Today we hung the new swings on the swing set (when we got here there was only one, now there are four.) We also put the soccer goals up. In order to do this, we had to dig holes and make concrete. It's not as easy as it sounds, expecially in the hot sun. First, we had to dig four holes. Sounds easy. It's not. We had to remove the old posts which had been anchored over two feet into the ground. Then we had to dig the holes. Digging thirty-one inch holes through hard dirt and the through clay is no small feat. But at last, we suceeded with the preliminary preparations. Next, we had to walk across the field and shovel sand in the wheelbarrow and then roll it back across the field four times. Then we had to get four 5 gallon buckets of water. (One bucket did not have a handle, and the wheelbarrow had rusted through, so it broke in the middle of our labors.) We helped mix the water in with the concrete and sand until it was nice and thick, shoveling sand and concrete togther. Luis showed us how to pour the concrete into the 31 inch holes we had dug. The night before Trinidad, who works at Monkey Bay, worked welding the metal soccer goal posts together. He had to weld hooks on pipes for the nets, and it took many, many hours to make the goal posts. Before the soccer posts in the village were wood and simply stuck in the ground, so the new ones will be stronger and last longer.
While we worked, many kids from the village came to visit and help. My favorite was Kyle, who has very long hair that he puts in a bun on the top of his head. He is 4 years old and has 2 older sisters. At first we thought he was a girl! He also likes to help a lot with carrying buckets and pushing the wheelbarrow. He likes to be held and swung around in the air. I will miss him.
-Catherine Bradbury
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