(Day 4) Spotlight: Batey Papita

Batey Papita is the most beautiful place on the planet. The sugar cane tufts blow in the breeze, while a wee little goat bahhhs to his mother. The sites and sounds of this pastoral locale make it a must see! Getting to Papita though can be hard work! Before Hurricane Maria there was a stone bridge that led us into the village. Now, we have use a plank as a footbridge. Sometimes locating a plank can take hours.... Island Time!

La Papita! 

Fixing the bridge does not seem to be on the top of the Batey owner's to-do list. Instead, he has brought the cane cutters a tractor to pull carts of cane over the river. Whew, how else would he get rich off of his crops?!

Old Bridge.... 

The villagers hop across on that little branch like Jackie Chan

New Bridge! 

However, the beauty of the scenery creates a stark juxtaposition to the poverty that the people of this Batey live in. Last year, our team built the first house on this Batey. Now, there are two and a half houses built. Today we worked on hauling cinderblocks up to the church that will be constructed next, and worked on finishing the half of a house that currently stands. In the house we hauled dirt to level out the floor while the skilled laborers banged away at the roof.

Block Brigade 

Carretera= Highway 

Carretilla= Wheelbarrow 

After a day of hard work we went on a tour of the Good Samaritan Hospital, the place that makes this whole wheel turn. Then, on to the orphanage for a tour of their beautiful facility. We were early for our tour (a first, as we now are practicers of Island Time) so we didn't get to visit with the kids, but that's okay as the team was MUY CANSADO! Very tired!

Now, the team sits around, laser focused on creating paper plate awards. Watkinson teacher Dave Kroch may or may not be currently tracing the poop emoji from this phone onto his award. Tonight is going to be interesting!

Adios! 

Guest Blogger: Liz Benfield ('07)