Construction of a kindergarten in Tanzania: Part 2

Progress is being made... The number of holes for the foundations is increasing. We have now dug all 16 holes for the support pillar foundations. Unfortunately, we had to dig through stones to get down. But about 6.7 cubic meters of them came to light.

If you remember my last post, we had some spectators for a day (including photo evidence). Apparently, it was the police, making sure we were doing everything right. I didn't ask any further questions. However, this had the consequence that we pushed the rectangular building further towards the slope. We don't want anyone to demolish the house later on. That also means that we had to remove more from the slope. This "more" was just under 20 cubic meters, which we moved by hand to the side. My energy reserves are still sufficient for that.

I have now drawn a construction plan so that everyone on the construction site - and you too - have a better overview. So far, only Lukas and Baba Steve (our fundi) knew what it was supposed to look like. So the question of whether there is an architect, construction plan, etc. is now answered. The interpretation of the support pillars and beams is compensated by experience. And often you can simply see it when something has been dimensioned too weakly.

What else has happened? The first material deliveries have arrived. A "heavy transporter" brought about 30 deliveries of stones (see photo with bicycle). He found it funny that a white person was digging holes; I found it funny how he delivered the stones with the bicycle. So both sides had something to laugh about.

In addition, iron was delivered (probably by truck), which we are currently cutting to the appropriate lengths with a hacksaw. With a grinder, this work would be finished in an afternoon. I think we need at least the whole day. Tomorrow we will bend the iron into the desired shape.

So we are deviating slightly from the schedule, but that was only meant as a guideline anyway (by the way, the weekends were incorrectly marked in the plan). The main cause of the deviation is the lack of materials. Cement and the machine for shaping the bricks are missing. That's why we have moved other work forward. Cement is supposed to be delivered on Thursday. Then we can start with the support pillars. At least I hope so, otherwise we will run out of work. The machine for the bricks should also be finished soon (this week?). Then we will have more than enough work for the next days/weeks.

Observations beside the construction site

Up to 100 people pass by the construction site every day. The children are always in a good mood and always want me to greet them and wave at them.

Women also walk past us on their way to or from their fields. They balance tools, wood, fruit, vegetables, or a water container on their heads. They often also carry a toddler wrapped in a cloth with them. I have seen something like this on television several times, but it looks completely different in reality. There, the woman walks past you with an axe on her head (of course, without securing it with her hand) and greets you warmly. This requires a stable posture, certainly also a good inner attitude. I can see that in many women. They stand proudly opposite us. It is sad to hear that it is common here in Tanzania for men to beat their wives.

Village life

Every now and then I go into the village with Henry or Fundi. The village center is about 10...15 minutes' walk away. On the way, especially children greet us.

In the village, there is a lot to buy. For example, I buy sweet bananas or pineapples there. They taste particularly delicious here and cost about 80 cents each. Cheap for me, but not necessarily for the people here. Then I get myself a coke, because water gets boring after a while. On the way to the village center, you can also see the development that the village has undergone. There are more and more houses built with concrete blocks. There are still mud houses, but in my opinion, there will only be very few of them in 10 years. Running water is not available everywhere. Therefore, women and children have to carry the water from one of the two central water points to their homes. We are lucky in our house because there is a direct water pipe to the water point. A 2,000-liter tank is filled using a pump. However, if there is no electricity for a longer period of time, we are also left high and dry. But that didn't happen during my time here.

End of the day

After work, we naturally rest. We talk, read, write, and eat. Every now and then, we have to take care of our laundry. Since there is no washing machine, the laundry is washed in a bucket. The laundry smells good, but I can't get it really clean. The sunscreen is stubborn. Hopefully, it will come out again in Germany, otherwise I have to go shopping for new clothes. And that shouldn't be necessary.

For dinner, we have the same food every 2-3 days: For lunch, always cornmeal with cooked cabbage, and for dinner, rice with beans / possibly other side dish or spaghetti with tomato sauce. If you want variety, you have to take care of it yourself. The other volunteers have more time than me and buy additional things to cook in the city (not the village). I am grateful to them for that. I had meat three times in the last 14 days. But it's not a big deal. I can't say for sure whether I will lose weight or gain weight in the end. It's not that important.

Spelling mistakes

If I haven't mentioned it before... I write these texts all on my phone. Thanks to autocorrect and limited oversight, additional errors creep into the text. Please don't be angry with me if I don't proofread and correct the texts to perfection. If in doubt, just turn the word or sentence around correctly. Then I also have time to relax. Thank you.