Back Up to Building

While not as extreme as bungee jumping or Bonnytoun, the building project deserves a shout out as well. To be honest, I’m not quite sure whether I spent more time building or playing with the two adorable boys, Alex and Aiden, who were always hanging out around our project! What’s even worse is that I’m not sure whether I was sorer from building or from Aiden literally jumping on me every two minutes! Those two boys sure kept us on our toes!

But to building – our two weeks there flew by! We were working in a township, Vrygrond, to help build a community center. Bernie, an incredible woman trying to transform her community, is the life force behind this community center. Thanks to her efforts, there in now a children’s library in Vrygrond and soon there will be a community center equip with a kitchen, IT training equipment, and a functioning toilet. Our efforts were centered around the toilet, lovingly called “the shithole”, by our project supervisor, Deen.

This community center is being built in a new method using sand bags as the main stronghold for the structure. Volunteers before us dug a huge hole in the sand, make over 3,000 sand bags, put them in the hole and cemented the edges in the first step of building the toilet. The physical toilet will drain to this underground structure and filter through. Our job was to cover this hole. Let me say that I can now mix cement like a pro. It is a very exact science, mixing cement. To get the best result, you want to mix one bucket full of sand with two half spades of cement and about a jug full of water (like I said, an exact science.) Anyway, we mixed cement, and then mixed more cement, and then waited for that to dry, and them mixed more cement. And the process continued until we had three slabs big enough to cover the “shit hole” with. Finally, the day came when we were going to move these slabs. The only problem…they were WAY to heavy. Solution: hire a few (roughly ten or eleven) guys from the community to move them for us. Moving these slabs was a struggle even for these men! Once the slabs were in place we mixed more cement (shocker, right?) and put a final layer over the slabs and then put our hand prints in it so it will eternally be known that “the global gap group finally closed the shit hole” – Deen’s words (not mine).

However, this thing continued to plague us. We spent the next two days shoveling sand over the concrete to make it look level with the rest of ground and appear as if there is nothing underneath. Other volunteers before us have laid down concrete slabs, but vandals had smashed them to get the steel beams out of them so this time we knew we had to cover them up. I know for a fact that on the days we shoveled sand I was sore from shoveling– not from Aiden (although I’m sure he didn’t help!)

We spent our last few days there learning how to build a wall using the sand bag method. First you have to fill the sandbags. Then you lay a few in a row, take a piece of wood and a mallet and hammer them down until they are flat (it’s a great way to release pent up aggression!). Mix some cement (yes-more cement), lay a little on top, put another layer of sand bags down and repeat the process until the wall is the height you want it. After you get it as tall as you want it to be, you get to (get to sounds much more pleasant than have to) mix more cement! Then you plaster the sand bags so as to make a smooth wall. This is where the fun begins. The cement does not want to stay in between the cracks in the sand bags, so it falls out. As a result, I thought it might be a good idea to use my hands to try and cram it in. Not my smartest decision. Turns out cement really dries out anything and everything it comes in contact with. While it put up a good fight, we finally beat the cement into the sand bags (literally) and shaped a solid, flat wall.

                One of the things I think will stick with me the most from building was one seemingly random incident. One afternoon, this group of five or six twenty-something year old guys walked by the building project carrying this great big stainless steel sink. They looked at us and nodded and we nodded back and that was that. After they passed, Uncle Deen (that’s what we call him) goes “you know they just stole that sink and are gonna go sell it somewhere else now.”

It was such a nonchalant statement. They stole the sink. They are going to go sell it now. That is just how it is.

 It was odd to me that this is such a normal and acceptable occurrence. But really, what is anyone supposed to do? There is no police force in the township, no security, no nothing. People steal things to make a living and that’s just how it is.  

                I was reminded of Ghana and how quickly it became normal to see women walking with goods on their heads, to drink out of plastic bags and to have people trying to sell you things in the middle of road while you’re driving by.  Just like those things are customary in Ghana, theft is a common occurrence in townships in South Africa. Theft is a way of life for many in townships just as selling water off the top of your head is a way of life in Ghana.

                I think I remember these little things the most because it’s crazy to me what is “normal” for others around the world.

                Anyway, our time at building was a blast and I am proud to say that I did do manual labor! I’ve added a few pictures of Vrygrond below so you can get a sense of what where we worked was like and I will add more pictures of us doing work when I get them! Cheers!

Alex (:

Aiden (not-so-secretly my favorite kid at the building project)

A few of the sand bags we had to fill and Whiskey - resident guardian of the building project.

The Building Gang
Top Row: Laurence, Mary, Alixe, Billy, Macrina, Me, Ester, Eddy
Bottom Row: Jack, Kayla, Bowl-of-tricks (or at least that's what we think this dog's name is!)