Service Project

National Sierra Leone Service Day

  We had an amazing opportunity to participate in a Service Activity that will forever change my thinking about construction work.  

    As a preface, we have a home group (a place where members meet on Sunday to worship and hold church when they are not a big enough congregation to form a branch.)  These home groups work under the keys of the Branch President in the area.  These home groups are formed because the distance it too far and too costly to transport to the main branch.  There is 1 particular home group that is allowed graciously to meet in a school house without charge.  Our home group is growing out of the school and so are the children attending the school.  The school wanted to add and addition to their building.  The school owners had already built the walls, but they were out of funds to finish the cement floor, some roofing, doors, and windows.  Our valiant missionaries seen a way to offer some help, plus the school would allow the addition to serve as a chapel. The members of the branch, school community, and missionaries, came together to put the needed floor in.

   The cement process is incredible to watch.  First off, there does not seem to be any cement trucks in the country!  They dump a pile of sand on the ground, spread it out to make a circle, then in pans of the same size as a measurement they add a gravel mix, then bring in the large bags of cement to add to the pile.  Then the mixing begins....they take their shovels and mix it all together.  When they have carefully gone through all of the pile mixing, then they bring in the water just dumping it onto the middle of the pile.  This is no small job!  As they get some of the cement to the consistency that will work they form human chain lines, fill the measuring pans, and start passing them to each other in the chain. They work the wet cement as they fill the room and work their way out.  At times, they have to walk in the cement to fix something, then they start again smoothing their footsteps.

   The entire floor is made this way!  The behind the scenes is also impressive.  The water is being drawn out of a deep well by a rope and an water can.  Someone draws it from the well and dumps it into buckets.  Then they put the heavy water buckets on their heads and take them to the work area!

   The most crazy thing is, there were not any complaints!  Just pure happiness to be serving to better their school and church.

  Here are some pictures of our Elders as well as community volunteers.  I hope to load a few videos.

I guess I will add videos later.  Our WIFI is quite slow and infrequent.  Oh well that is African Way!