This blog can also be titled: Every Mother's Worst Nightmare
Every mom hates when her kids come back home with muddy clothes and brown shoes because boy is it hard to wash mud off clothes. You know those kids that go out the door wearing nice, clean clothes and come back an hour later with mud on their face, their shoes, their pants, their shirts, even inside their ears? Well, that was us today.
It was pouring rain all night and all morning. During our morning devotion, Bruce told us the rain should clear up, but we would continue working even if it didn't. Sure enough the rain stopped an hour into our work, but the sky remained cloudy throughout the day. At first, I thought the rain was annoying, but later I realized what a blessing it was that God gave us rain. Today was the designated day for mud because we had to cover all the walls with layers of mud. The rain had given us a head start because the ground was already moist and the clouds that persisted to cover the sun all day ensured that the mud we made didn't dry out too fast.
Making mud and throwing it on walls sounds like an easy concept, but it actually takes a lot of time. We had a pile of dirt that was set apart specifically for the mud and we dug small holes in it today. After digging a hole, we poured water in and mixed the dirt with water like brownie mix in a bowl. The mud had to be just right before we could pour it on the walls because that would ensure that the mud will last there. After mixing dirt with a shovel several people took off their shoes and jumped in. Phendille showed us how to mix it and some of the guys from Haniville helped us roll mud balls so we could carry those to the house.
I helped out with carrying mud balls to the house and then taking small chunks and throwing it onto the wall. At first, I just placed the mud on the wall and tried to even it out, but Neels showed me how to do it right. He said we had to make sure all the cracks inbetween the rocks were filled in with mud and we had to put another layer once the first layer was dry, so it didn't matter if this first layer wasn't even. The best way to make sure mud got into every crack was to literally throw it as hard as you could onto the wall.
It was a great sight. There were about six people standing on piles of mud stepping on it until the mixture was right, five people were on their knees in front of the pile of dirt rolling mud into big chunks, and about seven people, including myself, were carrying mud chunks to the walls and throwing mud balls as hard as we could onto the walls. Of course mud splattered everywhere and our hands and feet were covered in it.
What a fun day. Any mother would have disapproved of our dirtiness, but we loved every moment of it. Some people even started mud fights, but we had to stop because we were wasting resources.
It was a nice way to finish our work in Haniville, but it was not so nice to say goodbye. On the bus ride home today I wondered if I will ever see Haniville again. I wonder how long my memories of that place will last and how much it will change my life because right now it's too soon to tell. I made such good friends there in just a short amount of weeks and I've learned so much. Haniville will always have a place in my heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment