Grinning and Mowing

The Nehemiah Center courtyard has a 58- by 58-foot yard, minus the kiosko in the center. Two days ago, Pablo and two assistants rotator-mowed and machete-chopped it, pulling edge-grasses by hand. It took nine work-hours

.

The Van Klompenburg yard is ten times this size. With a weed-eater and riding mower, Marlo mows in less than two hours.

My first instinct when Pablo's  machete started slicing through the grass too long for the mower was disbelief. I grinned and shook my head.

As Pablo chopped away, my smile gave way to consideration. I worked on dual tolerance.

•     Pablo is lean and muscled, working with a steady rhythm.
•         Wages for grounds keepers in Nicaragua run $100 per month—maybe 50 cents per hour.
  And many Nicaraguans lack full-time, steady jobs.
•      Gasoline is expensive in Nicaragua. These tools do not use fossil fuels or emit fumes.
•       As they work, I hear no noxious noise.

Two days ago, however, North American Maureen Rank did not grin at my machete-video blog-post.  Her response: “I have a friend who has a RIDING MOWER for a lawn as big as the one I see in the clip...and we wonder why 1 of 3 Americans is obese!”

Nehemiah Center training materials tell me Maureen’s response similar to that of North American mission teams returning from the developing world.

I wonder what dual tolerances I will need when I return?

...

PS: When Pablo was on lunch break, I tried to push the mower through a couple of feet of the remaining grass. I failed.