Progress Report April 17th

I normally only blog when in Rwanda. However, today Jeff our builder has sent these photos and I thought you might like to see how the college is progressing.

The photo shows that the concrete has been poured for the columns on the front of the building, and the shuttering for the columns at the back. You can also see that the concrete blocks which are being made on the site, are well under way.

You can also see that the foundations for the classroom walls is in place.

Really is quite a big building! If the walls start in the next week or so, I had better start to think about getting back to Kigali so that we can talk with the builders about the final finishes!

Paul Takes Charge

Pastor Paul, who heads up the Gatenga church we have been working for, has been in Congo for the last week.

Today was our first time to let him know what we have been doing and to take him to the site to see all our work.

One of my targets before I left for Rwanda was to get a photo shot of Paul driving a bulldozer, and today was just that opportunity - no quicker than I had suggested and he was up in the cab

In fact he was so keen I thought he was going to drive the machine, but common sense prevailed. I would quite like to have seen it.

There were of course a few last minute discussions - the MOU, tidying up the front of the site, and a site board

Most things seem in order though there will always be things to do. I meet Callum on Wednesday morning for a debrief. Must get my report done! Loads to say.

Off Home Tomorrow

Tomorrow is going to be very busy - 6am - prepare final construction agreement, 7.30 breakfast, 8.30 meeting re Biogas septic tanks, 9.30 - pack bags, 10am with Paul and to site, 12pm meet Norbert and Builders, 1.30 lunch and email Inkuru Nziza our final report, 3pm taxi airport

Here is what the site looks like now - nearly ready for foundations being started this week

Winnie's School

Some of you may remember that when things were bad in November during my last visit, Winnie was very encouraging and gave good advice about the planning department.

Well today we went to see her Primary School which is just 150 metres behind our College site. I expected a small couple of buildings - could not have been more wrong.

Many people had told us about how great a school it is. Here are some photos, but the real brilliance is that they have thought through very carefully how to educate young children, from nursery to primary 4.

I let the photos tell the story.

Primary One to Three are in these classrooms, with about 25 - 30 in each

The new assembly Hall is enormous and can be used for many things

It has a great outlook over the hills, and is just a short distance from our site

Children in the nursery sometimes get tired and require a snooze.

Children in Primary 3 are learning lots of information we did not know!

This must be a teachers worst nightmare!

Clear that he is learning nothing from the architect teacher.

No Comment!

Site ready for Foundations

We have pretty well achieved our main target for our visit and that was to get the site ready for the builders to prepare the foundations.

Here are some photos of our two diggers and their helpers.

This digger is great for off site work - just sprints across anything to clear a tree. And what an opportunity the driver had here!

But he missed them - too slow!

Having 2 diggers was great, and got most of the job done today.

Almost finished  - tomorrow we lay out the foundations

Rwandan Sights

 We were at the site all day today, and it was a great day for good photos. Here are a few. When we arrived at the site at 8am we were greeted with this view of our neighbours. They had organised about 60 workers to help build their wall

Many hands make light work

It was great to see just how much they achieved in a day, even though it was all by hand, and just hard wor - as you can see by the stone size they are carrying

Our bulldozer driver has returned, and we employed him most of the day. His machine continues to play up, as you can see by this photo. But he did a great job for us, and it was good to have him back on site. We also had another machine digging away which was great for getting most of the site finished.

Steam engine

And occasionally a person or car would pass with a long load!

Legal?

On the Edge

Its fascinating working in construction, and great to be able to photo people at work. There are many decisions that are made that people do not see and are often quite crucial.

These were taken yesterday (Thursday). There was lots of hanging around as we made sure that the machine driver, Norbert, got as much work done as possible. All seemed to go ok, though these photos show expressions of concern or tiredness. Read on

Rog on Edge

Rog is on edge because he has been out in the sun all day. He has been making sure that pegs in the ground are not obliterated because Norbert the supervising architect has become quite upset at the builders for not making sure that they remain in situ.

Rog also feels that Norbert is being rather harsh on Jeff the young builder, and agrees that we should not be removing the earth but rather leaving it onsite. Norbert however wants it removed and it is left to Macfarlane to make the final decision.

Jeff is on Edge

Jeff on the other hand is also on edge because he has had to spend lots of extra cash on lorries he did not intend to hire. He wants the best for the project and is absolutely doing his best, but he and the architects have not carefully assessed the implications of such a large amount of earth having to be moved.

Although his project manager Macfarlane has reassured him that he will get additional money to cover the expense, he may be on edge in case he does not get it. Also he is on edge because he does not have the cash to pay all the workers sufficient until his father arrives, and he is having to manage a machine driver who is not easy to control

Pascal on Edge

Pascal is on the edge because he works with a bulldozer driver who is great at his job when working but is not happy at having to work so hard. The Scottish project manager and architect are hanging around and he has no place to escape  - so he has to work harder for his money.

Norbert on the Edge

Norbert did  brilliant job on Thursday and we were really pleased. When we left at 5.15pm he immediately stopped work, complained at the rate of work he was having to do, wanted more pay, and was instantly sacked. In a huff he left for Uganda, and we suspect a planned drinking binge

I am disappointed because he really did a good job.

Today we had no machine and tomorrow a replacement comes - perhaps Rog and  I can get the previous one running and drive it ourselves since it is still on site!

I am always on edge because it is my nature, and I love it!

There is no photo of me on edge because I write the blog and I do not like photos of me on the edge!!!

The main reason for me being on edge is that I want to make the team work well when I am away from Rwanda, cannot bear when peoples personalities lead to friction, and when their bad decisions cause distress to themselves and others.

The Edge - its where life is!