Hi Flo, it makes you the record of the week for the blog (we started to write you this morning, then a power failure, then we end this now ...)
Saturday March 3, overview of the first week which allowed us to highlight three areas of site progress and its problems and its interests.
- level the progress of construction we have benefited from existing slab (old shelter teachers) to attack the foundations around. It has asked a working day (Tuesday).
- The next day, we scrapped the foundations by hand, then pouring concrete on reinforcements to have a good foundation of reinforced concrete (handmade). We managed this foundation the second day (Wednesday).
- Thursday we finished the concrete work is to tweak, then we removed the roof of the shelter, which has earned us the thorns on our hands blistered.
- Friday we have decided to work on another part of the project which involves the rehabilitation of health (large trench sloping gently down to the pit of recovery). Meanwhile, Didier worked to find the necessary materials. This trench 9 m long x 25cm wide we took this morning.
- Saturday we were waiting for the delivery of land that is only arrived at noon. Meanwhile, we made the connection between health and the pit and we learned how the brick press, which is difficult to handle (physically). We also made a screen to sift the red earth. After arrival of the earth, everything was in place to work, we made 35 bricks. We returned late in the day to make 150 bricks will dry Sunday and Monday we will shape.
At the manufacture of a brick, it's fast but tricky because there are several steps: first sift the earth, then mix in the mountains three wheelbarrows of cement (mixture is very important and should be homogeneous with a bucket and a half) and this mixture arrives in the press with a pressure of 20 tons - that make our arm is being stepped up day after day) and a final manipulation to bring out a brick of 30 cm x 15 cm, very nice to us. We form teams of 2 at each station, which allows us to make 70 bricks per hour (this figure will evolve).
Regarding the difficulties of construction, it is firstly the lack of preparation on the Senegalese side and the absence of our peers Senegal (teens and parents) who make us great defect. Didier Fabi and then reminded Tidiane commitments and after some time, only 4 young Senegalese have come to help us. Our relationship with these 4 or 5 Senegalese present on site is very rewarding and spent their astonishment to see girls working, they are well integrated group. There is also the custodian of the school who did everything to help, always available and smiling down from its 60 years. Children of elementary school are the wall separating the two schools to help us. We hope that the week will bring us + people. Another difficulty is the supply of construction: in fact the Muslim Senegal is party, and does not work on Friday, which delayed the arrival of the earth. It has taken us + acclimatized and learn not to drink too much, which has earned us stomach aches and nausea.
The house where we live is made available by the association "The Way", which is a "people's house", in which run every youth association. It is with these kids that we have great relationships and with whom we organized a panel discussion on substantive issues such as religion, the image of France, the situation of Women ... A meeting is scheduled in the week, only women between Senegalese and French, to enable these women to express themselves freely, because we felt too much restraint on the previous meeting. Communication with these young people is becoming easier and discussions are going well. We learn quite a lot of words in Wolof, and this greatly facilitates our integration.
In conclusion, we still hope to finish the job site Friday afternoon. We count on the solidarity Senegalese and we decided to work 3 hours more at night for that.
Voâla!
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