The Unmatchable Last Words

Most of us are settled in now. We pretty well finished up one house in Tijuana and got a really good start on another. We celebrated, we chilled out, we reflected, and then we headed for the San Diego airport and home.

But just when you think that the story's complete and the epilog is published, you find out that something was left unsaid here. In this case, that message came from America, who is receiving a new home through the Esperanza volunteer program.

That's America in the photo below. And immediately below that photo is what she had to say. She had written it out and read it in Spanish the day we finished, and it was only when we had returned home that we were able to translate her comments. In their heartfelt simplicity, they carry an unmatchable eloquence.

Today is a day very special and grand privilege to know and have your aid for completing our dream of  having a house that we have waited for for years.

For my son and me it is to know that dreams can become reality if only we struggle and work hard to achieve. We have enjoyed very much seeing our home finally being built.

But (the) most beautiful part of all of this is that you have become a part of the construction.

You have given, as it is said in the Bible, until it hurts and go until it hurts but you also enjoy.

WE know that in our homes will stay your work and your strength and above all your love.

This love that the world yearns for so much but thank you to Esperanza, the technicians, and to you that I can teach my children that the most important thing in this world is to love others.

There does not exist one, nor many words to describe the profound gratitude we have for your group. So we desire that you go very well always and that you can tell in Mexico you have a home…. And that is exactly as it is as you have helped make it be a home.

Emmanuel, Jose, Miguel, and I desire that God bless you.

                                                                                                       

Note: This blog is independent of any organization; errors, omissions, exaggerations and misinterpretations are solely the responsibility of the author.
 Love,
Robert

Epilog: Why Tijuana?

Why do 26 people--most of them Catholics-- spend at least $800 to fly 1,300 miles, sleep in chilly bunk beds, and sweat under the Mexican sun,  to construct a tiny home in a marginal neighborhood that's not even an afterthought in a border town of 1.6 million people?

They just do.

As I was waking up this Monday morning and Memorial Day, some words came back to me from a poem I read back in my youth, when I was a Christian -- a Methodist, no less. I think I read it in Reader's Digest or some other schmaltzy periodical that was popular in the 1960s. It was written by Meade McGuire, a long-since forgotten 7th Day Adventist minister, who was apparently inspired by the Victorious Life Conferences held in the United States a century ago.

I'm printing it here in honor of the givers I've had the pleasure of observing in Peru, Cambodia, and now, Mexico:

Father, where shall I work today?
And my love flowed warm and free.
Then He pointed out a tiny spot
And said, “Tend that for me.”
I answered quickly, “Oh no; not that!
Why, no one would ever see,
No matter how well my work was done;
Not that little place for me.”
And the word He spoke, it was not stern;
He answered me tenderly:
“Ah, little one, search that heart of thine.
Art thou working for them or for me?
Nazareth was a little place,
And so was Galilee.”

Love,
Robert

Note: This blog is independent of any organization; errors, omissions, exaggerations and misinterpretations are solely the responsibility of the author.

Tijuana Skyline

8,000 pounds. That's four tons. And that's only the gravel that we hauled and mixed yesterday to make the foundation for America's house. That doesn't count the sand, which probably topped three tons, or all the yellow dirt we had to haul for the underlay. My share of that had to be at least two tons of shoveled gravel and dirt. Not quite up to Tennessee Ernie Ford standards, but it was enough to earn me a good night's sleep.

We leave Tijuana tomorrow, most of us for home, so this was the day to finish what we started earlier in the week.

So, like an army of ants, we reshaped, to a very limited degree, the Tijuana skyline. We put a roof slab on Nico's house, moving by one person's estimate, 12 tons of cement. Like a conveyor belt, the gravel, sand and water were dumped into the cement mixer before being shoveled into buckets that snaked their way along one side of the house and up a scaffolding to be dumped in the waiting frame of wood and rebar, before the empty buckets were tossed back down to ground level for refilling.

