What Do We Do?
We build roofs that, with God's help, don't blow away!
Non-skilled, motivated volunteers using local methods and materials can make a direct and immediate gift to a family and can, literally, change their living conditions in a day or less. This is a very rewarding experience for both the family and for the group.
Traditional Mayan hut with thatch roof
Straw roofs blow away during a hurricane...
Old style house made of sticks and corregated tarpaper
so do roofs made of sticks...
House of block with concrete roof
but concrete roofs offer a safe, secure shelter during any storm.
Makes you think of the old nursery rhyme about the three little pigs and the wolf (the hurricane) who huffed and puffed until he blew down the house made of straw. When the three little pigs rebuilt their house using sticks, the wolf (the hurricane) huffed and puffed again until he blew down the stick house. So the three little pigs built another house; a brick one this time.And when the wolf (the hurricane) again huffed and puffed to blow down the brick house, he couldn't blow it down and the three little pigs were safe. And the three little pigs lived happily ever after.
Don't you think people should live at least as securely as pigs?
Here's how we build concrete roofs...
This is a typical work site when we arrive.Just the walls are up. And there are small mountains of sand and gravel, a stack of concrete blocks, a pile of concrete beams, bags of cement and some very large drums or barrels of water ready at the site.
Precast concrete beams are lifted to the roof tops
Some of the beams are more than 5 meters long (over 15 feet)
Once the beams are set, the blocks come up
The specially shaped concrete blocks "key" into the beams.
to form the roof structure.
The blocks and beams are temporally supported with wooden braces.
Then the hard work begins!
Cement, sand and gravel are mixed with water to make concrete.
We mix by hand right in the street. Our most modern tool is a shovel.
Then, the wet concrete is shoveled into buckets and passed up to the roof.
The concrete is dumped on the roof and the empty buckets returned for a refill..
until the entire roof is covered with about 2 inches of concrete.
The last one off the roof is the finisher. He trowels the concrete smooth.
And then a simple dedication in both Spanish and English completes the project.
After we clean up our buckets & tools, we get our picture taken at the finished "casa"
and move on to the next one.
and we always have an audience!
Return to Table of Contents