Before I write further I’d like to introduce myself. I’m Sue Jetter, team member from Washington State. I am here with my husband, Ron who is an ELCA Pastor at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in the rural eastern Washington State. When I signed on for this trip I had planned to be one of the ‘worker bees’ doing remodeling and painting tasks. Due to a pinched nerve in my back which has manifested itself in various left leg and knee pain, along with a career in grantwriting, I have now been given the task of Chief Blogger for the team. Thanks to all who offered prayers for my good health and healing as I prepared for this trip! I am doing well and plan to help with some painting later today.

This morning as we arrived at the Centre, the women of the team received a gift from the women staffers at the center. They presented us with a beautiful and fragrant 10” string of white jasmine flowers for each of us to wear in our hair made by one of the employees. Many of the women here wear them.

Daily devotions were held in the Sanctuary today as it is equipped with fans and A/C and was cooler than the Chapel. It is just 10 am and many believe that today will be warmer than yesterday. The humidity feels about 60% with temperatures already in 90s. We are reminded to drink lots of bottled water to avoid dehydration.

Today’s devotional began with the singing of two English hymns: Holy, Holy, Holy and Amazing Grace accompanied by Suba, the Sound Technician who plays chords and melody by ear on an upright piano. Next the CMC staff sang a hymn in Tamil after which the Bible verse for the day and the accompanying devotional reading followed. Pastor Herb was asked to read today’s verse (Job 1:8) in English and Pastor David then translated the reading into English. The focus today is that God alone is righteous and we, like Job, can become more righteous by following God’s word and staying in relationship with him.

Upon arrival at the worksite we see that since our departure yesterday, Media Centre personnel have used a grinder on the Rehearsal studio floor to ready it for new carpet. Our team had cleared the floor of remaining carpet fibers and glue, but their grinder has taken the project to the next step. Work groups for today’s tasks were formed by Karl and Bryan and were announced last evening; painters, drywall hangers and roofers.

We have learned that much work will be required to repair the roof. The existing roof is a smooth tiled surface with a slight slope from the middle to allow rainwater to run off through scuppers (formed spouts to direct rain in place of down spouts or gutters). Trees growing near the building have created problems as dropped leaves now block the scuppers and interfere with runoff. Some trees have even taken route in cracks in the roof’s surface. Furthermore, moss is growing in places on the tile surfaces. CMC staff have waited for our team’s opinion on how to repair the leaky roof, but it is difficult for our American workers to know what building materials are available and what techniques are used to combat the heat and humidity. One CMC worker has suggested that a black adhesive material be used to cover the roof and close over leaky spots, but we are concerned that black reflective material would absorb too much heat. Today a local contractor and his work crew (who each will be paid an equivalent of $5 per day) to work on the roof trimming trees and advising us on the best method of repair.

As the trees are cut, the women bring armloads of the leafy branches inside. Cathryn tells me that she will take the branches home and use the leaves to make curry. This “Drumstick” tree is just one plant used to make curry, yet it is one of the best. The Drumstick tree also yields a fruit that is long and thin and we are told that it is very good when it is cooked. The remaining limbs are loaded onto a three-wheeled wagon converted from a bicycle and carried away.

The CMC staff are amazed at how quickly the work is going. Demolition includes tearing out one wall to turn three small rooms into two larger work studios. We find a gecko nest behind the wallboard. Paint colors have been selected with input from the staff. Measurements for sheet rock and paint coverage have been carefully recorded so that they can be converted to metric and assure that the right amount of supplies will be purchased to complete our tasks. There is no Home Depot here, so shopping for building materials means a trip to a paint store and a separate trip for drywall. It is clear to us that we must leave no tasks unfinished, as it is unlikely that any more work will be completed after our departure. Shoppers return with three colors of paint and the 27 sheets of drywall (which measure about 4’ x 6’) that are needed to proceed.

Indians love their coffee. Two or three times each day a staff member comes around with a silver tray filled with small paper cups (about 3 oz or so, with Mickie & Minnie Mouse on them) of strong coffee mixed with cream and sugar. After all of our team are served, the worker brings around another tray for the rest of the CMC staff.

Last evening Pastor David and his wife, Jothi (pronounced Joe’-thee) joined the Team at the “Silver Streak” restaurant in our hotel for a buffet dinner. They are excited about their upcoming trip to America, where they will visit congregations in the CNH District and will stay in the home of team member Glen Butler. We discuss families, food, travel, our countries and the work at the Centre.

I have also learned from Jothi that the term ‘Chai Tea’ is duplicative, as Chai is actually the word for Tea in the Hindi, Korean and Russian language (and probably others as well). So Chai refers to tea mixed with cream/milk and sugar while “Tea”, as we know it, would be called “Black Tea” here.

In order to avoid sickness, most team members are carefully avoiding foods that have been washed with any tap water or even cut with a knife that may have been wet with tap water. This limits us from eating any fruit or vegetable that is not cooked or that we did not peel ourselves. A lovely cucumber salad, apples, oranges, papaya, pineapple, mangoes and watermelon were offered and were avoided but all but a few. So far no reports of ‘Delhi Belly’ have been encountered and the whole crew remains healthy. Part of our group ventured out to a nearby grocery store to buy some fresh fruit so that we could clean, cut and eat it without concern of unclean water. They returned with apples, bananas and mangoes and some great stories. What an adventure!

As we end our workday, painting is mostly completed in the atrium and a wall has been torn out and rebuilt in the new location. The roof has been completely cleaned and the material has been identified that will resolve the leakage issues.