Easter is a favorite holiday here in Guyana . . . because it means 4 days off work for most people. Friday, Saturday and Sunday are usually spent partying with friends, but Easter Monday is the day families gather for picnics in the park and kite flying!
In the spirit of the day, we decided to spend our Easter Monday working at Sister Mala Bramdeo’s house. This feisty little single mom built her own house, put up her fence (with the help of her 14-year-old son Avanash), and is in the process of doubling the size of her home so each of them can have a bedroom instead of her sharing her room with 9-year-old Anthony and Avanash sleeping in a hammock in the kitchen. Her yard (on the property she owns outright) is a saucer-shape where rain water puddles, causing flooding from time to time. But, she wants to put in a garden and raise chickens (fryers and layers), so we gathered with three missionary companionships (E/S Sappington, E/S Cook, Elders Anderson, Rollins, Durfee and Hall) to move a big pile of dirt from the street to the low spots in her yard. It was a hot, sweaty day involving dozens of wheelbarrows full of dirt, blisters, sun burn and brownies – while we were always mindful “when ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God.”
