8
Location: Ollantaytambo
Today we ate breakfast at 8:00 and then left for our first project in Ollantaytambo. Our service-learning project was to begin building a bathroom for the family of Lourdes, a disabled 20 yr old that has never had a proper bathroom. Before, she would have to crawl out of her wheelchair (that she only got when she was 17) on her arms to a field many yards away from her house to go to the bathroom. While we were there, we moved many large rocks and cleared land that we would reap the soil from and create adobe bricks, the material that will be used for the outhouse. Before we headed off for lunch, we moved 356 pre-made adobe bricks which weighed around 25 lbs each. For lunch, we had a nice meal of soup, chicken, and mashed potatoes. We worked two more hours after lunch making about three adobe bricks each before a storm rolled in. We made the bricks by stomping on wet mushy clay and dirt mixed with straw. It was really cold and uncomfortable at first, but then once the mix loosened up, it was really fun. We returned to the hostel covered in mud and wet from the rain. Although we may have been filthy and wet, we still felt very accomplished and fulfilled by all of our hard but fun work.