Week 63: Monday, November 4, 2024 – Sunday, November 10, 2024

Good evening, everyone,

I hope you are all doing well. 

This was quite a busy week for me, and a good one as well. 

On Monday, construction started on my cistern project, and I spent practically the entire week at the high school helping with various parts of the construction process, running to different people's homes asking if they had specific tools that we could borrow, and ordering supplies to ensure that we had everything we need for the work we are doing.

Monday, Pablo and Cuper (the two masons working on my project) and I started the day at 8am clearing the space where the first cistern was going to be located. We moved rocks and leveled the ground and then got started on putting the cylinder of the cistern together. 

While building a cistern is not incredibly complex, putting together the cylinder made out of different types of wires was quite a tedious process. First, we laid out the mesh which is typically used in cement flooring and then we layered three layers of chicken wire per side in order to completely cover the mesh. Then, we took wire and with pliers tied the various layers of mesh and chicken wire together. 

With a large group of people, putting the cylinder together only takes about a half a day or so, but with only three of us, it took all afternoon Monday plus Tuesday morning to put together the first cylinder and all of Tuesday afternoon to put the second cylinder together. But by Wednesday morning, we had the two cylinders ready to put onto their bases. 

On Wednesday, we were able to mix the cement for the base of the first cylinder and set it into its base. Then, it was time to tackle the space for the second cistern's location—which wasn't quite as easy as the first one. 

On Wednesday afternoon, practically all day Thursday, as well as Friday morning, the four men working on the project worked hard to move all of the dirt from the area where we are building the second cistern in order to have enough space for the cistern to fit comfortably and leave some room around the edges to be able to move about. 

By Friday, we were able to put the second cistern's cylinder into its base, meanwhile, Pablo and Cuper worked on getting the first layer of cement onto first cistern. 

Saturday was also a work day, and with that extra day, we were able to add a second layer of cement to the first cistern and add a first layer of cement onto the second cistern. 

The plan is to work all week this coming week and maybe a couple of days the week after that and then our cisterns will be fully built and ready to start capturing rainwater. 

I cannot express how grateful I am to the individuals working on this project. What we thought was going to be a relatively easy project is turning out to be a taxing and meticulous feat. But the people working on the project are dedicated and skilled workers and want to deliver the best work that they possibly can for me and for the community. I am constantly in awe of how hard the people of Neblinas work, how difficult their lives have been, and how poorly they have been treated despite their determination and hard work. I'm glad I am able to support my community members in a small way by providing work and leaving them with a project that they will hopefully be able to benefit from for years to come. 

I'm very happy with how things are going with my project. It's a great experience for me learning how to manage a budget, oversee that things are running smoothly, and ensure that we have all of the necessary supplies to make the project a success. 

Through this experience, I'm also witnessing what it's like to work all day in the hot sun doing manual labor. I'm not even doing the majority of the work, and, still, I'm tired. 

Today, my friend Diego and I went to the river with Rayanne and her boyfriend Kabir, who is in Neblinas visiting her for the week. 

It was a beautiful day for a trip to the river. It was the first time Rayanne or I had gone to the river without our friends/guides Tito and Jair, but we made our way down the path and back up with little to no trouble. We spent the late morning/early afternoon sunbathing on rocks in the river, had some lunch, and then made the hike back up to the community. (Rayanne's dog Cruela also came with us to the river).

That's my update for the week. I imagine this coming week will be equally as busy — I hope it will be equally as productive as this past week. 

Wishing you all a lovely Sunday evening and hoping you are doing well. 

Love,
Ilana