Final Stretch

     Hello from Ddegeya (well Masaka) again!  We're back from Kampala and hard at work again.  Sadly, we left our computer charger at Debbie's house in Kampala, so we've been using internet cafe's and the clinic computer when we can.  But work is progressing very well! We have essentially completed all the masonry on all the tanks.  And the carpenters are hard at work on our wooden valve pieces, hopefully to be completed today.  We are coming down the final stretch of work and very excited to see our finished product.  Our internet is running out, so good bye for now!

-Becca

A few quick pictures

Since we have a little faster internet, I thought I'd upload a few pictures:

 Applying the first plaster layer at Toffa's.

 Walking between sites we often have visitors....

Sometimes they even help us out!

-Becca

Bricks and Vacation

It’s been a while since our last check in…. We’ve been busy with work and a little “vacation.”  Work status: the first 2 renders (chicken mesh + 2 plaster layers) have been applied and dried on all 5 holes.  The masonry above-ground section has been started and almost finished on all of the holes.  All that’s left now is the waterproof layer, the lids, the pump and the first flush system.  Additionally, we have some community education sessions coming up in the next few weeks.

Since we were waiting for the renders to set and Nalan is leaving from Entebbe tonight, we decided to take a short vacation to Kampala.  Deborah and her family were gracious enough to host us for the weekend.  She lives in a beautiful neighborhood right by all the national embassies and UN centers.  The first thing we ate when we got in was ice cream. So refreshing!   The chocolate ice cream tastes a little different here, but in a very good and yummy way.   And of course Deborah’s house has a real bath/shower and sit down flush toilets! Our first in 4 weeks!  Living with solar showers and pit latrines really makes us appreciate (and miss) the simple things of back home.

We also went shopping for touristy things and chocolate.  Near Deborah’s house is this really cute coffee shop that was full of fellow Muzungus.  We had some delicious milk shakes and sandwiches.  Last night Deborah’s mother took us to the Ndere Centre for a performance of traditional Eastern African dances.  At one point in the show, the women were balancing 7 pots on their heads while dancing beautifully.  I doubt any of us could balance 1.

After this weekend, I think everyone is recharged and ready to pound out the work for the rest of our time.  It’s hard to believe that there is only 2 weeks left.  It seems like both a short and long time.  Today we will bid Nalan good bye.  She has been a huge asset, particularly with understanding and solving technical challenges.  And we’ll miss her dancing, singing and obsessive need to take pictures!  We’re already talking about our post trip reunion… We are all excited to get back to Boston and share stories and photos.  90% of our free time is spent discussing our favorite foods and Boston restaurants, so I’m sure we’ll have to hit up a few when we get back.

-Becca

Hello from Nalan

Hi there,

It’s been an amazing experience so far. I’m staying with the girls at Mama Mwanika’s house. She’s lovely. She made us some French fries last night and we played soccer with Martin and Ivan. Even the baby played a little :) I’m taking tons of photos and videos, so don’t worry you’ll get to see our lives here soon. Mornings are so peaceful at the village. Every day starts with a cool breeze which turns in to a hot summer day around lunch time. Since the rainy season has started, we get rain almost every afternoon. There is no electricity at the village therefore the nights are amazing here. I watched the stars last night with Becca and Vanya. They were so bright and spanned the entire night sky.

The city, Kampala, on the other hand is crazy. The population is very young. I think “Boda Bodas”, the taxi-motorbikes, fit really well to the city’s fast pace lifestyle.

I’m at the clinic, writing this now. We come here often to charge our phones and our computer. Everyone is so friendly and helpful.

Today we finished the first layer plastering of the remaining three tanks and fixed the gutters at Nampija’s. Kevin and Becca went to Masaka, the nearby town, to buy groceries and to buy construction materials. Tomorrow is going to be a big day. We’ll start early to finish the second layer of plastering on all the tanks and get prepared for our exciting safari trip on Monday :)

Bye for now!

