We continued to fetch and carry, sieve sand, mix cement, make 'plaster' almost the whole time we were in Kisumu ... except for the few occasions when we made concrete for a doorstep ... almost the same recipe as the plaster or mortar, but with the addition of gravel ... which we scraped out from the holes in the road outside the site, which we had a few days before filled with the stones we sieved out of the sand !
We formulated a motto:- 'If a job is worth doing, its worth doing twice, or even three times' ! This applied to most jobs ... the gravel; moving the scaffolding poles and planks onto the roof ...and then down again; and then to the sand ! Yes, we sieved some of it twice ... because the plasterers needed finer sand for the finishing coat of 'rough cast' plaster for the ceilings !
Gill and I sieve the sand for the second time through a fine mesh ...
... and Frederick uses the twice sieved sand in a 'rough cast' mix for the ceilings.
Note the somewhat flimsy scaffolding he is bouncing around on !
Another job we did frequently, though mostly in the afternoons, was to make 'porridge' ... this was a top coat of liquid plaster made with water, cement powder and lime ... horrible stuff; we wore goggles and face masks to mix the fine lime powder until it got wet and didn't fly up into our faces. It was amazing that the plasterers could make this liquid top coat stick to the walls, but it gave a very nice smooth surface, ready for painting one day.
Finished walls and textured ceiling ready for paint,
and the metal windows in place.
The outside of the building, brickwork rendered and the windows installed
and just awaiting the arrival of the metal doors for the front of the workshop.
Compare this with the photo of the building as it was when we arrived !
Lots of my friends, family and people in the village where I live, and even friends in other countries, made generous donations to the project; I had originally said it would go towards buying bricks for the second storey, but as the project changed we had to spend the money differently.
So, my dear friends, you have paid for nine large burglar proof metal windows, three internal wooden door frames, (Paul will make the wooden doors later), two large metal outer doors, maybe 60 or 80 bags of cement, many bags of lime, a hose, tons and tons and tons of river sand, wire mesh for making the sieve we sweated over every day, string for holding the scaffolding together, water, electric conduiting and associated bits, one or two odd tools like trowels and a hammer, some six inch nails and other things like delivery costs.
Nigel spent time going through the accounts with Paul, (watched by the children living near the site !) ... Paul is meticulous down to the last nail, and then went with him to the suppliers and paid the bills. The men who worked on the site, Stephen in charge, Meshak, Frederick, George and Mbom were also paid ... I don't know exactly how much, but wages in Kenya are VERY low ... even for skilled workmen.
I think I have forgotten to mention that the boys who will use the site are orphans who are either struggling to support siblings or have nowhere to live except the streets. We were delighted to learn that one of the site workmen had himself been an orphaned street boy; he had been trained at Pandipieri Mission in the building trade, and was now a very skilled workman, married and with a child of his own ! So very satisfying when you can see the result of just a little help given to the needy.
Now our group of four have to raise a little more money to get the project actually working ... until the first group of teenagers have been trained to a standard where they can generate an income by making and selling, for e.g. school desks, there will be costs. Paul will have to buy a few more tools ... we took a lot of my fathers carpentry tools with us, but more are needed. There will be wood needed for the boys to learn on. Annual costs will be the Kenya version of Council Tax on the site; and there will also be modest costs for water and electricity. None of these costs are anything like what we would expect in UK, so the amounts we have to raise are very modest ... a few hundred ££ only ... nothing compared with the initial amounts we raised to take out with us. I personally feel that I can raise money through the inevitable coffee mornings, village soup lunches and charging for giving talks to organisations like the WI !!
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