Work on the swing sets in the San Victor park was an unscheduled project this year. The swings had been used so much that the top loop of the chains has worn completely through. A team member funded the purchase of heavy duty chains and the swings were put back in business.
In May 2007, a special construction mission trip was made by Barbara and Joe Gutridge of Newark, Ohio, and Dave Rankin from Lewisburg United Methodist Church to correct some electrical problems in the San Victor R.C. school. A 60 amp underground electric service was run to a school building that had no electricity. Four double fluorescent lights and three outlets were installed in each of three classrooms in that building. A 60 amp underground electric service was also run to the R.C. Church replacing a 20 amp service. Four double fluorescent lights were installed to replace four single lights. Four ceiling fans were also installed in the church.
On this trip the construction crew completed a house for Mildred Cantun. They erected the roof and constructed windows from raw materials. They then installed the windows and doors.
The painting crew also worked on the Cantun house by painting the interior in white and the exterior in an attractive dark Salmon color.
The painting crew was very busy this trip with the help of Belizeans who volunteer to assist. They began by painting the exterior of the Gonzalo Milian house. This older wood house had never been painted. The family choose an attractive Sky Blue color.
There was still some paint left when the crew finished the Milian house with two coats of paint. They used the remaining blue paint to paint the trim on another house.
Two buckets of Dark Salmon paint were purchased. One bucket was used to paint the exterior of a house built by another crew from Horizon Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, for the baby Nancy Cob family. The second bucket was used to paint the Cantun house that the construction crew was completing.
Not to have an idle moment, the paint crew kept busy by painting the interior of yet another Cob house.
A neighbor of the Mildred Cantun family saw the construction crew working on the Cantun house and asked for some help. This family had built an old style Pimiento stick house and mosquitos came into the house because there was no "White Mar" or modern stucco to fill the cracks between the sticks. Our crew could not say "No" so an unscheduled project was undertaken to add stucco on the interior of the house.
An extended Martinez family living in two stick and thatch houses in very poor condition in San Narciso was discovered during a prior trip to Belize. A decision was made to build at least one good house for Fernando Martinez who had already purchased the cement blocks for a new house. Due to a shortage of gravel for the cement required to build the wall foundation, the start for this house got off to a slow start. Some gravel was eventually located and the foundation was poured and the block walls were started. It was necessary to provide the financing for the Belizean construction crew to complete the house.