Everyone was a hero today, but the one I noted most closely was Deana Barrow, who shoveled non-stop for a few hours to keep those buckets moving. Using a square-bladed shovel, she kept digging into a "canoe" of cement  and dumping loads into buckets almost without pause, accounting for half of the estimated 12 tons of cement that were hauled up the scaffolding to become part of Tijuana's skyline.

Deana, center, shoveled cement non-stop.

You have probably heard at least one version of the folk song about that steel drivin' man, John Henry. Here's one example:

John Henry had a little woman
Her name was Julie Anne
John Henry got sick and was laying in his bed
Julie drove steel like a man.
Yeah, Julie droved steel like a man.

Well, here's another one for you to chew on, based on the undaunted performance of Deana, who didn't stop until the roof slab was done.

There was this stubborn woman
The woman's name -- Deana
She stood right by that  see-ment tub
Deana shoveled mud like a man, oh Lord,
Deana shoveled mud like a man.

Well, I hope I  haven't embarrassed her with bad lyrics or too much attention.

The photos that follow show more of how the day went:

A continuous, almost rhythmical bucket line brought the concrete from ground to roof level

Dan Soukup used the "gravel drag" method to fill buckets fast enough to keep up with the serpentine line to the roof.

Jose, America's nephew, filled sand buckets.

Messy Greg Seiler was too busy mixing cement to keep his shirt clean.

Just as we were about to run out of gravel, the cavalry arrived -- a dump truck with another load.

The water man also showed up, to replenish the site's water supply.

Mike and Jan Kline failed to grasp
the concept that when you do a parody
of American Gothic, you're not supposed to smile.

With the roof slab nearing completion, Ben Larson hands up a bucket to Dennis Dooley.

Kelsey Barrow estimated that she had performed 1,800 bucket returns before the work was done.

Done! The bucket line's works is over, and Rigo, an Esperanza employee, smooths out the surface.

Two families express their appreciation for the work on their new homes: to the left, spouses Roberto and Nico, and far right, America. Their children are also pictured above.

 Thanks from the family was followed by a blessing of the house, led byJonathan Cheever, a student for the priesthood.

Final Photo:

Impatient with the slow pace of the bucket line,
Karen Maxwell simply heaves a cement bucket to the roof as a stunned and incredulous Annette Schwientek looks on.

And if you believe that...

Love,
Robert

Note: This blog is independent of any organization; errors, omissions, exaggerations and misinterpretations are solely the responsibility of the author.

The pour

Today we poured cement. It was a simple job in concept but exhausting in execution. It involved moving probably well more than a ton of rocks and dirt, tapping it down, installing reinforcing wiring and then pouring and finishing the cement. And most of the effort involved bucket brigades.

It all involved the property belonging to America and her family -- where we had worked yesterday. The objective was to pour the foundation for her home, but first the earth that lay within the frame of the foundation had to be tamped down, and that was performed by Ben Larson, in the photo, below.

Ben Larson tamps down the earth.

But that ground was too full of organic matter, and didn't compact well. We had to set up a bucket brigade that hauled "yellow" dirt onto the site. This would compact better, and create a solid underlay for the concrete. The next photo shows Rigo, an Esperanza employee, working the layer of underlay soil.

Rigo, atop the yellow soil that will provide the underlay for the  foundation.

After Rigo tamped down the soil, another bucket brigade went to work, loading gravel and sand into five-gallon buckets which were emptied into the cement mixer. The cement was hauled by another brigade to be dumped for the foundation as Rigo worked and finished the surface. Filling and hauling those buckets of rock or sand and then passing partly-filled buckets of cement to the foundation went on for a couple hours. Rigo's announcement that no more was needed was greeted with a cheer. Time for another home-cooked meal by the lady of the home.

Rigo works the cement while Dennis Dooley delivers more.

Afterward we visited the home of Norma. This double-wide (a full 460 square feet) was completed last year as a basic concrete block house, and the photos below show what Norma did with it in the meantime. Her satisfaction in having this home was matched by the satisfaction of the Esperanza volunteers to see what she had done with the shell they left her a year ago.

