It was a cloudy day, which is unusual for Costa Rica, and you could almost smell the rain in the air. It was early and I was sitting at the back of an old 13 passenger van. The ride seemed to take forever. This was another Missions Trip for me and we were in South America, Costa Rica to be exact and today we were headed towards La Carpio, which is the ghetto of San Jose. That morning we were told that we would be laying a concrete floor for a church that is in La Carpio. On the bumpy van ride there I remember thinking this wouldn’t be hard, I’ve seen someone lay concrete a few times before. I soon realized that we were all in for a big surprise and that mixing concrete in this 3rd world country was going to be a lot different than doing it back home.
The conditions that the people in La Carpio deal with are almost unreal, this community has basically made their life around the dump and sewage system. The smell isn’t that pleasant, but you get used to it in a matter of hours. They have dirt roads, which are mud most of the time and they seem to make do with anything that they can find. Most houses are made out of sheets of tin, cardboard and sometimes… sometimes wood. These homes do not have doors but sheets in there place, and most certainly like most rural places in a 3rd world country they have dirt floors. To the people of La Carpio and too many people from un-developed countries having what I just described is the perfect life, and they take much pride in having that. Even with their dirt floors you will see women sweeping inside and outside their house. These situations can seem dismal to many Americans, but it is amazing to see the joy and pride that these people have in what they do have in life. They seem to have a different focus.
We arrived at the work site at 8:00 sharp, and we waited for the cement bags for just around 3 hours. Time is different in a third world country. But the cement came, it came in bags and that was it. No truck, no mini-mixer, no gravel, and definitely no sand. So, now I would like to tell you just how you mix concrete in a third world country. To mix concrete in a third world country you need the help of a few local men, and a handful of little kids. It starts with the rocks; normally you will not find the right size of rocks just lying around, so you make them. With the tools you have which are a hammer, a screw driver, and a bigger rock you begin to break down the pile of massive rocks. If you are from the United States you will also wear those clear safety glass’s and if you are not from the United States you will make fun of the people who do. While some of you break down the rocks, others of you will be walking a few blocks up the street with 5 gallon buckets to a sand pile. It’s more or less a sad/dirt/ trash pile. Then a few people will take the 5 gallon buckets 4 houses up to “the store”. It’s not really a store, its just a very nice woman’s house, she has two sons and she sells snacks and corn tortillas to her neighbors. She has running water. To fill up the buckets it will take you about 20 minutes and then you will need to very carefully carry it back. By the time you get back to the work site you can hope that you have a little more than half still in the bucket. So, now you have a pile of rocks thanks to the help of the little kids, a couple buckets of sand mixed with trash and hopefully at least 2 buckets of water. I forgot to mention you also have one wheelbarrow and a couple of shovels. So you take one and a half bags of cement pour it into the wheelbarrow, and then add the rocks, then the half of the water, the sand and then the rest of the water. The next part is mostly a mans job, but you use a shovel and mix the cement mixture into concrete, this part takes a while and you will most likely want one or two trade out partners. After about 20-30 minutes, your first load is done. Around this time you will notice the church has no wheelbarrow access, and very quickly you put some boards down for a ramp. Once the ramp is in place it’s a running start up and into the church to pour your first load. One down and 24 more to go! By the time you have your first wheelbarrow done, it’s around dinner time and almost dark.
Once you start a concrete floor you don’t really want to stop and they don’t have electricity out here but some one does have a generator. With the generator hooked up and about 2 shop lamps shining you continue to work into the night, by this time everyone within walking distance has gathered, and most are trying to help. With the wet concrete you will have one person smoothing it out with some string and one four by four. After your 15 hour day, you’re done.
You meet your accomplishment with an audience of applause and lots of Spanish words you don’t understand. Everyone wants to shake your hand, it’s weird in a way at least at first I mean you feel disgusting and you’re basically covered in concrete but everyone wants a hand shake or hug. This is when you realize what you really did that day; you made do with what you had and what you could find just like these people, you gave them a hope in a concrete floor. In places like this people are happy to have their dirt floors and don’t bother wanting something more than that, but when given something like a concrete floor something that they could not do by themselves you get to really see what giving is about. Giving goes way beyond the physical gift and into the pride and happiness that is instilled inside a person. The people of La Carpio, don’t sit around wanting the latest fashions, wishing their thighs were thinner and that had pink curtains, they are genuinely happy with what they have, so by giving them the gift of a concrete floor you don’t leave them wanting a tile floor next year but a hope that the world truly is a good place.
