Time is progressing!

Our timetable is designed in a way that single tasks are stickers which can be assigned to a day of the week and later be displaced a little. The green notes highlight work like expert interviews, measures and handicraft tasks, while the red ones stand for leisure activities like a bike trip, drums and drinking Kon-Go. Due to the circumstance that at school there are exams and holidays in sight, some other tasks like “training programs” and “visiting lessons” are unfortunately under the category named “not possible”. Luckily a lot more of the notes move to the area called “finished”. This category with the checkmarks has proven to be very motivating.

In the last week of our trip the production of ISSB-stones for the infirmary is on the schedule. In order to prepare ourselves for the production of ISSB we made a test run. With united forces and shovels the proven ratio of loamy marram soil, sand, water and cement are mixed. This mass is then poured into the ISSB machine and pushed with all our force against the wall stones. In the three following weeks the stones have to dry and get strong enough, before they can actually be used in the buildings.

The test ISSB production is running perfectly and therefore we are looking optimistically for the further production. For this task we engaged craftsmen we have worked already worked with in our past projects. In addition to the craftsmen this time there also participates a changing member  from the newly founded youth group from Iyolwa. First we press in the stones together , but in the coming weeks they will continue the work by themselves.

Iyolwa’s youth group consists of about 30 members, they vote regularly their board which consists of seven people and the group has also a statute which defines their goals. For example, money is saved and used as a micro credit in order to help some members in emergency situations. The money is collected every month from a membership fee of 500 Schilling, which can be compared to the price of an avocado or half of the hourly wage of an auxiliary worker. Moreover, the proceeds from the communal at the crafts work and agriculture goes into the cash register. We find the group worthy of support and can imagine very well a future cooperation with them. In order to establish the contact with the youth group, the other craftsmen, the school and us, we create for the young people a working place for the next weeks.

The project implementation is advancing very quick. In this trip we won’t only start the ISSB production, but also we set the ground plan on the banana field. Here we look out for the trees which give shadow to the area. The cooking bananas, which are inside the ground plan, are replanted in a short period of time by the agriculture plc from the school.