Building in the Bush

Jaynie, the Lady of the Trusses

The Termite Hill the boys conquered in order to build a fort.

Me getting my hands dirty.

Micah returning from the Squatty Potty

The house from the entry gate

Marc and Jacob hard at work.

Amazing texture and character in this "cob" house.

Today we went with our friends Jacob & Jaynie (American missionaries) to their farm that is about 45 minutes out into the bush to help them work on their house they are building. They have another couple visiting from Florida that also went with us. Thought I would share some photos.

They are building a cob house....for those that don't know what that is like I didn't before they told me it is plaster made up of sand, mud, cow manure and straw. It actually is very interesting and nice looking. They have harvested nearly everything they have needed; old bricks, straw, sand, rocks, and mud all from their farm. It used to be an old farm owned by a Portuguese man but has been abandoned for the last 30 years.

Today we worked on building trusses. They have to build at least 25 GIANT trusses so today was a lot of lumber cutting, measuring, hauling and nailing. The boys worked until lunch time but then decided they really NEEDED to build a fort on top of the giant termite hill nearby. We had a good day. We are tired and a little sunburned but glad we could help some.

To me it is funny living in rural Africa as you never know as a missionary what you will need to know or do. Today we were building trusses, were asked if we have any antibiotics on hand as a worker was suffering from a toothache and infection, and called by another missionary about what size needle to use so they could inject their dogs with medicine to prevent them from dying from an illness, and had to teach our boys about using the squatty potty. You just never know but such is life here and I love it.