New Building at PREFER Preschool
Building the bungalow, July 2008
Initially in 2008 classes were being held under canvas.
Digging the foundations for the bungalow, July 2008
July 1st 2008 saw the bungalow becoming a reality and not just a dream. Rocks, sand, cement, trees and more bamboo than I had ever seen was delivered to the school. Randy and I chose the site and in no time at all the workmen had dug the foundation.
While some were digging others were hammering boulders into smooth rectangular shaped blocks. The trees were stripped and placed with the cement and rocks to build our walls. The roof was a bit tricky as we had improvised our own ladders, plus we were using slick silver roofing sheets and the pitch on the roof is extremely steep.
Shaping rocks for the bungalow foundations, July 2008
Before I knew it we had this huge shiny building taking up half of our front yard.
Women carrying rocks for bungalow, July 2008
It was now time for our 5 old fellows from Kinigi to come and weave the bamboo and grasses from the very peak of the (inside) roof and fanning out to cover the entire surface of the roof; emember this bungalow is 9 metres in diameter and the roof is extremely high. I gave them gloves but they did not like them so I continue to tweeze bamboo out of their fingers and apply meds and band aids. It seems to have taken forever but they are now finished and it looks far more beautiful than I had imagined.
New Kitchen, April 2010
July 2008 also saw the fence completed. Jean Pierre has finished off the cement columns and all fencing including gates are in place. Final cost was close to US$16,000, it took almost 2 years to complete and it was worth every penny. We are the only school that must close the gates so children do not escape INTO school. No one has ever wanted to leave. See more of the 2008 Year End Report.
As of March 2010 the kitchen nears completion. We had a problem with the contractor we hired to build the stove/oven. He was introduced as the best in North Province, but after he cemented one of the ovens upside down we let him go. He hired a lawyer and sued us for wages, which he did not win, but it held us up. We had to leave it how it was so each official could see the mistakes he had made before they could make their final decision.
The Purchased Land, April 2010
With that behind us we have finished the stove/oven and are using it on a daily basis. We have a baker coming during our 1st term break to teach us how to make bread. We will hire 5 local Mamas to bake bread for our students each day as well as extra bread that may be sold in the area as an income generating project for the women.
As of April 2010 we have purchased land across the street from our preschool. This 2 acres is to be the future site of our primary school and we intend to keep purchasing more until we have a 4 acre plot that has access from the main paved road as well as our back road. For more information as what has been happening in the First Quarter of 2010 please see News 2010.
Weaving the ceiling, July 2008
