Mix together:
278 bags of Portland cement, each weighing 110 pounds
69 cubic yards of sand
62 cubic yards of gravel
Add water slowly, ensuring a smooth consistency forspreading over blocks and beams on rooftops in theYucatan Peninsula.
After the concrete is adequately mixed by hand, shovel into buckets by the scoopful and hand carry to the top of the roofs.
Yield: 72 cubic yards (or 146 tons) of concrete, all hauled and mixed by hand.
Results: A dry home and a very happy home owner.
Melanie (Mel) Sullivan, Chief Operating Officer for St. Croix Orthopaedics, spent a week this spring working as an adult leader/volunteer with 70 high school students (ages 16-18) working in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico building concrete roofs on homes, churches and schools. This was her sixth mission trip to this area, coordinated and sponsored by Trinity Lutheran Church, Stillwater, MN, and a national organization of volunteers, Mano Amigo.
For approximately 20 years, these two organizations have collaborated in small villages throughout Quintana Roo to build concrete roofs on buildings that are often subjected to the threat of hurricanes. Through combined efforts, the volunteers provide the materials for the roof and the labor to complete the project so that homeowners, churches and schools have safe shelter and protection from the elements.
Often, Mexican families save for 7 - 10 years to purchase the blocks to build the walls of their home. Then, the missionaries arrive to lift, mix and pour the concrete on the roofs. It is a beautiful site to see the efforts of a collective group of teenagers working side by side with the local Mexican community to complete a project that will impact the lives of families and communities for years to come!
