Building a School African Style

JCC has a Primary School- nursery through grade six. At the moment the school has been meeting in a temporary building that is made of woven walls. The class rooms are small for the number of children in each, but everyone has managed to make it work for the time being. Now we are in the process of raising funds for a new permanent school building on the JCC compound. We are half-way there and the building can now begin.

First the brush had to be cleared and stumps removed- the area in the top left photo is where the school will be built. The clearing did go fairly quickly and then it was time for the first load of supplies to come in. Now there is no running to Home Depot, Menards, Lowes or the Cook Building Center. A few large trucks hauled in most of the supplies but I did pass these four guys pulling a load of rocks up the JCC road not realizing they were going all the way to the home and had come from town. They arrived about an hour and a half after I did and were already over 3/4 of the way there. The other part of this is that we have to make the bricks with the supplies delivered. So first the cement was mixed and then the molding of the bricks began. The first time around about 1500 bricks were made. As you can see in the photos below it was a large number but the guys made then all in just a couple days. (Little did they know they would be back to make more than that not too long after).

Next we had to get out our string and make the lines where the "trenches" would be dug for the foundation. Yes we had guys in the corners of the building site pounding in stakes and tying string to it to make our foundation straight- and with all their old homemade tools it did turn out right. Digging began and amazingly enough took only a couple days- with our old shovels and machetes cutting away at old tree roots and stumps, hauling out large pieces of stone until the whole floor plan was laid out and dug three feet deep. (See William standing in the trench in the top right photo below) The older boys were a great help during this stage.

It was finally time to start miking the cement and pouring the foundation. Large and small rocks had to be carried around the rim of the trenches to mix in with the cement. The girls and I were in charge of making sure there was enough water in the drums for the mixing as well as to work with some of the other kids carrying the stones. The cement is mixed on the ground. First a layer of sand is poured out, bag of concrete mix on top of that, a layer of rocks, and then buckets of water poured on top while guys are using shovels to turn it over and mix it up. It is then loaded into a metal pan with handles on the side and carried to the place where it will be dumped into the foundation- each load consisting of only a couple shovel fulls. When the distance gets to be too far an assembly line is started and the full tray is passed through with an empty one coming back. It takes a bit of time to get all the way around the building but it is done and even leveled out (again using string and a piece of wood nailed into a T to smooth it out).

After the poured foundation is set, it is time to start hauling the bricks that were made over to the edges of the building. Before or after dinner each night we each had a set number of bricks to haul over. Each of the kids did their part and we managed to make it a good time filled with laughter as well as some whining. I of course had to use two hands and after only a few trips with two bricks decided one at a time was better- however the boys especially would all take two at a time. (see Joseph, Emmanuel, and John below) Usually if you finished your quota for the night you would help everyone else until it was all done- it was great to see the kids not only working together but going that extra step for each other as well.

In no time at all the foundation was over three bricks high in all places and more in a few others. Re bar (I have no clue how to spell that) bent by hand was in place for the pillars and the school was all set for the next stage. The building was put on hold for a short time so this was how it looked when I left. Since then I have talked to Joe and the walls are almost all completely finished. The floor should be layed soon and then it is just floating the roof (so someday we can build a second level) and plastering the walls, adding doors and windows and finally finishing the new JCC school. It will be great to see the kids in there soon, but it has also been good to watch them each be a part of the building process in their own ways. The kids can come back to the home long after they are grown and know that they had a part in this school coming to be at Jonathan House. Thanks for your donations towards this project. Every night at prayer time the kids pray for the school- not just that the rest of the money would be raised, but to thank God for those who have given and been a part of making this happen. They remember to say thanks and I think they really do realize what this school means for their futures.

This is a far cry from how we build here in America- and yet they amaze me with the speed in which they can do things with only hand tools. The relationships you build while standing next to each other all day passing a bucket of cement, a stone, or a five gallon pail of water is something that could never be done between cement trucks or cats. Technology is great- and don't get me wrong- I am sure they would love a big turning cement truck or even a cordless drill, but they are little things we miss out on here that I will remember and be thankful for. (Of course I only have to do this every now and then and it is still a bit of a novelty for me- ask someone there and they may not feel the same :)