Day 7 - June 1 - Column Pouring and Village Church Service

The building is progressing nicely. Today, We took off forms from the grade beam, Poured the first part of the reinforced concrete columns, and passed bricks for tomorrow's masonry.

At 5pm we gathered with the young boys and girls of Packianathapuram to play sports. The boys participated in a game of kabbadi. We were pleased to see more adults show up to watch the game and were able to start conversations with some.

In the evening we took tea at a nearby house. To end the day we attended a prayer service where some community members gathered daily.

- Erin

The above photos show the grade beam forms being removed.

Grade beams complete!

Nina using a nifty tool to check how straight the columns are. It's important that the rebar is centered before the concrete is poured.

Discussion with Tech, Sowmya and Murrgan about the grade beam level in relation to the surrounding land.

Assembly line carrying bricks to the site. Tomorrow the walls will begin to go up!! :)

Column forms set to dry overnight.

Mmmm concrete :)

Here are a few photos of the team taking a break from the worksite to help pluck cotton and prepare it to be brought to a larger town and sold.

Anyone care for a fresh mango?

Harsha posing while drinking coconut milk/water.

Sowmya was super pleased with how lovely the meat of this coconut turned out.

Fresh coconut meat! So yummy.

Men playing Kabaddi.

Here the girls are playing a game of Kho Kho, a popular, traditional India sport. It is a modified form of 'Run Chase', which in its simplest form involves chasing and touching a person. As a tag sport, it is played by teams of twelve players, of which nine enter the field, who try to avoid being touched by members of the opposing team.