The work has begun.........

This is the house my team is working on. In our first day, we are ahead of schedule....go building team. the house is about 12 feet ling by 6 feet wide, with two rooms and a latreen! The family is a mother and two sons, two daughters. The father ran out years ago, she has been living in a straw shack by the river. The girls have been abused......the house is by a swamp being fed by the river, next to a small house the mothers sister and her family live in.

Side wall of the house which we built today. We do have a "contractor" overseeing the project who routinly shakes his head at us, knocks a brick or two of ours into place, then says "ok" and on we go.

Here is the site we are excazating and laying cement on to place the new playground at the school on. The digging took all day and we are not nearly done. the earth is hard clay, we must fill wheel barrels and take away, dump and refill. grueling and time consuming. we drink about 20 liter each per day of water and gatorade.

Later in the day, we have one square dug and mortar filled. Given the work we are doing and that I am working with mortar, I feel this is our Passover "celebration". Surprisingly, we could not find a Rabbi or matzoh here in Kien Giang!

Work takes longer as the kids all want to play with us all day. They follow us, giggle, yell hello, and try to 'help" us. each one is cuter than the next......

The street by the school has tarps laid down, with rice laying on it to dry. People walk and ride over the drying rice......I may never eat imported rice again.