Working With What You Have

Our day began with breakfast at 7:30 followed by the reading of the journal and daily message. After a quick overview of our day we all went to our assignments - Sue, Greg and Steve are going to the clinic, Sonja, Elizabeth and Stephen to teach and Kassidy and I to construction.

We have been told to be flexible and have witnessed the people of Pommern demonstrate this behavior in our daily activities so it was no surprise when Sue, Steve and Greg came out to the construction site to help. No one was at the clinic to get their baby weighed so they spent part of the morning preparing the kitchen then to construction.

Kassidy and I were following Musa and Darius digging a trench and piling bricks against the schoolhouse in preparation for the patio. There were some moments when the instructions were not clear but we managed to figure it out. At one point Musa was using the hoe to soften the clay so we could shovel it and the handle broke. Musa hammered out the handle from the metal part and went to find a new handle. This was one of many fascinating examples of how people here are inventive and able to find resources.

While Kassidy and I were moving the bricks closer to the classroom the others pitched in. We spent the rest of the morning moving bricks, mixing cement and laying the brick. When we left we saw that a significant amount of progress had been made.

Back at the mission house we had pasta w/cucumber sauce, pizza and fruit for lunch. After lunch Greg and Stephen returned to construction while the rest of us cleared the garden behind the mission house. We weeded, tilled and picked carrots. Tomorrow we will till and continue preparing for planting.

After work we sunshowered and went for walks in Pommern. Stephen and Greg have become regulars at a cafe down the road and spent some time observing and interacting w/the locals. Elizabeth and I explored and tried to familiarize ourselves with the village.

Around 6:30 we all sat for dinner where we shared our days experiences and planned for Wed. Following dinner we had a relaxing evening of conversation around the table.