The School
In 2009, The main project in 2009 was to build a school. Most of us had no construction experience at all. The amazing thing is that we learned how to mix concrete for mortar, lay block, manufacture trusses and install a corrugated steel roof,
Greg and I became the mortar experts. We were taught a precision mortar mix. It had a with a simple five step formula.
But we also used the many skills of the team to do other things. We welded bars for the doors and windows, much to the delight of Hilda, the lady who runs the orphanage. A resource centre and library were created, We even sewed uniforms, because in Lesotho a uniform is required to attend school. We even installed flush toilets.
You can help us financially with this ongoing work by following this link to the Central Church website . Include the private message “ for the Lesotho Education Project.”
100% of your donation will go to the children.
We started with a concrete slab
The blocks were made on the property
– Of course on the opposite side to the building site
We were told to bring the biggest suitcases the airline would allow
– then filled them with stuff for the children
Mixing mortar
Note the scaffold
Elsie & Hilda
Uniforms are required to go to school in Lesotho
The first roof panel
The facilities
We also had indoor plumbing installed
“Bars are beautiful”
We improved security – no more break-ins
New security lighting was added
The Team - 2009
Concrete Mixing
In 5 easy steps or what I did in Lesotho
1• Dump five ‘fullish’ wheel barrows of sand on the ground.
2• pick up a 50 kilo bag of mortar mix and carry it to the newly created sand pile and dump it on top. Now that part sounds easy, but the sand is in one corner of the property and the building site is in another and the wheel barrow had a broken axel and was ready for the rubbish bin. The 50 kilo bags of mortar were too heavy for the wheel barrow, so we had to carry them a considerable distance. Not too bad, but it was packaged in 100 kilo bags which means it flops all over and is impossible to hold on to.
3• Next, you take a little short spade and fold yourself in half to mix the sand and mortar evenly, well, sort of, as best as you can.
4• Once the mix is done, make a hole in the middle of the pile and fill it with water.
5• Throw the sand the water and repeat until you have a muddy pile that jiggles like my belly.
And then … throw it up to the top of the scaffold, one shovel full at a time.
