Last week you heard about our struggles to gain a foothold in the mud.

Finally by Thursday we got the first two feet or so of the base course of rock embedded in concrete about half way around. On Friday morning we awoke and pensively walked out to see the results from a night of big storms.

We found that a huge section we had already dug out had slid. None of us spoke. We were tired, sore and bummed. As we solemnly headed for the wheelbarrows and shovels there was a familiar but unexpected banging at the gate.

The boys were there, early in the morning on their first day of spring break. They saw the mess and said 'oh, no problem'. Off they scampered happily attacking the huge mound of dirt, pushing wheelbarrows of clay and mud weighing 3 times what they weigh!

That lifted our spirits and allowed us to mix concrete and start laying rock again.

Today is Tuesday, and the wall is now 80% done thanks to 4 days without rain and the Week 3 team who channeled their inner Mayans and laid rock at breakneck speed. Thank goodness for the help of volunteers Charlie, Todd and his son Spencer who mixed and mixed and mixed concrete for us literally for days on end. They held up longer than the wheelbarrows did! The wall looks beautiful and we no longer fear a rainy night. Whew!

This week we kept asking where one of the kids named MacIntosh was. They repeatedly just said that he was sick.
So after a couple of days we learned that he had fallen, twisted his ankle and had a huge gash on his leg. So, Sharon who is a nurse went up to the orphanage to check on him. She found him with a gaping, oozing, infected leg wound and a grapefruit sized ankle. She whipped out her white hat and blue cape and got him all fixed up, just in time.
Cliford also got a nasty burn on his leg from a motorcycle exhaust pipe which she also took care of.

Today, on her last day, they sang 'We will never forget you'.

As they sang our translator turned to Sharon and said "my pants are singing to you".  The normally unflappable Sharon just looked stunned.
Turns out he had the song playing on his phone which was in his pants pocket. (Remember this is the same guy who called a suitcase a 'sweet kiss'!)

Oh, the leaving is tough.
Rome

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