On Wednesday, 30th we had to cut all the grass from around the convent, it had gotten quite a mess. The catch was that we had to cut it with a machete! For me, on my own, it would have taken about 2 days, with Felix helping, however, it only took about 3 hours. I couldn't get the action right, you have to swing at the base while pulling the grass away with a hooked stick.
The area around the old septic tanks was left, I asked why and was told that is just the place snakes such as anacondas would take refuge. What they will do is spray the area with weed killer and when it is dry they will burn it, so if anything is there it runs, or slithers, if they don't have any legs. I actually want to see if there are any snakes, I haven't seen any yet, or scorpions.
Derek, the other volunteer, is leaving in 2 weeks so he went travelling today around Guatemala and Mexico. In the afternoon I drove Fabian, the manager of the parishes' schools, to a meeting in Maya Centre which is a village off the Southern Highway. This was one of Derek's main duties, so I will be filling in.
On our return, the battery died on the red truck, luckily it was just across the road from the parish. When Fr. Chris arrived back, we jump started it. Apparently, when he got it fixed, the mechanic put in an old battery. He had the new one and would fir it ?tomorrow?. Since then a few days have passed and we?re still waiting.
Thursday we spent taking all the nails out of all the reusable timber from the convent. There's hardly anything left to do now and we are still waiting for the bulldozers! Jobs are running out fast.
In the evening there was not much to do so I went for a walk up the high street. I met a guy sitting on the street outside his house who'd helped us move a fridge and cooker into the parish hall. I sat down and chewed the fat with him. He lives in LA working as a removals driver. He originates from Dangriga and comes back every year for a few months. His grandad is from Durham England his surname, Bradley. This is a thing I like about this place, there is no fear walking around at night on your own, you'll always end up meeting someone.
Friday, I drove Fabian to San Juan, another Hispanic village. The PTA were meeting with the parents to discuss the possibility of installing new toilets for the school. The meeting was held in the hurricane shelter. They set January as the time to start building the new block.
The weekends are quiet here, at least on our side of the river. Saturday, I went with Fr. Chris to an American wedding in Hopkins. It is idyllic scenery; a lovely decorated church right on a sandy beach. Sunday We drove right to the southern part of the parish, a village called Independence, it is located right next to the main port. After Mass we drove there to see if the parish's new car had arrived. It was parked ready and waiting. We have to wait for all the paper work to be completed ? so I guess we'll be driving it sometime in Febraury 2006.
Monday we started building a concrete kitchen in the parish hall. Now when I say "building" I really mean we picked up all the material. This consisted of 220 Concrete breeze blocks. After 4 hours of lifting these onto the truck then up into the hall, we then got 16 bags of cement. I thought the blocks were heavy after a while, but these were 50kg each, a killer dragging them up into the hall at 2pm in 30˚ heat. The plans are that once this is done, a sound and lighting desk will be build on top, allowing it to be used for shows and plays by the schools.
Tuesday the real work started, we laid two tiers of blocks. A great deal of preparation was needed. I was just happy I only needed to carry 2 bags of cement.
Cheers for now.
Stephen
(Stephen is a parishioner from Hayes and volunteered his time and talents to work out in Belize, supporting the community there.)
