Photo Update and Progress of Dairy Project

It has been over a month since we broke ground on the first of the structures at the dairy project.  Some days are slow and some days we work 8 -10 hours and get a lot done!  All in all I think that we have made a lot of progress and everything is coming along nicely.  Wilbroad and I spent the first weeks measuring out the first structure and digging the footers for it.  The first structure that is being built will have four different rooms, each at a different level because of the nature of the landscape.  Two rooms will be staff housing, one room will be for visitors, and the last room will be a storage room for supplies and animal feeds for the dairy and poultry.  After the first week and a half of work, Wilbroad decided to contract a few guys to help us lay the bricks and mix the mortar.  At the speed we were going, it made more sense and it would save money to contract some help.  The hired guys worked pretty quickly when they had mortar and bricks near them, but it took some constant motivation and supervision from Wilbroad to keep them moving and working, even when the mortar had run out.  Wilbroad was telling me later that the guys were surprised that the 'white boy' was actually working.  He said that they are under the impression that Americans don't ever do that type of manual labor, so they were pretty amused.  The foundation of the building is about finished and in just the next 3 days of work, they will have all of the walls up. After that, two of the rooms will be roofed so that workers can begin staying there permanently.  The following pictures are taken to show some of the progress we have made since we started.

  54 foot hand dug pit latrine.

When we began fund-raising for this project, we set a goal to raise $20,000, and since then we have raised a little over $10,000.  With a walk-a-thon fundraiser coming up to help the project and church groups and school groups helping, we are hoping to reach our goal before we leave in 2 and a half weeks.  If you are interested in hearing more about this project, let us know and we'll be happy to tell you more about it!  If you wish to make a one time gift that will keep on giving, please check out the "If You Feel Inspired..." section near the top of our blogspot, just below the list of followers.  Or you can always contact one of us.  And as always, we appreciate your prayers.  Until later...

Travis