Making progress!

It has been so neat to work on this chicken coop with the orphans.  They are hard workers and teach us how to do it with very little tools, or broken tools, or made up tools that are lying around.  The nails are rusty and probably 20 years old, but it's working!  We just make due, and that has been great for the kids to see that with a little creativity you can make anything work.  

I'll quickly show the different stages...

Clearing out the trees, roots, rocks, and debris

The girls had some big muscles carrying load after load of rocks and clay like dirt in buckets--no wheelbarrows around here!

Everybody had a job to do :)

Cleared out and ready for concrete

Breaking up old bricks and tile for a base under the concrete.  Boy were they sore afterwards.  It was all done by hand with sledgehammers.  We are making men out of these boys!  They've got calloused hands to prove it.

Don't you just want to squeeze her?  She worked just as hard as everyone else

getting the sand ready for concrete...

Botevy and her husband Gen--the most selfless people on the planet

Mixing the concrete

I get to take do hair, nails, and art projects while the boys sweat

Step one-concrete done

The kids here at CICFO are SO good to our kids

Well, I'd better get to bed...I'll post the next phases tomorrow.  Doing this has been so great for our kids.  You know the saying, "We can do hard things"--my children are learning that here.  It is HOT, they are sweaty, usually hungry, have blisters, are bit by red ants and mosquitoes, and it is long hard hours working in a primitive situation, but I tell you what, there have been no complaints.  I guarantee that if we were at my house doing this, there would be oodles of complaints and some whining.  But, since this is for somebody else they are really enjoying it.  So, I am hoping that their spirits here will linger enough to get them through their summer of chores :)