Hard Work Paying Off: Building Footprint Visible

Everyone hard at work digging

You have not heard from us the past few days because we have either been at work or exhausted from working!  We've been making some amazing progress on the foundation digging, rebar bending, and form building.  Since beginning our dig on Monday, the place that used to be a few stakes is now a massive excavation, several feet deep in some places, soon to be filled with a new concrete foundation.  The Burere Village has been coming out, in solid numbers, every day of work.  The volunteer labor which is the community contribution to the project is becoming an extremely valuable asset as we keep moving ahead.

Andrew and the rebar cutting/bending ream hard at work

On Tuesday, the story was the same.  More digging!  The main focus was a 6 foot wide strip around the edge of the footprint which will allow us to level and form all of our footings without needing to level the entire area inside the building.  We also had Sakai, our carpenter, create boards from which we ran string to mark the various footing edges.  Tuesday was also the start of rebar work and Andrew did an excellent job of starting the cutting and bending.  Richard, Julius, Village Life's employee Rose, and I also visited Tarime, a larger city about two hours away, to order the remaining supplies which were needed for the site.  Tarime took most of the day, and we ended up picking up the EWB team once they had finished work for the day on our way back to Shirati.

School and work let out at the same time, some kids came over to see our excavation

Wednesday saw another round of digging (common theme for the whole week).  This time, we strung the strip footing which runs all the way around the perimeter and will support the bricks in the final building.  Once we had properly measured it, we dug a rough trench all the way around the building.  The rebar team was working well with Andrew and hit their stride on Wednesday, making several of the rebar grids which will be the reinforcing for the large footers under the columns.  The site began to take shape and the base of the future walls was now clearly visible!  Julius led the pouring of a small pad, which will serve as our concrete mixing station when we get to that point.

The foundation is taking shape

Today, we continued our dig (kept to the theme).  This time saw the marking and leveling of the footings which will support the columns.  Zach and I measured the proper spacing and set a form in the position so that they could be dug.  Richard and Justin followed after and made sure the bottom of the excavation was level.  That led to quite a deep dig at the deepest corner, several feet deep to get to a level bottom!  Rebar continued strong and most of the rebar for the column footings were completed.  We began the stirrups, which will hold the vertical bars at the right spacing.  That was an interesting process, which involved driving some rebar through a 4x4 piece of lumber to create a form around which rebar would be bent.  The box forms, which will form the top half of the strip footing, began to take shape and all four corner pieces are already done.

Staying safe while making stone

While the team has been working, there have been many other things going on.  All around the site, there are people making stone for the large aggregate of the concrete.  One man, who began working diligently Monday, has nearly built a fort in the bushes behind the work site.  Our storekeepers are also constantly checking equipment for working and for safety.  Each delivery from Tarime is carefully counted and documented.  A big thanks to Walsh Construction for the donation of all of the safety supplies as well.  The whole construction site is full of people in hard hats, gloves, safety glasses, and vests.  We are by far the safest construction site in the entire Rorya district.

Justin and Otienu leveling a footing

Keep an eye on the blog.  I apologize for a three day break and I will try to get more frequent posts up!  The team is tired, but still in high spirits.  Everyone has stepped up to the plate when it comes to working.  It certainly shows when you consider that we are 4 days in and the building foundation shape is already visible.

Trying on some rebar for size