First work on the kindergarten in Tanzania: digging the foundation

Last Saturday, the project 'Building a Kindergarten' actually started. Lukas (responsible for the projects here in Tanzania), the supervisor (called Fundi - expert - by us), and I visited the construction site.

Lukas tells me that a kindergarten (and later another school) is urgently needed in this area. There is none nearby. This means that the children either go to a crowded kindergarten far away or stay at home and are allowed/forced to collect wood, for example. I may write a separate article about schools. That doesn't fit here right now. Because right now, the three of us are standing on the construction site.

Over the past few days, some workers from Fundi have already prepared the construction site. They built a small retaining wall toward the road and created more space in the back by removing soil. Lukas explains to us how big the individual buildings should be and what shape they should have. There is no plan, I will draw it in the next few days and upload it here (hopefully). We marked out the floor plan of the buildings and rooms on the construction site with barricade tapes. Precision is required for the hexagon-shaped building, but that's an easy task for us.

Then we had some more preparations to do. Since we want to mold and burn the bricks for the walls ourselves, we visited a neighbor's machine for molding the bricks. Since Lukas and of course I had some suggestions for improvement, we first went to a... let's call it a blacksmith. This blacksmith is the proud owner of a corrugated iron shack, a small pile of scrap metal, and an assistant who hacks the sheet metal from an old machine (refrigerator?) into small pieces with a chisel. Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera with me, which still annoys me. You just have to see it. The boss accepts the order and our special requests. I was able to participate in the technical discussion, with Lukas translating. Our Fundi also had some good suggestions, so the machine will certainly be uniquely good. The price is negotiated, and because the machine will be more complex, we are supposed to provide the materials. Fundi will take care of that. But I would really like to see how the blacksmith will build this machine in this 'workshop'. But I'm not here for that. We still have a lot of work to do ourselves.

We drive back home and plan the next steps. Lukas made a schedule for me/us (see picture). Since Lukas will continue to Dar es Salaam the next day, the plan will certainly help me in the coming weeks. On Saturday evening, I briefly meet Henry. He is supporting us in the construction and is translating for me and Fundi because Fundi doesn't speak English. But Henry does now. But first, enjoy Sunday.

After a day of rest at the beach (Sunday), we start as agreed at 9 am. First, we only want to focus on the hexagon-shaped house. For that, two smaller trees need to be felled, and some branches need to be removed from another tree. Unfortunately, there is no chainsaw, not even a handsaw. I chop off the branches with a blunt machete. Unfortunately, the handle of the machete is already broken, and despite the gloves I brought from Germany, I already have my first blister on my right hand by noon. The two of us fell the trees... And with this heat, there is a lot of sweat. Slowly, I am becoming aware of what I have gotten myself into.

Then each of us digs a hole. The foundation for the seven support pillars should be 60 by 60 cm and 1.0 or 1.5 meters deep. To survive the heat, I have built a simple sunshade out of a beach towel. There's no time for more. So we dig into the depths. The plan was to have the holes for the foundations of all the support pillars and walls finished by Wednesday. The dry and hard ground, the many rocks, and just as many palm roots make the work more difficult. Especially since we initially didn't have the right tools. In the end, our Fundi took pity on me and got me the long crowbar I wanted (rent costs about €1/day). But we are making progress. Henry has dug 2.5 holes, Fundi 1.0 hole, and I have dug 3.5. My technique and working in the shade help me be faster. Henry works with a lot of power. He is still young (21 years old). Our Fundi also helps occasionally but still needs to get materials and people. He apologizes from time to time for the hard work. Well, I only have three blisters in my hands, but Henry has blisters on almost every finger. But he shovels without gloves and often without shoes. Unthinkable for me...

But that's not the only thing worth mentioning. The nice thing, but sometimes annoying, is the visitors passing by the construction site. It's nice when children walk by and want to greet me, the mzungu. It's annoying when adult men sit down in the shade just a few meters away from us and watch us for hours. It's even worse when they see us struggling and laugh about it. By now, we chase people away or they have to pay for the show ;-) 

Enough for today... I want to go to sleep now. Tomorrow, we have to dig out the foundations for the walls.

Oh yes, the other volunteers as well as the local residents here have, I think, a lot of respect for this physically demanding work. But I chose it myself. So it doesn't seem so bad to me, even though I'm (dead) tired in the evenings.

Now enjoy the photos.