Day 5: The most productive day in the history of productivity.

Today we held our second community meeting.  The turn out was incredible – more than 30 adults showed up.  People were extremely interested and it was very easy to recruit the 15 households we needed.  We finished up the second community meeting much earlier than the first and began sampling pretty early in the day.  We’ve all hit a pretty good groove for our individual roles in the sampling protocol so we can do a house in 15 to 20 minutes, unless the homeowners have a lot of questions or make a lot of conversation – but that’s part of the process.

The day went by pretty quickly.  By lunch time we had already completed 9 homes, so we scarfed down some granola bars while climbing the hills and made it through all 15 houses by early afternoon.  The homes were fairly close to one another in this community, so we didn’t spend as much time walking between households.  We weren’t chased by any dogs today, mostly because Nick asked the participants at the community meeting to ensure their dogs wouldn’t eat us when we went to their houses.

The hills upon which these homes are built are incredibly steep.  It was difficult hiking, not really walking, with unstable footing and high altitude making it even more challenging.  We were pretty much climbing the foot of the mountain.  The people who live in the homes bound up and down the hills with absolutely no fear, hardly even looking where they are going.

The most touching, tragic moment of the day was at one of our last houses.  As we were taking our samples from a house high on the hillside, the woman began to tell us how every time it rains, the water from the mountain side runs down into their homes (and we could clearly see the evidence of worn away dirt and rock).  She then told us that there have been many landslides, the worst of which was this past January.  She pulled out photos of the damage, and there was a boulder the size of her home that had crashed through her home, causing indescribable amounts of damage.  Susan later told me that the woman had said she was afraid to sleep on night that it rains, in case another boulder slides down the hillside and into her home.  The photograph was enough to bring anyone to tears.  These people already live lives that are miserable compared to anywhere else in the world I have ever been, and they have an added fear of giant boulders crushing them and their homes in their sleep.  It’s absolutely heartbreaking.

Other highlights of my day that made me smile included: French toast at breakfast, a girl in one of the homes giving Susan and I each a rose, visiting a daycare full of adorable children, and the joy on the faces of the children to whom we gave our leftover biscuits from breakfast.  Tomorrow we’re off to the third community and I absolutely cannot wait.