Look at the pretty ball bouncing

Hello from Guatemala. Today is Wednesday (just in case this posts on a different day). This is the account of the school group. We went to a school about 40 minutes away this morning—“La Fortuna”. The school had about 150 kids and was in a mainly Mayan community. The interesting thing was that some of the older kids spoke Quiche, a Mayan dialect (which is so different from Spanish they could not understand us). The school building was just bamboo sticks that were tied together. They had dirt floors and tin roofs. To get to the school we had to drive down this dirt road that was very rocky and curvy. The teachers were very gracious and helped us keep all of the kid’s attention. Since the school building was not very accommodating, we did two demonstration sessions outside from the back of a truck. The children were so attentive and responsive. For some I think it could have been their first introduction to any type of science. We have about 7 demonstrations all focusing on types of forces—like gravity, pressure, and centripetal force. After the demonstrations we made wind mills with the kids out of pencils, tacks, and paper. We gave out the school supplies bags that we took and everyone was very gracious. The only downside was that after that the older kids started to kinda beg for a pen or a pencil or whatever or pretend they didn’t get a bag. The smaller children were very sweet, they just stayed sitting in their chairs and waited for us to pass out the bags. None of them asked for more or tried to convince us they didn’t already have a bag. I think it shows that begging is taught, and I hope that we didn’t reinforce that habit any more than we could help. Also we read the story of Noah and gave each child a coloring book with the story in it. Overall I think the day went well, I think one of the most important things to remember at the schools is to try not to be Americans that just give the children things. It is difficult because these kids were so poor and we wanted to help, but at the same time we don’t want to reinforce the attitude that we, as Americans, give the kids supplies and then immediately leave them. It is hard because there isn’t enough time to create real relationships with the kids, which I think would make it easier and more appropriate to give them gifts. A challenge is to realize that we cannot in one day fix their poverty or solve all their problems. Instead we need to trust and pray that God will provide for them or use their situation for his glory.
-Amy and Alan

Buenos Dias! Today is the first day I have not fallen into the river. The day went very well at the bridge despite a myriad of minor setbacks. We split up into teams, and the morning was filled the cutting of box beams, the building of a stand to hold the spool of ¾ cable during stringing, lots of welding of the bridge panels, rebar mesh making, and preparation of the concrete platforms for cable stringing. We had aimed to have the cables strung before noon today, but things always take longer than you expect with construction and especially with construction in Guatemala. Last night our devotional was focused on patience and being content to serve however you can, and today our team showed a great deal of that. The number of children at visiting our site during the day has grown to about 30. They get in the way sometimes, but they are so sweet and they keep us focused on the right things. We have started a trend of the game “slaps”, and today they demanded physics demonstrations from Allen.
Lunch came right when we were about to run the cable across the banks. Our Guatemala helpers did an outstanding job lifting the spool onto the stand and being patient with our indecisions and slow pace. With the school team back at lunch we worked much faster in the afternoon. We had had only one working drill for the past day, but today Rick got us a drill press and saved us. The fun began as we pulled the first cable across with a rope by hand. This process is harder than it sounds. It got out of control a little and the cable ended up resting on the bottom of the river! On our second try we achieved perfection. The rest of the day was spent shoveling a truckload of gravel for the base concrete addition; assembling, welding, and preparing the platforms, handrails and handrail supports; deciding what to do about estimating cable sag and adjusting the cables to the right pre load height; adjusting the first cable and transferring it from the come-along to the turnbuckle. We received the surprise at the end of the day that the cable probably has a nylon core instead of the steel we ordered. This comes as no surprise to us after our experiences with the platforms. We’ll do our best with what we have and leave the rest to God. A woman named Juana has brightened our days by bringing homemade breads and soups and bananas to us and we have really enjoyed being around the Guatemalans. It is now late and I can no longer think clearly. A happy Guatemalan Mother’s Day to our temporary Guatemalan mother Iris, and to all our moms back home!

Caleb

ps - a note about pig lard

we spilt a cup of pig lard that we use to lubricate while we drill metal, so Steve sent for another cup. Yesterday Juana brought us sweet corn stew, and it was being
passed out at the same time that the pig lard was returned...in a cup...a very similar cup to the cups with sweet corn stew in them. Steve recieved the pig lard and promptly took a large swig from the glass thinking that it was corn stew! His face was priceless and his mouth will never be the same.