Wednesday - Another day of hard work...

Today was a pretty solid work day…  We had 3 main tasks and a few minor things to get done (and get ahead of schedule)…  The three main tasks were building pallets for the new blocks, coating those pallets with oil, and mixing and pouring the first layer of concrete for the water tower…

But first, a word on our safety…  Just to let you know that all of us feel totally safe…  There was some concern about what is called ‘the crisis’ here, but we literally have seen nothing that is of concern to any of us…  We are in the safest part of town, and the guys here are really great about being transparent about any risk there may have been or may be…  And now, on with the show…

The first part of the morning we nailed together the pallets that will hold the blocks while they are curing…  The blocks need to sit there for a few days before they can be used, and they each need their own individual pallet…  So here is a picture of John, John, and John working on the pallets…

Mark Parker is working hard on utilizing the scientific method to tackle the block-making process…  He spent all morning and part of the afternoon making forms, altering the mix, and making mini-bricks so we can test them out later in the week…  Check out the kids watching his process!  The next picture is of Mark explaining some of the finer points of his work to Brian…

Like I said earlier in the blog, the Land of HOPE property is located directly next to the Kisayhip Village…  It’s a few minutes’ walk, and this village will be (and has been already) absolutely changed by their new neighbors…  We’ve been talking a lot about what it means to help them, what the unintended consequences might be, and how we can best serve this section of this city…  

Here is a picture that we’ve seen everyday on the property…  People (today this group of three women) working hard for a big part of the day to find and cut down brush to burn…  Then, it’s piled onto their heads and carried into the village…  I'll give 500 Naira (the currency here) to any man, woman or child who can carry this much wood...  500 Naira!!

After lunch we started working on finishing up the major projects…  John and John worked on pouring the concrete into the water tower forms…  You would not believe how quickly this sets up!  It’s so hot and dry that the concrete starts getting hard almost immediately…  I’ve never seen anything like it…

The rest of the guys were back in the shade finishing up the pallets…  The pallets get coated with oil (actually used motor oil – they call it ‘condemned oil’)…  The oil seals the wood, keeps it from splitting, keeps termites out of them, and stops the water in the blocks from seeping into the pallets…  Condemned oil!  Who knew?!  (Brian was complaining that he was the only original artist, and all the other guys were copying his work...  

The last picture of the day is of Mark the Scientist…  I’m not sure which is the ‘control mini-brick’ and which ones are the ‘experimental mini-bricks’ but you can be sure that Mark does…  His dedication to this is impressive and inspiring…  It would be easy for us to get focused on the tasks at hand, but the work that Mark is doing on perfecting the block mix will probably last longer than any of the pallets we made…  Even with us using the condemned oil...

After we were done working we had some time to climb up on the rocks surrounding the property…  It was so nice to rest and reflect and gain some perspective…  The ride home was fast and bumpy (you should see what can pass for a ‘road’ here)…  We had some incredibly delicious shish kabobs over the grill, so don’t feel too sorry for us!  We are doing well, and really enjoying the company and the work…