On Saturday, March 17, lots of people turned out to work on the duplexes, on landscaping, and gardening. We got a lot done in the way of preparation for painting, some painting in the afternoon, texturing the first unit, spreading gravel and dirt outside, weeding, and other tasks.

In addition, this was the day that the new Ethiopian families turned up to begin working in our community garden area. Sarah has been working with the Oregon Food Bank and IRCO to put this together. These garden beds have been neglected for a while, so it was a good feeling to have people get started working on them. Hanshin helps by working to eliminate some of the weeds and grass.

At 12:30, everyone gathered to have lunch – about 30 people in all, including children and people from all over.