“The sky is the limit if you have a roof over your head.”- Sol Hurok
There are many moving parts that go into the creation of a safe building, but in Peruvian construction, the roof is considered the most important. A completed roof symbolizes a completed project. The walls may need spackling and a fresh coat of paint, and the floor may need cleaning, but these are just aesthetic changes. No matter what, with a finished roof, a project is ready to be used.
Carlos Benavides, director of MED Programs Peru, stands with the materials required to fill in the roof.
On Sunday, June 25, 2017, just two months after the plans were finalized and the community agreement was signed, MEDLIFE Staff headed out to Union de Santa Fe to see the completed roof on the second floor of the wawa wasi. Union de Santa Fe community members, along with a few of the MEDLIFE interns, hauled countless buckets of rocks and sand to the cement mixer until the roof was finished and ready to be inaugurated.
With the addition of a cement mixer, a machine not readily available on project days, we were able to finish the roof in just one day!
MEDLIFE Summer interns, Brandy and Jana, pass a bucket of rocks down the cement assembly line.
Project days might be tough work, but they are definitely fun, too!
The first floor to the Wawa Wasi was completed in 2015 , and serves as a space for the Cuna Más program. Cuna Mas is a government program which provides trained childcare personnel and nutritional meals for kids. However, it is only available to kids between 6 months and 3 years old. In Peru, children don’t start primary school until age 6, so kids who are between ages 3 and 6 can’t enjoy the facilities. The new second floor of the Wawa Wasi will be used for a program called PRONOEI, a preschool for children ages 3-6. This addition aims to close the 3 year gap between when children age out of Cuna Más and start primary school, as well as provide a safe childcare facility for the children of working parents.
Members of Union de Santa Fe spread the concrete mixture on the Wawa Wasi’s roof.
Ricardo Ccasani, Union de Santa Fe community leader and MEDLIFE staff member, fixes a leak in the pipe carrying cement to the roof.
Thanks to the immense support of the Union de Santa Fe community, the Wawa Wasi roof was completed in just four hours!
The summer interns take a break from all the hard work to pose for a quick picture!
MEDLIFE Staff members, Martha, Rosali, Raúl, Edinson, Angie, and Dr. Nick Ellis, pose in front of the Wawa Wasi after the inauguration.