Earth's Promise

We had a long day yesterday on the airplane and then traveling to Yerucham which is the place where we’re staying.  We ate dinner, had our first group icebreaker, got to our rooms, and then went to sleep.  Most people didn’t get much sleep but we all made it to breakfast at 7:30.  After breakfast, we got onto the bus and made our way to Be’er Sheva to Earth’s Promise, an Ethiopian absorption center.  Once we got there, we had quite a few projects lined up for us to help out with in their garden.  Some people helped dig out a pond, some people helped build benches and set up a place for them, and I helped make the outer layer of a hut. 

First we dumped three huge bags of clay into a bunch of buckets.  We added water and then began mixing it with our hands.  Once we mixed it as much as we could, we dumped out the muddy clay onto a sheet of plastic on the floor, took off our socks and shoes, and then began mixing it with our feet.  Sand and straw were added in to the mixture and our feet continued to mix until it was as smooth as we could possibly get it.  Once we had our mixture, we took large handfuls over to a mud hut and began spreading on this clay which would be the outer layer.  It was hard work because it was hard to spread it thinly without it sticking to our fingers.  We did as much as we could in the time that we had and in the middle, we had great Israeli falafel for lunch.

Sara Jacobovitch, Alternative Break Participant, Binghamton University