As I mentioned in my last post, thanks to all of you who were able to donate to the grant to fund the renovation. Because of your amazing and generous help, we got the whole thing funded in 6 days! That’s pretty amazing, and my villagers were pretty excited to hear that we could get started so soon on the renovations. As soon as I knew the grant was full, I told my counterpart Dabi, and the next day we started removing the old thatched roofs from the two existing huts.
Dabi, up on the roof, removing the thatch
The next day our builder showed up and we started making the mud bricks to construct the walls. Every day the builder, Sadijo, can add a foot or two of the mud wall, allowing it to dry in time to support what goes above it. Afterwards the mason will add cement on either side of the walls. This is the basic way they construct huts in village. With a good roof for protection from the rain (which we’ll have with the new metal roofing sheets) my counterpart said these huts will last 15-20 years without major repair.
Sadijo, building the mud walls
Dabi making the mud bricks, I helped out with this half the day, and ate mangoes the rest
Sadijo and Dabi decided to add a small room on the front of the 3rd hut to help support the roof , apparently they’re going to try to extend the roof a few feet out over the front of the structure to make a porch, we’ll see how it turns out. Either way I was extremely surprised and happy with how fast everyone started to work on the renovations, they’re definitely dedicated. I left village a few weeks ago to help with the training of the new volunteers and to say goodbye in Dakar to a few friends who have finished their service. I've heard that they finished most of the construction, and when I get back we’ll be able to install the wiring for the lights and plugs in the new hut, and paint all the walls. As soon as I get back next week, I’ll post more photos of the progress.
The new walls, gaining some height after the second day of construction
Again thanks to everyone who donated, with the rainy season approaching in a few weeks, having that grant funded so quickly meant that we could actually get this project completed before the rains come and all building stops. I heard that the grant got funded so quickly that some people weren’t even able to donate, if you still wanted to help out with a similar cause, or want to help out some more, two of my friends, volunteers in the Tambacounda Region of Senegal, have health hut projects as well, click here and here to visit their sites. Thanks!
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