Tomorrow is going to be the last day of work for a short time while we wait for the cement to dry. We expect to be slaughtering some juicy goats up on top of our new first floor within no time.
Crazy times when manning up is do or die. More on Bena later (The guy on the right)
For over two months members of the area have been helping tirelessly on this project. For those who have never had a chance to visit Nairobi or are unexperienced with youth groups, getting a building of this size funded for a group of youth in the ghetto is not really normal. That is why we would like to extend our gratitude to the CDF. Especially The MP of Starehe Honorable Dr. Bishop Margaret Wanjiru, K1, Bonfide Contractors and Mama Ice for keeping us from burning up everyday with your delicious popsicles.
I live for this work. Being outside in the sun, with your friends, sweating, yelling, getting massive blisters and singing "Rudolph the red nose reindeer". Throughout all of my experiences I feel like my skin is a thick sheet of alligator hide (although I seem to bleed out some ounces everyday on sharp metal and nails). As much as I wish my skin was the thickest, there are some who will always have double thick alligator skin than I do. Kaka and Bena are two examples of people who have that impenetrable spirit who can accomplish anything at anytime. To put it simply they are real soldiers.
Yesterday, we were unloading a machine from a truck. It is a very heavy machine that we will use tomorrow to lift the cement from the ground up to the the top floor. To unload it there has to be some wooden planks for the machine to roll down on. I was directly in front of the machine acting as a blocker so that it would come down straight and not fall off the side. We reached a third of the way down until I heard a very loud CRAK! One of the planks had snapped in half and now the machine is nosediving off the side where the wood broke. About 10 guys had hands on the machine and all the ones that were on the falling side flew back and knocked over about 20 stubbornly curious children.
Bena (Above) had his weight on the machine almost fell on his stomach. I watched the machine graze over his head as he just barely managed to pull out backwards with a corner of the machine taking a juicy piece of meat from his shoulder and arm.
So as much as I love this work, sometimes I get so angry inside because I wish we had safer conditions to be working in. If something happened to Bena I would have lost a brother and one of the very few people on this planet who aren't afraid of a few scratches to get the JOB DONE.
Transformers are real
Crazy times when manning up is do or die. More on Bena later (The guy on the right)
For over two months members of the area have been helping tirelessly on this project. For those who have never had a chance to visit Nairobi or are unexperienced with youth groups, getting a building of this size funded for a group of youth in the ghetto is not really normal. That is why we would like to extend our gratitude to the CDF. Especially The MP of Starehe Honorable Dr. Bishop Margaret Wanjiru, K1, Bonfide Contractors and Mama Ice for keeping us from burning up everyday with your delicious popsicles.
I live for this work. Being outside in the sun, with your friends, sweating, yelling, getting massive blisters and singing "Rudolph the red nose reindeer". Throughout all of my experiences I feel like my skin is a thick sheet of alligator hide (although I seem to bleed out some ounces everyday on sharp metal and nails). As much as I wish my skin was the thickest, there are some who will always have double thick alligator skin than I do. Kaka and Bena are two examples of people who have that impenetrable spirit who can accomplish anything at anytime. To put it simply they are real soldiers.
Yesterday, we were unloading a machine from a truck. It is a very heavy machine that we will use tomorrow to lift the cement from the ground up to the the top floor. To unload it there has to be some wooden planks for the machine to roll down on. I was directly in front of the machine acting as a blocker so that it would come down straight and not fall off the side. We reached a third of the way down until I heard a very loud CRAK! One of the planks had snapped in half and now the machine is nosediving off the side where the wood broke. About 10 guys had hands on the machine and all the ones that were on the falling side flew back and knocked over about 20 stubbornly curious children.
Bena (Above) had his weight on the machine almost fell on his stomach. I watched the machine graze over his head as he just barely managed to pull out backwards with a corner of the machine taking a juicy piece of meat from his shoulder and arm.
So as much as I love this work, sometimes I get so angry inside because I wish we had safer conditions to be working in. If something happened to Bena I would have lost a brother and one of the very few people on this planet who aren't afraid of a few scratches to get the JOB DONE.
Transformers are real
Comments
Post a Comment