By Maria Bandstra and Brooke Eveland

You can catch up on the previous 2 days here:
Pella Christian Winterim – Day 1
Pella Christian Winterim – Day 2

Bonjou! This morning the team had a breakfast of pancakes and eggs for breakfast and headed out to work.  Our first task was laying concrete. The entire hut where the concrete was to be laid was about the size of a large American kitchen, and a family of four lived in it. The beds they slept in were dirty and bare; they wouldn’t even be picked up on the side of the road in America.  It was very humbling to see.

Concrete being mixed up out the front of the home The bucket brigade working together again!

Our crew finished laying the concrete in record time, and the family seemed very appreciative of our work! We’re so glad we could help this family out.  Many other families in the area also wanted concrete laid in their homes. We didn’t lay concrete at any other houses today, but we gave them clothing and toothbrushes. 

A view from up high

After we cooled down from laying concrete, we went to the market to get rice and other food. The team enjoyed waving to everyone on the way down and seeing the smiles on all the faces of the locals and the children. At the market, the children were very shy…until we started Dutch dancing! They joined us and had fun dancing and playing ring-a-round-the-rosie. The smiles of the kids here are absolutely contagious! 

Dutch dance at the Pignon market place!

The team was very hungry come lunch time, so we went back to the compound to eat a delicious meal of fish before we went back to Sylvain for the afternoon. At Sylvain, we split up into three groups. One group cut (and ate) sugar cane.  One group watered some banana trees and went out to get wood from Jake’s Construction. The wood will be used for benches in the Thrive for 5 and Equipping center. The last group sanded the concrete walls of the new compound at Sylvain. We had quite a long day! 

Sanding the walls is hard and dirty work. Note the dust particles

Our exhausted team enjoyed rice and beans and Coca Colas for supper. The rest of the night we hung out, sang songs, played cards, shared our highs and lows, and even tried to adopt a few lizards. 🙂
When we shared our highs and lows, the team found it difficult to think of low points of the day because the weather is great, the people are great, and we are all having a great time! Bonwit!