Change of scene ....

Hi again,

Firstly, sorry that we had no blog last night, but I obviously spoke too soon about the good internet connections ! and we had no connection since Tuesday, but we're back on track now.

Yesterday, Wednesday, since House Number 4 was very well advanced and there was little we could do until the masons have completed their next phase, our team was dispersed among the other houses. I went to House Number 13. It's a bit further away from the central meeting point than the other houses and we have to go there in the bus. It's a wonderful big site and I've joined a lovely team. There are lots of big shady trees, which is a definite plus in the heat.

The main picture above shows the stage the house was at yesterday morning, with just the foundations dug. They are about 2 feet deep. It looks a lot more, but in fact it's just that the earth which was moved has been deposited like a huge mound around the edges and it looks very deep indeed.

The first job of the day was to move some huge chunks of granite (and we thought the cement blocks were heavy !) to be used to fill the foundations. I couldn't believe that we were sinking this beautiful stone into the ground to be crushed ! There were even some wonderful pink pieces which would cost an arm and a leg at home for use as work tops .. but there we are .. that's the way it works over here.

The first layer of huge granite chunks was layered with smaller pieces and then some of the earth which had been taken out is spread back over the layer of rocks and soaked with water, so it can be spread and evened out. During the watering process, we ran out of water and had to wait for a delivery before we could carry on. They say the every cloud has a silver lining and this one certainly did ! As we waited for the water, our host family looked after us very well. They cut down some coconuts from one the tress in the yard and sliced them open for us to drink the juice and eat the flesh. They were absolutely delicious ..

After lunch when the water had been delivered, it was back to shifting the granite and layering it big chunks first and then the samller ones and then the earth, followed by the water.

The mason and the home owner did most of the rock laying and we continued to lift and carry the rocks to them and pass them along by chain gang. The second layer of the foundations was almost complete as we left for the day.

It had been a heavy working day - but very enjoyable. My new team are mostly American, with some very experienced Habitat builders and some novices. The family are lovely too. I need to find out some more and report later, but there is a lady of the house and her daughter and son in law and some grandchildren. The site is big and the house has 3 rooms (bigger than number 4). It has a hall / lounge ; bedroom and kitchen. The yard has some wonderful fruit trees. There's the mango tree that we use for shade, a papuya tree and of course the all important coconut tree.

More shifting and lifting tomorrow to complete the foundations.

Bye for now.