Esperanza volunteers come to see how the house has been finished.

Norma shows off her bedroom with her brother, Roberto.

A baby sleeps in a second bedroom.

Norma's sparkling bathroom features a shower area with tiled walls.

I'm tired and I'm going to bed. Tomorrow I hope to have photos for you from the pouring of the roof for the other property we've been working on -- Nico's house.


Love,
Robert

Note: This blog is independent of any organization; errors, omissions, exaggerations and misinterpretations are solely the responsibility of the author.

Cement and rebar

Karen Maxwell pitches an empty cement bucket to Dennis Dooley

I had a girl friend a few years ago who didn't grasp the concepts of fidelity or loyalty, but she sure knew how to eat soup properly. You spoon up the soup by moving it away from you in the bowl, she explained. That's the polite way to do it. She clearly had class.

Using that method, she would have lasted about 30 seconds on the gravel pile today.

The cement mixer was chugging, the bucket line was pulsating, the empty buckets were flying, and it was all I could do to drag shovel loads of gravel into the 5-gallon mud buckets between my feet, to keep up with the process. Gravel and sand buckets were being dumped into the mixer along with water as fast as the crew could fill it, before dumping the load in the "canoe" from which another crew scooped up the cement for the bucket line.

We were at America's property today, filling the cement blocks that were going to frame the foundation for her new home.

The photo below shows that work site. That's America on the far left, and Roberto, an Esperanza employee, who helped in the process. The wall of cement blocks define the frame into which a floor will be poured. But today the point was to fill the blocks in that wall with cement, and brace the bottom of the wall as well.

America, Roberto, and the frame for the foundation.

And just below is a photo of  Zachary Chambers, hefting a bucket of gravel, or sand, into the mixer, while the bucket brigade awaits that load to be dumped into the canoe.

Zachary loads the mixer.

Deana Barrow scoops cement out of the "canoe" to pour into a bucket. Susan Nadeau will heft the load and pass it to the first person in the "receiving line."

As an emptied bucket flies past her toward the head of the bucket line, America prepares to receive a cement bucket from Sandy Kubishta.

As the photos should indicate, the day was bright and hot, and there was a big cheer when the final load was dumped at the foundation site. Then the final task before lunch was to backfill the perimeter with the dirt it surrounded and wet the dirt down. More dirt will be delivered in the next day or so, and then rebar will be placed for the foundation, and another bucket brigade will arrive to deliver the cement. America's work wasn't done yet, however. She prepared a delicious lunch for the work crew before we headed out to another site.

The crew spread out the earth in preparation of the next pouring, to create the foundation slab.

America's nephew, right, plays with a friend in the sand left over for the foundation pour.

After lunch, we headed to Nico's site, where we had to finish the rebar work for the roof to be placed on her home. Inside the building, 2x4s were already set up to support the weight of that pour, as shown in the photo below.

Seattle architect Greg Seiler stands in the doorway of Nico's home, where 2x4s await the pouring of the roof.

Workers hauled rebar onto the roof in preparation for the pour.

Rebar was laid in a grid to make the "roof" rigid. The cement slab actually serves as a floor for the next story of the house. Technically, it is not a roof, because it is not completely sealed.

Nico, left, was among those who prepared strips of wire to tie rebar.

Margaret Soukup and Steve Zeller used the wire to tie down the rebar.

There were a couple more casualties today. One worker got clipped in the head while hoisting some plywood and required a few stitches. Another caught a small chip of cement in his eye, which had to be washed out. Nothing major, but the lollipop that was bestowed on yesterday's knee cut patient ended up being passed to a new generation during dinner at the posada tonight. Their clinic photo is below, courtesy of Stephanie Larson.

Casualties Ben Larson and Mike Kline (with eye-patch) share the lollipop.

 Is this going to become some sort of traveling trophy?

Love,
Robert

Note: This blog is independent of any organization; errors, omissions, exaggerations and misinterpretations are solely the responsibility of the author.

