As of this morning there was still no word on the release of the goods. After a brief meeting of the minds, David Campbell, Cole & Murray Ferguson, Dan McKenzie and myself along with several of our drivers and a helper from the orphanage got started on the forms for the Poultry Barn.
Since it was pre-built in Canada it is critical that all of the dimensions are exact. Although none of us are professionals, we have all had a little experience and we managed to figure it out. It was quite cold out today with a strong wind blowing so everyone added a layer or two!
Finally all of the forms were built, leveled and fastened down …
… just as the cement truck arrived. No rest for the weary!
In about an hour, or less, the forms were filled, poked, prodded and troweled!
At this point it is about 4 PM and Dave is still at Customs in Mogilev and has not yet received our permission to distribute. Most of the delegates decided to go on a short field trip to a nearby war memorial. It is near the site of a town that was completely wiped out during World War 2.
It is located deep in the woods down a muddy dirt road. The site is the burial place for thousands! This area was on the front line for over nine months and the devastation was nearly complete. One in four Belarussians died in WW2 and in this area it was one in three. When you look at the lists of names it is obvious that whole families were killed.
We also stopped along the main road nearby where you can still clearly see the remains of the trenches nearly 70 years later. When we crossed a bridge over the River Pronya you could see craters all around on both ends of the bridge where it had been bombed.
A sobering reminder of the violent history of this part of the world!
After returning home this evening, I finally received the call from Dave letting me know that we have received permission to distribute the contents of container #2 (parcels and food boxes from families in Canada). Therefore it will be an early start at School #1 to get our deliveries underway, and with time running out it is not a moment too soon!
Eric McKenzie
I love veri matc my Canadian friend:) Your Belorusian helper:)
Congratulations to the whole team – the poultry barn foundation looks wonderful! I hope you have some time to enjoy a well deserved sense of accomplishment. The blog is such a great way to be able to keep in touch with your progress!
I’m relieved to know that you can finally start the deliveries.
I’m just home now and I had to check the blog to see how things were progressing. Good luck.
Great pictures and blog Eric. We have been printing them and passing them around Rotary here in Florida. After my speech last January about my fall trip they are really interested. Might even be able to get them involved (after they get finished with their Haitian project)