Week Twelve August 31 September-6- Getting kicked out of the country

After meeting with the immigration officers in Mwanza, they confirmed that we will need to leave Tanzania this week in order not to overstay our visas. So we are going to Rwanda for the weekend (Road Trip) ha ha----in order to get new visas.

Week Eleven August 24-30- THE WEEK OF PUMBA

After weeks of running around like crazy people, we finally had a chance to focus serious efforts on how to make our job site more efficient. Without getting into the details, we got our workforce more focused on specific task and had each worker specialize in a particular component of the project.

And now to PUMBA.

Pumba is rice chaff, which is the by-product after winnowing rice. It is also the material that locals use to fire bricks. The search for Pumba is a serious endeavour that only the determined and unrelenting individual will succeed. Pumba is always in high demand and usually is purchased a week or even month ahead of time (which is very rare in this part of Tanzania). After much frustration, we heard talk of a possible supply, several villages away. So, we dropped everything and went to investigate this lead. Fortunately our sources were good and we were able to secure a supply of Pumba to get us started firing bricks. No champagne cork popping yet, the search still continues….

After Eleven straight weeks of eating rice every night we asked Kishosha if there were any other kinds of food that we might buy to cook for dinner. He thought about and said, “What about rice mixed with lentils?” Last night, we had rice again for dinner.

Week Ten August 17-23- BRICKS

After several weeks of testing the bricks that we had been producing for our classrooms, we came to the conclusion that we needed to find another brick solution. So the problem with the bricks that we were creating was that they did not hold up to water and our soil was not condusive to the Kenyan made brick machine. After trying many different soil and cement mixtures and contacting the manufacturer of the machine, we decided that we could not go forward with this brick type. So, we got a local brick expert to come to our job site to test our soil for use in making mud fired bricks. His conclusion was that our soil was a perfect candidate for this type of brick. With this green light we wasted no time is training our workforce to start producing these mud fired bricks.

Week Nine August 10-16- OUR FIRST DAY OFF

After dropping the last of our guests off at the airport, Jake and Valerie got to relax by a pool, use a sit-down toilet, and drink a beverage that has been chilled in a refrigerator…..HOW GREAT!

Then we picked up Eleanor, Sam, Joe, Mark, Lydia, and Lucy. While Eleanor, Jake, and Kishosha got busy meeting with government officials, Sam and Mark threw themselves into fully understanding the local art of the area by working and talking with the local artists of Ntulya. On the business end, Eleanor, Jake, and Kishosha secured a revised copy of the memorandum of understanding, a document outlining the support of the local government for our project and outlining their responsibilities in supporting our work, While Mark and Sam got to work on a massive power object (traditional piece of art, containing locally made dawa, or medicine) in the form of a 12 foot teacher and student made of cement, rebar, and other materials from the job site.

It was such a pleasure having everyone’s energy and enthusiasm on the job site at the compound.

Week Eight August 3- 9- THE BARN RAISING

So let’s be honest… Anyone would be nervous about the entire board of directors and their families arriving to check the progress on a job site. Fortunately, we had nothing to worry about! Their visit was great. Everyone worked hard trying out all the various tasks that were happening on site. They dug foundations, moved water, made cement blocks, moved bricks, planted euphorbia, and got involved just about everywhere. Greg Cook, Carol Ann’s personal contractor, and his family, Jill, Derek, and Brea were extremely helpful. Greg helped our team on the ground with his extensive knowledge and experience. Thanks Greg! The week ended with a local holiday called Nane-Nane (Eight-Eight, August 8th), Farmers’ Day. About 300 people attended a huge celebration with snake dancers, local ball games, and a huge feast. Benjamin, Jill and Digger’s son, even joined the snake dancers, showing no fear in the presence of an eight foot python.

Week Seven July 27-August 2- SUPPLIES… SUPPLIES…SUPPLIES…

So we got a lot of supplies.

And the First Four Foundations are well on their way.

Residents of Ntulya answered our aggregate problem by offering to make aggregate on site at fair price by using rocks from the hill of our job site. Within days of them starting, the hill came alive with the sound of pounding. Then Aimee, Mark, Blakey, and Clay picked up Jill, Digger, Benjamin, and Clare from the western gate of the Serengeti and brought them back to Ntulya.

Week Six July 20-26- THE BIG VILLAGE MEETING

The focus of this week was an ALL villages meeting (meaning the 14 hamlets that will be served by the primary education school that we are building). So we had the meeting and were pleased to have Mama Theresia who was a gifted speaker and was able to rally the hamlets to help focus volunteer efforts to help on the job site.

Also this week, we GOT WATER!!!! Successfully the pump was completed and we could finally start pouring our foundations. We also secured a contractor to aid us in moving forward.