Construction of a kindergarten in Tanzania: Part 7

It's Saturday and Henry is not feeling well. Therefore, he is absent, which I deeply regret. Not only because I see him so lethargic, but also because it makes the work incredibly difficult. However, our Fundi's goal for the day is still to build, position, and secure the reinforcement for the ring beam, and then pour the concrete for the ring beam.

In the morning, eight more helpers arrive. Two of them assist our Fundi, while the others stand around. I also stand around because without Henry, communication becomes difficult for us. And in general, we had already discussed how we wanted to build the day before (although it was ultimately done differently). I take the morning off and talk to Henry about this and that. Work continues down at the construction site.

In the afternoon, they lift the first reinforcement cage (12 meters long) into the formwork for the ring beam, then the second one, and so on. The men do it with strength, but also technique. It goes very quickly. I join in again now. And I have to say, unfortunately, the reinforcement cages and their connection to each other looked just as I almost expected. They were quickly in place, but they didn't fit properly. We urgently needed to fix this, although at the beginning, only I seemed to realize it. Because in some parts, the reinforcement didn't even reach from one support pillar to the other. The helpers still don't seem to realize that this building will also have an upper floor. Understandable, as this construction method is very unusual here. At least in the village, I haven't seen a building with one or more upper floors yet.

So, Fundi and I fix the reinforcement. The reinforcement is too short, twisted, too close together, not connected to the support pillars, and/or too close to the formwork because of the incorrect measurements. I use stones to push the reinforcement slightly away from the formwork into the desired position, then it also looks good visually. The helpers have already mixed the concrete and urge me on. I slide, in the end, I walk on the ring beam and fix the problem areas. They are already pouring the concrete right behind me. But night falls. Unfortunately, we were one hour short, then we would have reached the daily goal.

Therefore, Baba Steve immediately calls the people in for Sunday morning. They start at 9 o'clock in the morning and by 10 o'clock they are already done. It looks good. Hopefully, it will still look good when we remove the formwork. I take some pictures for the archive and of course for you.

I unpacked one of the nine support pillars that we poured on Friday. We did a good job. In the picture gallery, you can see Baba Steve inspecting the support pillar. Pay attention to his shoes. After this good result, I am enjoying this Sunday now, even though it starts raining for the first time during my five weeks here at this very moment. I see it positively, there is less dust now.

Best regards