Cistern

We now have a cistern that will hold about 5280 gallons of water (about a mile's worth)!  This is important because there are times when the water lines break far away in the mountains somewhere, and it takes the community leaders a while to find and repair the break.

Installing the rebar grid for the
concrete sides and bottom.

Checking the rebar measurements for the lid.

Putting on the finishing coat of smooth concrete.
The cistern will rest and dry for a couple of months
before painting with sealant.

Helping at clinic

Carrie was blessed to be given the opportunity to assist the medical workers at ASELSI's free pregnancy clinic one morning a week for several months.  She called patients' names, poked fingers and drew blood for testing iron levels, tested urine samples, measured tummies, and sat in on many doctor visits. 

Many of the ladies attending the clinic only speak K'iche', so Carrie has become even more interested in learning the local language.  She is hoping to study nursing in a couple of years after graduating from high school.

Fence

Our workers are making progress on the fence surrounding our property.  (These photos are small, but remember you can see them more closely by clicking to open in a new window.)  It is exciting to see some "upward" construction after spending so much time digging "downward."

We had to make several modifications to the
fence location when the workers found
water pipes right where we planned to
put in fence posts!  Rather than bring in the
local leaders again, we didn't request moving
the pipes; we just moved our fence a bit.

The top and right sides are almost
complete, only lacking the sheet metal
along the outside of the fence.

The bottom-side posts are in place. 
Here, Yano is mixing cement.  You can see
the rocks they are putting under
the fence for "digging protection."

Transportation

Here is a photo of how three boys left dance practice one day.

Alan (14), Antony (10), and Alex (13)

Yes, this is a full-size motorcycle, and most riders here don't wear helmets.  The youth on my dance team come and go on their own, either like the above photo or using public transportation or on foot.  I confess I'm still not used to the lack of parental supervision.  I pray for the safety of these youth!

Pit latrine and septic well

Our construction workers dug two really deep holes on our land, one for a pit latrine (outhouse) and the other for a septic well (for sewage drainage).  Our community has no drainage pipes, so we have to drain our own sewage into our land, into a deep pit.  Due to the lack of community drainage, we are putting in an outhouse (which is what most people in our community use) for those coming to our ministry building.

They dug the holes with pickaxes and shovels
using a plumb line to go straight down.

They hauled the dirt out by bucketfuls.
The guys worked in a team of 3: one digging,
one pulling up the buckets, and one carting
away the dirt in a wheelbarrow.
They traded positions every hour.

It took two weeks to finish, and the final
holes were 12 and 15 meters deep, respectively,
with concrete around the top two meters.

For now, the holes are covered by
tin roofing pieces and gnarly tree stumps.
Eventually the area will be covered by
concrete, with an outhouse building over
the closest hole.

First dance at new church

Later in December, our dance team, called Resplandece (which means "Shine"), presented the same dance at our church. 

Heather started the dance team in time to learn a dance for ASELSI's Christmas party, and this was the group's first time dancing together at our new church.  They did a great job, and the kids want to continue!  We are currently learning a couple more dances.

Christmas party

This was the fourth consecutive year that Heather took a group of youth from our church to dance at ASELSI's annual Christmas party.  It was lots of fun!

Veronica dressed as a little clown.

We waited between presentations.

The kids danced 3 times for 3 groups.

Each group had several hundred people.