October 17: Day 4: Man Down!

Where did the day go? This was our feeling after the day was over! We continued our concrete mixing and our Congo lines to complete the main kitchen room floor. We knocked it off before lunch. A task a couple of days ago we believed it would take us two weeks.

Some of our team members did struggle today with handling the tray of concrete mix. I am told it was Kenny who dropped the most but I also saw trays being dropped by Sean, Rickie and Doug. Boys will be boys! They were trying to throw them down the line! Lol Who's buying the beers?

Unfortunately we had a man down today (DJ) due to a sinus cold. However we had his daughter Jodie arrive late last night and is a great addition to the team. Did we even miss DJ? ‎Of course we did! The jobsite was a bit quieter! Lol Al kidding aside, we hope he is able to join us for our dinner and fire under the stars.

After work today we had an incredible experience of visiting the elementary school. The school houses 1070 students and 18 teacher's. They divide the students into 1/2 day sessions. School is provided for the children. However the parents must provide the uniform. The school has 12 computers and a satellite dish that was originally donated by Soft Choice and since the government has donated 400 laptops to the school. We proudly donated school supplies which was a collection amongst our team members! As we walked through the school yard the children came running to welcome us with open arms. We lost count how many hugs we all gave. This village has really welcomed us with open arms. This are special moments on this trip we will not forget.

‎Tomorrow...1/2 day ahead and then we will commute to our Gorilla trekking site accommodations so we are ready first thing Saturday morning to trek to find them. We are all so excited for this opportunity!

Marianne Thompson
DWC Volunteer Participant
Rwanda, October 2013