Ferrocement and Rain

What a day… Today was supposed to be the first day of ferrocement.  We had gotten some builders to help us render the sides.  The first two took a look at the holes, and decided that the hole surface was too wet and impossible to plaster.  The second two declared the whole idea of ferrocement ridiculous.  So we got down and dirty ourselves!

While one of the workmen, Joseph, watched (the other ones had already left), we began to plaster.  And it worked very well!  Once we showed Joseph that it was possible, he jumped on in and started.  And he was able to do the work of four of us in half the time.  It seems that everyone in this village is really good at mixing, pouring and plastering.  So today we were able to successfully apply the first rendering on 2 of the holes.  Tomorrow we will hopefully render the remaining 3 holes and apply the mesh.

Watching the rainy season start has been very exciting.  Yesterday brought heavy rains in the afternoon.  Kevin and I ran between the houses to check on how the gutters were working.  And most of them were very successful.  One of the houses was able to harvest 2 large barrels of rain from the gutters.  It was excellent validation for all of the work we’ve been putting in.

In other news, Nalan returned from Kampala with her new American Visa and chocolate for Vanya and me. Yay!  And no one has Ebola (just a few colds).  Also, the stores finally restocked our favorite sweet bread (doughnuts), so everyone’s happy here!

-Becca

New Arrival

Hello again! What an interesting few days…. First off, Nalan arrived yesterday! There were some issues with her American visa, but she was finally able to get an appointment at the embassy.  So she leaved us again today so she can hopefully get that resolved in Kampala tomorrow.  In the mean time, we have been very busy with work.  Today the first three tank bases were poured.  Gutters are also pretty much complete on 4 out of 5 of the houses.  It’s started raining fairly regularly every afternoon here. So although the tanks aren’t complete yet, the residents have been collecting water from the gutters in basins and buckets.  Exciting!

          In other news, everyone is back to 100% in terms of health.  There has been a large ebola outbreak to the west of Kampala, but we are happy to report we are far away from that region of Uganda.  Life here in Ddegeya has been very relaxing (minus all the work).  Every morning we wake up to fresh eggs, avocado and sweet bread (called doughnuts here).  And every night we play cards with our host family until bedtime (9pm).  We are hoping to take a safari soon while the ferrocement is curing to see some of Uganda’s famed wild life

-Becca

Great Day of Work

            After all the setbacks of the last few days (malaria, John leaving), we had an amazing day today.  We were able to do work on 2 houses, with great success.  The previous day, we had toured the town to see different gutter systems already in place.  We drew inspiration from these to create a successful gutter installation today.  The look on Maama Mwanika’s face when she saw the water come out of the gutters was incredible!  It’s been great to experience the gratitude of the villagers as they see tangible work progress.  We have received gifts of eggs, ground nuts and avocados from the clusters.  How sweet!

            We are hoping to finish the remaining gutters tomorrow, and rework the gutters on Winnie Nampijia’s house soon.  On Sunday we plan to adventure into Masaka for the majority of construction process for the rest of the summer.  Miss everyone back home!

-Kevin <3

Malaria + Gutter Struggles

What a fun few days!  Wednesday morning, Vanya was still feeling a bit ill, so she headed to the Engeye Health clinic for some malaria testing.  And she was positive… So the whole team got tested.  Kevin also tested positive, although he was not showing symptoms yet.  They were both given medication, and both have been feeling much better.

Work has progressed despite that major setback.  As of this afternoon, we have 3 of the 5 holes dug, and have some sort of gutter or fascia board on 3 houses.  This morning was extremely frustrating when we were attempting to place the gutter on Winnie Nampija’s house.  Due to the bowing of the housing beams, and the dramatic offset between roof beams, the pliable metal gutters have been difficult to install.  They seem to direct water every way but towards the downspout.  We are looking at stiffer gutter systems and other solutions, because simply moving the gutter sections around has proved ineffective.  On a more positive note, we are all getting very good at hammering and sawing- maybe we should consider opening a carpentry business when we get back to the states.

