are filled, another guy drops big rocks into the concrete to give greater strength and to assume a lot of the volume:
This assembly continues again and again. There is no talking. Everyone´s energy is concentrated to the work. Again and again and again. Team Brophy in Peru!
Wow nice work guys you should all feel very accomplished right now. Tacna is without a doubt the most memorable part of the trip for me and I hope you guys are all making the most of it. It's good to see that you guys figured out the wheel barrow makes for the best seats! Keep that beard going strong Mr. J and if possible you should put up a picture of Beatrice's home. Also, if you could, send my hello over to Lula, Elmer, Adriana, Diego, and Guillermo.
Keep up the good work guys,
Connor Peagler
P.S. Go Rodger!
Thanks, Margaret, for this wonderful description. It is so gratifying to see all of you working on that house and to know what you are going through. the thing that you get out of this is that the idea that the poor have it hard becomes a reality for you because you feel it in your hands and feet and back and arms. the myth that the poor are poor because their lazy gets the proper debunking it deserves.
I know what it is to create those rebar frames. It really does a number on the hands, but you get good with the pick side of the hammer, don't you? And I know what digging that foundation must have been like, and then filling it up barrow by barrow with concrete. Gents, you really are building the Kingdom of God, you know. Shovelful by shovelful, you are not just building a house. Let this barn-raising be a raising too of your heart and spirit for the good of humanity. Let the foundation you lay in Tacna be the foundation for a life lived for Christ and his people.
Peace,
Mr. B
The misadventures of the Brophy gringos in Peru is hilarious. Someone has a real talent for wry humor--you'll be writing for John Stewart within a year. Your first stop after Sky Harbor needs to be Spinato's.
I'm proud of how each of the gringos has handled this adventure, and what great delegates you are in behalf of your families, BCP, and our great country.
Now if we could just get you to straighten out the mess in Pakistan.