Now it seems Real!

I arrived in Kigali at 8pm on Monday. Seems very odd to be playing curling at Stranraer in the Double Rink Championships one day, and then next you are in the heart of Africa.

Today we met at the College site at 8am, with Jeff the builder, Norbert the supervising architect, and Emmanuel and Kazunga from the College Board.

This was quite a transformation since the last time I was here which in early February 2011. At that time, you may remember, that Roger and I were out to manage the laying out of the site, and to get the platform cut. 2 bulldozers moved a huge quantity of earth as you can see from this photo at that time.

Earthworkings Feb 2011

The building is 500 sq metres with 9 work areas, and will provide Vocational training for joinery, metalwork, plumbing, welding, and IT. We may also provide culinary and front of house skills, which are much needed in Rwanda.

Dec 5th 2011.

Tomorrow evening we meet up with the College Board to make some crucial decisions, and to plan the next 12 months. The completion of the construction requires careful thought because we must make sure that we spend the last of our construction income well. Some of these discussions started on site today with Emmanuel and Kazunga.

Jeff, Emmanuel and Kazunga

One decision already made, is that we are going ahead with our Biogas tank. This will produce gas for our cooking. We may also want to go ahead with solar panels for producing hot water, at a cost of £3000 - if we can afford them!

A key concern we had in the early stages of the build was the quality of the bricks that would be made on site. Here are a few that were left over and I can confirm that they are robust - so no worries about the life of the building

I always find the last stages of a building a bit disconcerting because there is always so much mess and loose ends. However today there must have been 12 - 15 people on site all working hard to get it finished and sorting all the snagging issues.

This room is one of the main areas for woodwork and preparing various things to sell, like tables, chairs, cupboards etc

and Jeff assures me that the painting will be finished within the week, but I am not quite sure about this! However, as Project Manager I am delighted with the work that Jeff and Norbert have done.