We also had to bid our mentor John a sad farewell this afternoon.  His enthusiasm, strength, and problem solving skills will be missed.  As will his sense of humor.

Gutters!

                Hello Again!  On Sunday, the team enjoyed a relaxing trip to Masaka with John (from the clinic).  We went to the market for fruits, veggies and other supplies.  Then we enjoyed an American meal of burgers from a Masakan restaurant.  Unfortunately, several members of the team (Kevin, Becca, John and Vanya) got food poisoning and were out of commission for a bit (Vanya is still a little out of it today).  After a “relaxing” day off on Sunday, we were back to work on Monday.  As a team, we decided to try to start the gutters of the houses first while waiting for the ring beams to cure.  This way, we would maximize efficiency.  On Monday, John and I (Kevin) went into Masaka to pick up the materials for the gutters while Becca, Vanya, and Deborah surveyed the sites and prepared them for construction (and slept).  Today (Tuesday), we started installing the gutters in two of the houses, and began digging the first hole! It was a very successful day until the rains started.

                We are very fortunate to welcome Leonia from Makerere University in Kampala.  She is a recent graduate in Construction Management, and has been a huge help both technically and with translating. We are also sad to see John leaving in a few days, but are excited to see Nalan again.

Work Starts!

Hello from Ddegeya, Uganda. We have had a very intense, but rewarding 3 days here.  After a long car ride from Kampala (thanks to Deborah for arranging transport!), we finally made it to Engeye Health Clinic.  Upon arrival, we were met by John, the clinic director.  John was very helpful to help set us up in our homes and answer our questions.  Our hosts, Maama Mwanika and Eddie, are very nice and accommodating.  Living in Ddegeya is definitely different from Boston, but we are enjoying it (for the most part).  The village is very peaceful, but sswalking down the street sometimes feels like a parade.  The children call out “Muzunga!” (white person) and come down to wave or hug us.

We met with the Water Board on Thursday.  It was a very successful meeting- all 5 clusters were ready for us to start construction of the tanks.  Today we started digging the ring beams of the tanks.  Digging was interesting… The Ugandan soil is made of mostly hard, dry clay, which is difficult, if not impossible to dig.  Eventually, we finished the beam channels.  Vanya and I (Becca) then followed behind and mixed and poured the concrete for the ring beams.  We managed to finish 2 and a half of the beams today, and plan on completing the rest tomorrow.  While the beams cure, we will be installing the gutters that will divert the rain water to the tanks. 

We’re all very excited to see these ring beams finished and the main water retention holes dug. 

Hello Uganda!

           Hello everyone!  This summer brings a completely new team to continue the project in Ddegeya.  The travel team consists of Becca, Vanya, John, Nalan, Deborah, and Kevin (me).  Yesterday morning, Becca and I disembarked the plane and were greeted by the fresh, crisp air of Entebbe.  The beauty of the land and the pristine waters of Lake Victoria immediately struck us.  After exiting the airport, Deborah picked us up and took us to the mall for the essentials—an internet modem, a cell phone, and of course Ugandan schillings.  While exchanging money proved simple, the former two posed a much more difficult task as the mall was out of SIM cards.  Luckily, however, with Deborah’s help we were able to accomplish what we had set out for.  In the afternoon, Deborah dropped us off at the hostel and we enjoyed a pleasant night there.  We will head out to Ddegeya as a group as soon as we pick up John and Vanya from the airport this morning.

            The goals for this trip will become clearer as more blog entries are added; however, I’ll outline the general goals here.  The primary goal will be to construct six rainwater harvesting tanks for the community and pass on the construction knowledge so the tanks can be repaired and replicated throughout the village.  Additionally, we plan to further educate the community on water safety and heighten water safety awareness.  And with those goals in mind, we will head out to Ddegeya and hopefully have a safe, fun, and rewarding journey.