Goldstone Makeover

About a month ago, I received an email from a guy in Taiwan, originally from Texas, who wanted to volunteer at the school. He was hoping to put his experience with construction to use and was eager to start raising money to make repairs and improvements on our building. This guy came out of nowhere to serve – amazing. He showed up with his cowboy hat, a backpack, and a check for the school. Since his arrival, the school has been looking more like a construction zone than an institute of learning, but it has been great to see the students get involved in the work. We started by painting the outer fence and the walls on the grounds – and it was a good idea, in theory, to equip the kids with brushes, rollers, and buckets of blue and white paint. What a great experience! Work party! Enlist everyone! Well, it didn’t take long to see that 1) none of the students have had a formal PUD painter’s course, and 2) sixth and seventh grade students are quite capable of expressing themselves through abstract art …. everywhere. It looked like a massive capsule of White-Out exploded on campus. They went nuts. Gates, walls – yes (mission accomplished) – classrooms, windows, tiles, gold statue on the front of the building, armpits, toenails, cars – also yes. The trunks of the palm trees now don splashes of white, the tables are covered with white handprints, and even the tops of a couple old computers have a new white coat. So obviously we had to come up with a new game plan for our other projects, and I have spent the last couple days covering streaks. Painting fences and rails again – reminds me of summers at Box Canyon Dam.

The most recent challenge was laying sand and rock. A truck dumped a huge pile of stones in the middle of the school yard (leaving a crater in the cement)and we had to find a way to spread it around the school. I don’t know if they have wheelbarrows in Cambodia or not, but we certainly didn’t have access to one this morning. What we lacked in efficiency, however, the kids made for with zeal. The students were moving rocks in five gallon buckets, plastic cups, and grocery bags. First graders were collecting rocks in their pink pencil boxes, and the fifth graders started folding cardboard posters to cradle small piles. Dust pans, paint lids, fists – you name it. Resourceful little buggers. They were all eager to help, and it really was the perfect picture of teamwork. I don’t know if you are familiar with Nehemiah’s story of rebuilding the wall in Jerusalem, but I think this was the modern day children’s version. Some of them have worked tirelessly in hot, humid weather – barefoot. Others have seen it as an opportunity to kick back with a bag of sugar cane juice on the rocks. The place looks great - it’s amazing what a few buckets of paint can do to transform a place. There is a new sense of pride among the kids; they have been able to see the immediate fruit of their labor. It will be nice for the students to begin the next school year in a fresh environment – clean walls, doors that work, leak-free roofs. Yeah! A little goes a long way here. And thank you, Brad, for taking the initiative on a project like this and following through - with blisters, sweat, and only a few tears.