Concrete Day! ;)

By: Erin

Yesterday, all 10 of the volunteers and a small work team joined Dwight and the Maestros (master construction workers) for a day of shoveling, mixing, and pouring concrete. Wow, is it hard work! Of course poured rain and it was freezing, but the show must go on . 

This is a before picture of the soon-to-be school building that we worked on. We poured the concrete floor for part of the the second level.

10 things you might notice on (a very wet) construction day in Shell

1. Mud puddles become pristine sanitation devices.
2. Wiping your face on someone else’s armpit becomes a reasonable option. (it’s the only dry patch of clothing left).
3. A circle of people squeezing as close together as possible in an attempt to warm up.
4. Hot towels right from the dryer feel like heaven!
5. Baseball hats become a highly prized item (keeps water and sunscreen from making rivers through your eyes).
6. Workers warming themselves in front of the cement mixer.
7. Looks of fright on workers faces when they spot the CDF van coming (that means more bags of concrete powder).
8. A reemergence of sign language and charades as workers try to communicate across large distances and over the noise of the construction equipment.
9. The “one hour more” that takes about three hours to complete.
10. The sinking feeling when lights are mounted at the construction site.

 

After working at the site from 8am-7pm we have a lot of respect for Dwight and the Maestros who do full-time construction work for Casa de Fe. While our day of concrete was hard (we have the sore muscles to prove it) they once did a 36 hour concrete pour!