I met the neighbors on the way to town today. I didn’t know they were my neighbors but they knew who I was and where I lived. They didn’t have much to say, just stopped me to introduce themselves, Pedro y Tumbes.
Pedro and Tumbes were working for the council, extending the footpaths out of town and adding a gutter. Now, instead of the rain meandering across the road and gouging out which ever roadside verge it feels inclined to, it will soon have to follow the order placed on it by Pedro and Tumbes and flow down the road like the rest of the traffic.
Mixing cement is done here by hand, in the dirt. No mixers or cement trucks used. The guys just mix the sand, cement and water with a shovel, on the road. They build a little wall with sand so the mix doesn’t flow away and just slop it around in a puddle. Then shovel it into the wheelbarrow and into the forms. I guess the rain washes the leftover cement away because I never see patches of cement on the road. The simplicity and basic improvisation of it typifies how things are done around here. With the most basic of tools and a fair bit of improvisation to cover the tools they lack, things get done, slowly, but they still get done.
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