Dozens and dozens of parents joined us to lay the leveling foundation for the inspiration center on Friday. It was truly an amazing event of mandalic collaboration– the whole village coming together to help make something happen. In this case, we were laying the first terrace of the site for the Inspiration Center (which like most of the village is on a hill). For the past week, our small team was based in Guina’ang working with volunteers and flocks of students to level the area. However, Friday, with all the parents turned out on mass, was different.
A large load of stones had arrived outside of the village thanks to a donation from a visionary supporter in the city. There are no roads in Guina’ang, so to get them to the school, the only way to do so is to walk them in. The women loaded the stones on the their heads and carried them, sometimes three at a time, to the building site. The men, who happened to include be the local master stone-terracers, worked to lay the stone embankment in place. The students came and helped during recess carying stones with their mothers and shoveling dirt to help their fathers with the terrace. Before we knew it, the entire stone wall was in place!
The rice for the lunch was courtesy of the congressman and near the end o
Our visualization of the completed Inspiration Center and mandala garden.
f the day a truck sent by the mayor arrived. It was laden with a treasure trove of half a dozen boxes of broken tiles for our floor mandala and dozens of tires from the local repair shops. And now we are ready for the next sessions of collaboration! Stay tuned as the first Inspiration Center unfolds…
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The village women carry the stones for the LIbrary's foundation on their head to the school.
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The village women carry the stones for the LIbrary's foundation on their head to the school. The students also join in.
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The village women carry the stones for the LIbrary's foundation on their head to the school. The students also join in.
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Eliza passes on the stones, woman to woman to the men who are laying them in place.
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The men and I begin the process of laying the stones for the Inspiration Center's foundation wall.
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The women and students work on leveling the area for the center.
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One of the village's master stone layers (they call it "Rip Rapping") lays another stone in place.
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I learn how to lay stones from a master Igorot stoneworker! Wow. This is a skill I will never forget!
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The finished wall! All in a day's work! The result of a massive collaboration.
