Sorry the last entry Tuesday was Wednesday, I have lost track of days long ago.
Another hot, busy day on site. Slave Driver Dave McLean was on incidentals again, a job the boys relish. It involves anything from moving garbage, painting, hauling rocks and ‘landscaping’. The boys now wear ‘a day with Dave’ as a badge of honour.
Craig was still on the internal walls (a job no one thought would take this long, the last panel of the three and half days stint was the one that broke Max Wood’s spirit. That panel felt the wrath of one angry gymnast. Many had a turn at this job over the past few days but only Max W and Max Burgess stuck it out. Well done!!
Peter’s team was still ‘architraving’ the doors and windows. If Pete could, he would close his eyes at the imperfections and inaccuracies that surround him. Yesterday he said he wouldn’t “pay anyone!” We reminded him that they are not builders, just Year 11 students ‘having a go.’ Phot show Matrty Moore proudly displaying his window skirting.
In building the infirmary, we know it will be used and valued by all at TMMR, however today we had a wonderful experience of seeing instant results. Tina is a beautiful young 15 year old at TMMR. As she was missing four front teeth she was hesitant in conversations and would hang back, covering her mouth and self consciously grinning rather than smiling. Last week Philippa and Julie were out with Sr Nicete. In their discussion they mentioned Tina, Sister told them her story, and that it would cost $3000 pisos ($75 AUD) to give her a denture. When they returned and told us, the St Aug staff’s instant reaction was, “let’s fix it before we go home.” So the six of us threw in the money and passed it onto the Sisters. This was kept a surprise from Tina until this week. The delight on her face when we arrived on Tuesday was incredible. This is a small excerpt from the thankyou note she wrote to thank us, “In God graces, my wishes to have a denture .. to make me beauty smile… now my God answer…. You’re the instrument of my wishes to have a denture… Again, a million thank yous. Thank you, thank you, God bless you always. love Tina (friend forever).
Today we arrived to see a different girl. She was beaming. (See photo)And proudly showing off her new teeth. It’s such an important age for all young people, we feel we have made an enormous difference to this one young girls life.
So whether it’s fixing a child’s smile or building an infirmary for a community….
One Hundred Years from now (excerpt from "Within My Power" by Forest Witcraft)
One Hundred Years from now It will not matter what kind of car I drove, What kind of house I lived in, how much money was in my bank account nor what my clothes looked like. But the world may be a better place because I was important in the life of a child.
We feel this quote is relevant to the Augustine Orphanage Project
P.S. Any thoughts on the name of the building?
Suggestions so far include, “House of pain” – after a brutal day on the hammers (Craig). “The Infirmary” (Andrew). “The Esky”, “The White House” “Kangaroo Cottage” “Rose Cottage” and other names, too bizarre to mention here.
PP.S Jesse took the opportunity to enjoy the bathroom areas that he and Andrew have been working on for 2 days.
Margie & Craig
Craig was still on the internal walls (a job no one thought would take this long, the last panel of the three and half days stint was the one that broke Max Wood’s spirit. That panel felt the wrath of one angry gymnast. Many had a turn at this job over the past few days but only Max W and Max Burgess stuck it out. Well done!!
Peter’s team was still ‘architraving’ the doors and windows. If Pete could, he would close his eyes at the imperfections and inaccuracies that surround him. Yesterday he said he wouldn’t “pay anyone!” We reminded him that they are not builders, just Year 11 students ‘having a go.’ Phot show Matrty Moore proudly displaying his window skirting.
In building the infirmary, we know it will be used and valued by all at TMMR, however today we had a wonderful experience of seeing instant results. Tina is a beautiful young 15 year old at TMMR. As she was missing four front teeth she was hesitant in conversations and would hang back, covering her mouth and self consciously grinning rather than smiling. Last week Philippa and Julie were out with Sr Nicete. In their discussion they mentioned Tina, Sister told them her story, and that it would cost $3000 pisos ($75 AUD) to give her a denture. When they returned and told us, the St Aug staff’s instant reaction was, “let’s fix it before we go home.” So the six of us threw in the money and passed it onto the Sisters. This was kept a surprise from Tina until this week. The delight on her face when we arrived on Tuesday was incredible. This is a small excerpt from the thankyou note she wrote to thank us, “In God graces, my wishes to have a denture .. to make me beauty smile… now my God answer…. You’re the instrument of my wishes to have a denture… Again, a million thank yous. Thank you, thank you, God bless you always. love Tina (friend forever).
Today we arrived to see a different girl. She was beaming. (See photo)And proudly showing off her new teeth. It’s such an important age for all young people, we feel we have made an enormous difference to this one young girls life.
So whether it’s fixing a child’s smile or building an infirmary for a community….
One Hundred Years from now (excerpt from "Within My Power" by Forest Witcraft)
One Hundred Years from now It will not matter what kind of car I drove, What kind of house I lived in, how much money was in my bank account nor what my clothes looked like. But the world may be a better place because I was important in the life of a child.
We feel this quote is relevant to the Augustine Orphanage Project
P.S. Any thoughts on the name of the building?
Suggestions so far include, “House of pain” – after a brutal day on the hammers (Craig). “The Infirmary” (Andrew). “The Esky”, “The White House” “Kangaroo Cottage” “Rose Cottage” and other names, too bizarre to mention here.
PP.S Jesse took the opportunity to enjoy the bathroom areas that he and Andrew have been working on for 2 days.
Margie & Craig
1 comment:
I cant see from the tears in my eyes reading about Tina. That is wonderful that you all had the grace to do this for her and the only thing that is more wonderful is her smile. I'm glad that you got to see her with her denture before you came home.
Well done with the internal walls, Criag you should know by now that all jobs take longer than you think.
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