Dirty Work

I think tonight we´ll all be enjoying a bucket shower to recover from our work this afternoon. We laid down the thin render of waterproofed cement on the ferrocement tank. We also put a layer of the waterproof cement over the clay tank. Cracks have appeared on the sides and in two spots, the top layer of cement has peeled off a little. We suspect that we did not take enough care during the first few days after we lay the clay to keep it a little wet and covered. The sun was probably too harsh. While the majority of the team worked to mix cement and lay the renders, Katelyn continued burning leaves to make charcoal with.

The first burn happened this morning. We tried banana leaves in our small scale metal bin. The fire took immeadiately and once the smoke ceased, the bin was covered. Upon inspection this afternoon (the rain meant only one burn in the morning), we found that only the bottom half of the banana leaves in the bin had carbonized-- the top half was untouched. However, the leaves that did burn carbonized perfectly. We conducted a second burn with banana leaves, this time with the leaves less densely packed. This time everything burned, but too much oxygen got into the bin and about half of the leaves turned to ash. For the third burn, we found the perfect aim between too little fire and too much air. Instead of banana leaves, we tried mango leaves. Although perfectly dry, the mango leaves resisted fire. We tried with mango leaves sticking out the bottom to light but they wouldn´t catch. And then we tried with banana leaves at the bottom as the fuse to light the mango leaves inside. The banana leaves burned but the mango leaves refused to do so. We finally ended up dropping a match down the chimney to the bottom and covering it with a few leaves. The mango leaves finally caught fire, produced the thick smoke, and once the smoke ceased, the bin was covered and let to sit. The carbonized "dust" from this burn was perfect. However, not all of the mango leaves burned; some leaves were half carbonized, half seemingly untouched by the fire. All in all, good results for the first round of burns.

This morning, while Katelyn and Lynette were cleaning the bin and starting the first burn, Steven, Scott, Leticia, and Irene went with Eddie to see and measure the remaining two clusters. The measurements were made on the last two homes that have been selected to house the rain water catchment system. The group also went to the tank built last summer. We were impressed with the masonry (it had been done by professionals). Our prototypes behind Engeye are functional, but they lack the smooth and professional appearance. We also spoke to a neighbor in the area about how the tank is functioning. Is the water from it shared? Some previous feedback that we had recieved was that the majority of the water was used by the household where the tank was located. This neighbor assured us that everyone shared the water from the tank. There was some frustration during the dry season when the water each household could take from the tank was only 1 jerrican. Perhaps that is where the complaints come from.

Overall a good day. I sign off to scrub the charcoal dust off of my arms and to rest up for another day of work tomorrow.