"A Success"

At first today seemed like it was going to be a great day. Yesterday, we had done the major excavation and things kind of looked positive. But we quickly found out that the soil on the near side was way too soft for it to hold a bridge, and water was seeping in. We didn't know if it was from the river or ground water. We still don't know!! There was much frustration between everyone and we had to call it a day at three. We needed to reconvene and gather our thoughts and so did the community. I, Dhara, on the other hand had been out dealing with feisty hardware store owners getting materials and working on Guatemala's time clock, not my fast-paced world. I had to slow down and really work with them. We did run into some scary issues but they were resolved. The hard part was when I came to the community and found out about the abutment ground. So we did all go back to the hotel, talked for and hour, ate dinner, and came back to the community to have a meeting.

It was actually a wonderful meeting. We were connecting finally. No, all of our communication problems in the last two days weren't resolved--but it was a start. The community pitched in their ideas and took charge. Again, we did tell the community that this still may not happen as much as we wanted to. We said it will be a "monument of failure" if it doesnt get done. But we (Ewb) did not want to give up until we exhausted every option! We aren't quitters. The community said the same we want to continue and we'll help. So all in all it was a success. We decided to pump out water to see if it helps and dig more. Also to divert water with sand bags. Which they offered to start putting together at six in the morning tomorrow. It has been quite a day! But it is late here and I'm sure Chelsea is asleep so I should get to bed!

Dhara