Day 9: Monday 4th April
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| Making work benches |
The start of Week 2 began with a design and construction challenge for the whole team – to design and construct a stable workbench! The students were split into groups of about 4 or 5, led by a 5th Year student and given a couple of hours to come up with suitable designs. After lunch construction commenced on site…there were quite a few variations, A-frames, box sections and even tension cables. They all produced great tables in the end but with rain looming across the mountains we left site around 4pm to be greeted by a tropical storm once we got back to Tzaneen. It was absolutely crazy! I have never seen rain like it and it went on for so long. All through the night, the thunder and lightning was so loud barely any of us got any sleep. We just hoped there hadn’t been much damage to site. I have uploaded a video of the storm if you want to check it out!
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| Dale and Zeinab cutting up some timber |
Day 10: Tuesday 5th April
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| Local children on site |
A trip to the sawmill of the suppliers of the timber was organised for today. The majority of the group went out to that and they seemed to enjoy it. They had the afternoon off to do what they wanted as we were waiting for materials to be brought and arrive on site. Concrete, timber and steel deals were still happening so it was just a waiting game to see what came through.
In the afternoon, there was another tropical storm. A few rooms got flooded but no major damage done.
In the evening we had a really good planning meeting, preparing for the next week and looking at our options if materials were not available or money wasn’t available. The 5th year team was also given a briefing and the 2nd year students would receive theirs first thing in the morning. As progress has been quite slow due to procurement issues, the teams were feeling a bit in the dark. Hopefully the briefings filled them in on what is going on and the progress we’re hoping to make in phase 1. We aim to get all the concrete down and the trusses for a classroom raised by the end of Week 3. Lets just hope the materials arrive in time and the concrete gets laid by the end of the week.
After a successful meeting we all headed out for dinner at the local steak house. They were also showing the Spurs vs. Real Madrid match so think that was the main reason we headed there! More rain fell during the night but luckily nowhere near as bad as the previous night. Just hope site isn’t too damaged again.
Day 11: Wednesday 6th April
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| Finishing off the shelter |
Wednesday was the first day of planned construction. After an extremely successful planning meeting the previous night, a list of actions were drawn up to be carried out the following day. The timber was due to arrive in the afternoon so a lot of preparation work had to happen to get ready for making the trusses.
Firstly the students began clearing a level area for placing the timber and assembling them. This actually turned into a bit of a patio that is so very British! Quite funny too! The workbenches that were constructed on Monday were also completed and set up underneath the shelter, dug into the ground and leveled out. It should be a great workspace to build the trusses in and any other construction that needs to happen. Students were all issued with tools kits as well today. Each team received a kit with various tools, including hammers, saws, set squares etc. and each individual received a carpenters pencil and a tape measure – don’t say we’re not generous!! They all seemed pretty pleased with their presents though.
We managed to finish off the shelter too, covering it with a waterproof and sunshade fabric. After staying an extra hour on site than the rest of the team, it was complete. It actually looks quite like a party venue, with the patio a.k.a the dance floor, and the shelter looks very like a bar with all the tables along the back. Potential use if the school doesn’t get built!!
I ended up having a very early night, in bed by 9pm as was absolutely shattered. Luckily there were no tropical storms!
Day 12: Thursday 7th April
Thursday was quite a slow day as most of it was spent waiting for the timber to arrive. There weren’t many tasks for the students to do on site as they had successfully completed them all the day before. A few adjustments had to be made to the shelter to tie it down a bit more and a few of the tables had begun to sink, so they needed foundations. We managed to set up the benches ready for the timber to arrive and learnt how to use the mitre saw and pillar drill we have brought to construct the trusses. You can sense the team are started to get a little agitated waiting for the timber but fingers crossed it arrives on Friday.
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| Jyothi and Fatima learning how to use the pillar drill |
We decided to have a later start in the morning so we don’t waste time on site just waiting for materials which meant we could all head out for a couple of drinks at the local bar and have a bit of a lie-in the next day. I managed to win two games of pool sinking the black in the second match to secure the win! Good night had by all! Let’s just hope the timber arrives tomorrow otherwise not sure what we’re going to do. The steel was delivered for the foundations so hopefully the first concrete slab should go down tomorrow…all we can do is hope.
Day 13: Friday 8th April
Well today didn’t really go too great. We had a later start than normal so we didn’t have to wait around on site for materials. However still no materials showed on site, something about payments not going through. On a more positive note, the boys created a sign for the shelter (BAR) as it looks like it should be one. We also leveled the secondary slab section of the toilet block. Concrete is also ready to be laid, just waiting on the formwork to be finished. Also just at the end of the day we found out that the timber would be delivered to site on Monday morning at 8am. This was after John E took the ‘direct approach’ going down there with 2 of our strongest/tallest/muscle students to aid the process. We all finished with a drink in our newly named shelter and an excited atmosphere ready for the weekend ahead and a fresh start on Monday. Fingers crossed progress speeds up, next week is very critical.
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| We even had time to make a tool tidy! |
We’re all off on safari for the weekend, so will update you all again on progress after that. Hope you’re enjoying the sunshine in the UK!
Helen
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