Tuesday, April 16, 2013

April 16: Work Day One


The sweet smell of diesel lay heavy in the air as the cement mixer chugged away loudly. Our first day at the temple was going to involve a lot of concrete making, as we saw the day before when we took our jet-lag on a tour of the work sites. Stretches were done in preparation of the mixing to be done by shovels, but we were pleasantly greeted by the sight of the mixer.

The mixer helped us pour the whole floor for the temple's new building by mid-afternoon! Rest assured it wasn't too much easier having it, there was still lots of shoveling of the mixed concrete and gravel and a long chain gang to pour the buckets out.

Tea time at the temple was a welcome break mid-morning, made even more enjoyable for us by being hosted in the new monk's quarters which we helped build last year. It looks great and the monks are very happy with it.

The sun was hot, the backs were tired and everyone felt a great sense of accomplishment at the floor being done. Now for some more stretches...

Kristian Bruun
DWC Participant
Sri Lanka, April 2013

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