I mentioned the construction crew working in the courtyard in my last post. There are about 7-8 guys and a woman as part of this crew. My Kinyarwanda is pretty bad and their English is worse, so communicating is difficult. This morning one guy said “engineer” and pointed to the guy who was working at the highest point. I tried to tell them that they were doing a good job. We laugh as we try to communicate. Added to this separation is that they are laborers and I’m a teacher. When I see them, I think of my father who worked as a plasterer, and then when that trade fell out of favor, he became a union carpenter. I see these guys pounding with tools, carrying heavy loads, and the constant up-and-down and think of how he did this, along with our mother taking care of things at home, so their kids wouldn’t have to. I’m heading out now and will give them some passion fruit and I’ll try to convey that I appreciate their work.