The rest of Tuesday: Two work sites, one accident

Late this Tuesday morning we split up to work two sites. We had already installed a concrete block house at one site for a woman called Nico, who is married with two children. The walls are stable, but not secured. Today the objective for that site was to install the framing for the concrete roof that will tie those walls together securely.

Nico's House seems to consist of a shed (under the sloping roof), a tiny kitchen and a bedroom.

Rigo, an Esperanza technician on the framework to support the cement roof.

The second site belonged to a woman called America. The team assigned to that site worked on a concrete perimeter that defined the boundaries of the house. The perimeter was set into a trench. Today they did the prep work for pouring cement into the blocks to secure that wall. Later, a concrete floor will be poured within that perimeter to define the foundation of the home.

The dirt is contained by concrete block. The trench is where the perimeter wall is situated to frame the slab foundation. Concrete is poured into the perimeter wall to stabilize it. (Photo by Kelsy Barrow)

The day was almost routine and uneventful, except for the accident that ended our work at Nico's site. If you're going to pour a cement roof for a house, you need rebar. And if you're going to use rebar, you have to cut and bend it. There were primarily three people on the rebar team--Diego, a local and friend of Nico's family who operated the cutting and bending tool; Destrey Seiler, a veteran from prior years who measured the rebar; and Emily Gilbert,  a slender, five-foot-ten newcomer who tried her hand at bending. It's a task that requires upper body strength more appropriate for a manly man, and Emily was rising to the occasionand getting the knack of it when she slipped and fell. A few moments later, she noticed the blood streaming from the gash on her knee. It was not a small cut.

Within a minute, Anetta Schwientek, another veteran, had gauze over the wound. Klaus Schwientek, Anetta's husband, decided we were done for the day and would return early on Wednesday, to make up for lost time. We loaded into a van and headed for a clinic located within a half-mile of the Esperanza compound. In a little more than an hour, Emily was the recipient of a "get well" helium baloon, several Hawaii-styled leis, and an enormous, multi-colored lollipop.

  Emily, with balloon, leis, lollypop, and bandaged leg. flanked by Annette and Destrey.

And when we returned to the compound, we found a new element: volunteers had finally erected a longed-for addition to the facility: An Esperanza flag had joined the Mexican flag near the entrance and was fluttering in the wind.

The posada finally sports an Esperanza flag.

Tomorrow we return to the work sites to continue construction on the two homes.

Love,
Robert
Note: This blog is independent of any organization; errors, omissions, exaggerations and misinterpretations are solely the responsibility of the author.

Morning Comes to the Posada

At 6:30 a.m. the light is gentle in the Posada.

6:30 a.m.
It is still slightly dark, cold and quiet. Some moving shadows have already risen silently to face the day. And although I was almost shivering during the night, the morning seems warmer. Geography studies suggest that the sun has already warmed the land enough to cause air to rise, drawing in even warmer air from the sea, which is slower to cool at night than the land.

The temperature can be variable in Tijuana. Some years the home builders sweat in 100 degree heat. Sometimes the days are much cooler. This year we've been working in the 70s, I believe.

But that also means the nights are chilly. I came with one small felt blanket, and last night I was wishing for more. But when I got up at 6:30 a.m. today the outside air was comfortably cool and the room actually felt warm when I re-entered.

Moses was confronted with a burning bush; we get a blooming bush.

Outside the light is gentle and the posada is quite pretty, with blooming plants and bright building colors that remind us we're in a Hispanic (Latino? Mexican?--what's the right word here?) environment now. Strolling around the compound in the quiet morning is a good way to take off the night's chill.

That's a good thing, because here's no such thing as warming up in the shower. You get one minute. The method is to get wet for 15 seconds; shut off the water and lather up; then use your next 45 seconds to wash off the soap.

City services have reached the posada, but water is expensive. My understanding is that we're not conserving water-- we're conserving money.

