On Site - Sosebenza Primary School
Sorry there are no photos, but the Internet connection has not been strong enough to load them for the last couple of days. On to the news...
Day 3 in Africa but first full day on site. All up by 6, and out by 7am and ready for work for 8am. What a full on day! By 7.30am 100s of school children were walking to school in their uniforms. The first school site we stopped at, we were greeted by many children waving, and singing and dancing with their parents. They were so enthusiastically welcoming to the Mellon Educate Charity workers, so grateful for the transformations that would be happening in their school and community again.
Day 1 on the site was incredible (Monday) - I don't think any of us realised the scale of the project or the reality of what that meant in terms of the jobs we would be doing and the impact we would be making. Nancy was put to blocking and brickwork, Cameron blocking and roof trusses. Kavan was put to task as a carpenter and enlisted to put together with the team some 60 book shelves, which looked like an upgrade on Ikea but everything was hand crafted by the carpentry team, and there were no complicated assembly books to follow, as they had to make the design themselves. Andy was put to hanging doors, only to find they had bought doors that were all 4cm too long, and I was put on the 'Courtyard' team, which sounds lovely had I been visiting a National Trust property, but what it meant in reality was carting by wheelbarrow load upon load (for 6 hours straight), tarmac and concrete that we were ripping up to make a sand-based playground area. I also had a chance to use a jack hammer (pneumatic drill), pick axe, and mix concrete. My Fitbit clocked up over 26,000 steps!!! My muscles didn't know what had hit them come bed time, which was why, upon waking, even holding a fork on Day 2 for breakfast was hard. It was a great initiation to the real life workings of a construction site. By the end of Day 1, the site was an hour ahead of the planned schedule which was very satisfying for us all.
Day 2 on site (Tuesday). Now we are fully initiated into the roles, we went straight to work, although I had to go via the medical cabin for a strapping on my wrist. I could no longer lift a wheelbarrow so took to the painting team, where we had the pleasure to transform very shabby looking classrooms, into colourful, welcoming environments for the your Grade R (reception youngsters). Cameron, carried on his roof trusses, Andy his door hanging, Kavan on his carpentry skills and Nancy to her bricks. We are forging great bonds with such a diverse team of volunteers, and they all speak so highly of our learners, and our talented carpentry lecturer, who apparently has hung his doors so fast, he has put that ahead of schedule.
We took time out of construction build duties, to take a walk into the Townships and visit some families in their shacks. This experience was so emotionally heart-wrenching; seeing how some people have to live, and realising how fortunate I am with a job, a house with more than enough space, access to medical help when I need it, and being able to eat when I like. These families live in real poverty. At least 6 people living in a shack that is probably no bigger than your living room and a dining room; consisting of two bedrooms, where they all have to sleep. Where dinner was a basic bread and that was it. Where the roof made of corrugated iron leaks, and the electricity regularly goes out. Where your toilet facilities consist of one of a long line of portaloos that line the street, and your place to wash consisted of a small tub that is placed in the centre of the living room floor to wash in front of all your family members. We were fortunate to be entering the shack town with 4-5 armed security guards around each group of 12 to make sure we were safe, but these people have to enter their own neighbourhoods without that security, and can often face being robbed if they happen to have some money or something that someone else wants; this is the poor stealing from the poor. It is really upsetting to contemplate, when you see how little many of these people have, yet some want those few possessions they may own. We witness adult males lining the ramps to the motorways in the morning, because then it means there may be a prospect of some work for a day, if someone stops to offer them a casual job for the day; if no one stops, there will be no money for the day, and no food on the table. The government pays out something towards such things as school uniforms, but the money does not go very far, when you have so little for the real necessities.
I wonder what Day 3 on site will hold for us.... see you tomorrow. Rhiannon
Day 3 in Africa but first full day on site. All up by 6, and out by 7am and ready for work for 8am. What a full on day! By 7.30am 100s of school children were walking to school in their uniforms. The first school site we stopped at, we were greeted by many children waving, and singing and dancing with their parents. They were so enthusiastically welcoming to the Mellon Educate Charity workers, so grateful for the transformations that would be happening in their school and community again.
Day 1 on the site was incredible (Monday) - I don't think any of us realised the scale of the project or the reality of what that meant in terms of the jobs we would be doing and the impact we would be making. Nancy was put to blocking and brickwork, Cameron blocking and roof trusses. Kavan was put to task as a carpenter and enlisted to put together with the team some 60 book shelves, which looked like an upgrade on Ikea but everything was hand crafted by the carpentry team, and there were no complicated assembly books to follow, as they had to make the design themselves. Andy was put to hanging doors, only to find they had bought doors that were all 4cm too long, and I was put on the 'Courtyard' team, which sounds lovely had I been visiting a National Trust property, but what it meant in reality was carting by wheelbarrow load upon load (for 6 hours straight), tarmac and concrete that we were ripping up to make a sand-based playground area. I also had a chance to use a jack hammer (pneumatic drill), pick axe, and mix concrete. My Fitbit clocked up over 26,000 steps!!! My muscles didn't know what had hit them come bed time, which was why, upon waking, even holding a fork on Day 2 for breakfast was hard. It was a great initiation to the real life workings of a construction site. By the end of Day 1, the site was an hour ahead of the planned schedule which was very satisfying for us all.
Day 2 on site (Tuesday). Now we are fully initiated into the roles, we went straight to work, although I had to go via the medical cabin for a strapping on my wrist. I could no longer lift a wheelbarrow so took to the painting team, where we had the pleasure to transform very shabby looking classrooms, into colourful, welcoming environments for the your Grade R (reception youngsters). Cameron, carried on his roof trusses, Andy his door hanging, Kavan on his carpentry skills and Nancy to her bricks. We are forging great bonds with such a diverse team of volunteers, and they all speak so highly of our learners, and our talented carpentry lecturer, who apparently has hung his doors so fast, he has put that ahead of schedule.
We took time out of construction build duties, to take a walk into the Townships and visit some families in their shacks. This experience was so emotionally heart-wrenching; seeing how some people have to live, and realising how fortunate I am with a job, a house with more than enough space, access to medical help when I need it, and being able to eat when I like. These families live in real poverty. At least 6 people living in a shack that is probably no bigger than your living room and a dining room; consisting of two bedrooms, where they all have to sleep. Where dinner was a basic bread and that was it. Where the roof made of corrugated iron leaks, and the electricity regularly goes out. Where your toilet facilities consist of one of a long line of portaloos that line the street, and your place to wash consisted of a small tub that is placed in the centre of the living room floor to wash in front of all your family members. We were fortunate to be entering the shack town with 4-5 armed security guards around each group of 12 to make sure we were safe, but these people have to enter their own neighbourhoods without that security, and can often face being robbed if they happen to have some money or something that someone else wants; this is the poor stealing from the poor. It is really upsetting to contemplate, when you see how little many of these people have, yet some want those few possessions they may own. We witness adult males lining the ramps to the motorways in the morning, because then it means there may be a prospect of some work for a day, if someone stops to offer them a casual job for the day; if no one stops, there will be no money for the day, and no food on the table. The government pays out something towards such things as school uniforms, but the money does not go very far, when you have so little for the real necessities.
I wonder what Day 3 on site will hold for us.... see you tomorrow. Rhiannon
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