Diary of improvements in Kenya: We entered the final phase of the work
We keep working on the kenya orphanage and school to improve the facilities. In the last post we told you how Diego's day to day was being and how his work was going.
The children's room was very advanced and it remained for the walls to dry to give the last layers and be able to paint them. The exterior walls have already been painted and the interior ones will be painted these days, the weather has not been very good in recent weeks. It has been raining which has made it difficult for them to dry fast.
You can not miss the choice of paint. Made with lime, water and milk. The truth is that we never stop learning things with Diego. He himself explains this choice, and how it is done, in his blog: http://bit.ly/2b89Z3K
Work team
Diego had two assistants for the work, Simon and Cosmos. Simon has continued working with him but Cosmos has had to leave him, he worked in an orchard and the owner has decided to move so Cosmos has also had to. Two plasterers were hired because it is something that you have to know how to do and it is important that it look good.
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| The two plasterers applying the last layer |
The volunteers who are collaborating in the orphanage this summer are also helping in the works. Our July travelers helped in the first phase and now Antonio, Tati and Paloma have helped paint.
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| Antonio and Diego painting the children's room. |
Other improvements to the center.
To improve the comfort of the boys and girls at the center, they have begun to build some lockers for them to store things such as their toothbrush, clothes, books, shoes, etc. We will also assess the purchase of sheets, blankets, mattresses, mosquito nets and underwear for the little ones.
In the girls' room, some wooden planks have been placed inside to improve the space. At the moment, the same improvements as in the children's room are not going to be made because Julius, founder of the project, does not trust the earth as much as a natural insulator. Besides, you have to continuously fight against prejudices because the constructions with earth are usually used by the lower caste ethnic groups, so we can only make small improvements in this room.
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| Wooden structure in the room of the girls |
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| Carpenter making the wooden structure for the room |
Evaluation of the work done
Diego tells us that for the moment he is happy with the work done, that the people who pass through the center like how it is turning out. There are people who tell him that they want him to build something for them!
Many people find it hard to believe that under the plaster there is only mud and straw in a wooden structure.
Diego tells us that: «working with earth in Kenya is very difficult due to the stigmatization of this material, it is always linked to very poor areas and bad constructions. Instead, it is a cheap construction, durable over time, healthier and more beautiful. It remains a long way for it to look like this there.
As for the quality of the local soil to build on, black cotton soil, it really isn't the best, you have to stabilize it with sand to make it work well. The good thing about the earth is that once you do the necessary tests and find the correct proportion, it works. As for the rice straw, it has worked wonders and they have plenty here.”
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| Painted children's room. |
We are almost in the final phase of the works. It remains to buy the material for the shelves and other improvements for the rooms and in a very little time we will be able to see how everything looks.
Next week we will tell you about the final phase of the works.
Post by Diego and the Tumaini team.
Faustino Rivero Sanchez Covisa
Diego!! Great!! Remind Julius that in the old testament clay is recognized as a construction element valued by Christians.
"Isaiah 64:8
But now, O LORD, you are our Father, we are the clay, and you are our potter; the work of your hands are all of us."