The Minga

Participating in mingas have been some of our best experiences here. Minga is a Kichwa word and does not have a direct English translation. A minga is when a group of people in the community unite to complete a project. Sometimes it is building a classroom, a sidewalk, an irrigation ditch, or in our case this weekend a roof. Mingas are usually volantary and the only compensation is lunch (and probobaly alcohol).

Maggie already wrote about her job in the minga and now I'll share mine.

As soon as I showed up to the minga I realized that I had committed a minga faux pas. Everyone around me had the knee-high rubber boots on and there I was in tennis shoes. I still have not gotten around to buying a pair, so I had to pass an entire day shin deep in concrete.

Here's how concrete is usually laid in Chaco:

The day starts by blocking off the street to mix the concrete. There is a formula to make the concrete with so many wheel barrels of medium sized rocks, sand, and 100 lb bags of cement that are mixed and then formed into a crater shape. In the center the workers put a certain amount of water according to the formula. The workers' job is to then to shovel like madmen to mix the concrete. The rule of thumb is to completely mix the pile of concrete 3 times.

Once the concrete is ready it is transported to the roof by bucket and pulley, powered by 3 or 4 men, or by a wheel barrel and a large ramp. The people on top then distribute and level the concrete.

Fortunately a friend of the family who came to this minga is a heavy machine operator. When he got there and found out that we would be carrying the concrete up with the wheel barrel ramp method he decided to call the mayor to see if we could borrow a front-end loader from the city government. Since the elections are only a month away, the mayor was glad to help and within 30 minutes we had a front-end loader.

By two p.m. the roof was finished and we sat down to a huge lunch. All the hardwork was worth it as we stuffed ourselves on roasted pork.