It's ironic, because "Tijuana" derives from an Indian term meaning "by the sea," or something like that. And when we returned from the job site yesterday, we rounded a curve at the top of a hill and there was the ocean, just a short bike ride away. (Not so neat a ride coming back up the hill, of course.) But the Colorado River never reaches the sea, and the Tijuana river doesn't produce the volume of water 1.6 million people would like to use--which makes you wonder what the future is going to be like for Mexico's fastest growing large city.

Enough of that. Here's some more photos from yesterday that didn't make it on the blog due to some technical difficulties. We'll be on the road in about an hour, and I hope to post more tonight.

Have a good day. Photos below.
Love,
Robert
Note: This blog is independent of any organization; errors, omissions, exaggerations and misinterpretations are solely the responsibility of the author.

And on this rock: Yesterday this home rose on the previously-poured foundation.

Workers tied rebar to a frame that would be used for roof beams.

Wire was tied and twisted to hold the rebar to the frame.

Susan Nadeau ties rebar that will be surrounded by cement within the Hainer blocks, securing the wall.

The interior of the home: only 10 feet wide, but provided with a doorway that someday may open to an identical unit attached to one side, doubling the home's volume to 20x30 feet.

Next: Our late morning / afternoon projects.

The Mighty Haener

Ben Larson slips a Haener block into place

Today we went a long way toward building a dream home. The  foundation was already in place, along with basic plumbing.  Our job was to raise the walls, with a roof to be added  later, perhaps by the end of the week. The speed of  construction was partly due to some very elegant technology  -- the Haener Block system, named for its inventor. The  cement block interlocks and accommodated rebar efficiently,  making it possible to erect a stable concrete block  structure without any need for mortar to join the blocks  together -- and therefore no need to repair mortar.

Mike Kline and Deana Barrow were part of the breakfast crew.

We began the day with a breakfast prepared by some of our  members, followed by a group meeting to get acquainted and  share some rules of the road. For instance, don't pet stray  dogs; even if they don't bite, they might have a disease you  don't want to pass onto the food you handle. And when you  are served a meal by the hostess you are helping, don't take  more than you can eat. They are paying for the food and  their resources are limited.

Instrucciones: Eat what you take and don't pet stray dogs!

The new home was being built for woman in center right.

We headed out to the site, met the hostess and her  helpers/friends, and got a look at the neighborhood in which  the house is situated: Rolling hills subject to washouts,  with limited government services. Water has to be trucked  in.

The neighborhood: Rolling hills subject to washouts. There is electricity, but water is trucked in.

The current home.

By the end of the day, the home to be: 10 x 30 feet inside, and plumbed for warm water.

The woman's home seemed to consist of an outhouse and a very  small structure that contained a kitchen and bedroom. By the  end of the day she would be able to stand within the walls  of her dream home -- a rectangular structure with two large  windows and a doorway that could serve as the passage way  linking her to a future addition to the house. The interior  was a whopping 10 x 30 feet, about the size of two large  bedrooms in a comfortable American home. That space would  accommodate an indoor toilet with a sink, plumbed for the  possibility of hot water. As I said, a dream home.

A "bucket brigader" hauled the Haener blocks.

The Haener Block

Our crew hauled Haener blocks bucket-brigade fashion, and  later gravel for the cement to be mixed. They installed  rebar within the rising walls, tied rebar onto frames that  would be used to add flexibility to the cement block walls,  and began stacking the blocks.
Then we mixed concrete, employing a second bucket brigade to  haul it into the house and return the empty buckets conveyor  belt style. By 3 p.m. The walls were up and the cement was  curing. Time to give it an opportunity to set up, and head back  to the posada.

Rebar lies in the groove of the Haener block and also rises through its openings, reinforcing the wall along two dimensions. Concrete is poured down hollow portions of the wall. The concrete, rebar and interlocking nature of the Haener blocks makes mortar unnecessary, and greatly shortens  construction time.

No need for a cement truck. A pickup delivered the cement mixer and the crew used mud buckets to haul cement into the house in another bucket brigade. It was a warmup for later this week, when we create a cement "roof" for the new structure.

There's more to tell, but it's late and the morning comes early. There will be more to share tomorrow. Goodnight.

Love,
Robert