Journal by: Eric Noyes

“I do not know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be truly happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve. Albert Schweitzer

After extra large bowls of tasty porridge we began one of our last days in Pommern. Eric and Mimi went to the Roman Catholic church to help them water tree seedlings in their tree nursery. They have an interesting human-powered water pump in the nursery that Eric wanted to try out, that looks like a local version of a health club stair climber machine! Carlos, Garza and Eitan continued helping Moses in the new School kitchen work, preparing the storeroom floor for concrete. After the tea break all of us except Ryan, who was continuing to teach, converged on the kitchen. We mixed big piles of sand and cement together and stirred in water to the right consistency for Moses to spread it on the floor. We were joined by two strong students who rapidly hauled sand in to build a really HUGE pile for mixing and spreading to finish the floor. Once again, Eitan was a “diesel,” a nonstop shoveling, digging and mixing machine. We were all impressed again at his nonstop energy!

After lunch Eric and Mimi conducted five more video interviews for Global Volunteers with people who will benefit from the Water Project, both in their jobs and personally. They also looked carefully at the paths ahead of them and to the sides, in case any long slender green things were moving their way. Eitan taught an economics class and played football with a few local children. Garza and Carlos continued teaching their now-popular basic Spanish language class. With the house generator working, all things electronic awakened again (especially this computer) in the evening. The wood fire in the dining room fireplace feels good each evening, especially tonight.

After our good day’s work, we should sleep well. Knowing our service project is nearing its end, the wisdom of Buddha applies: It is better to travel well than to arrive.