day 4 & 5: africa hot

Today is Day 2 of the build and I'm in bed at the hotel. I now know the meaning of the phrase "Africa hot". A far cry from the snow Kym and I saw as we were leaving Cleveland.

I didn't take pictures of Day 1 of the build b/c I was more concerned about making it through the day. Breakfast was at 6am and we were on the road by 7am. We arrived at the site for a brief orientation and then split up in to three build teams. It was blazing hot and we were covered in several layers of grime by the end of the day. I faded at about 2:30pm (we finished at 3pm), but was proud that I made it thru the day without incident and feeling fine. I also drank about 3, 1.5L bottles of water.

Our goal is three houses. They're all one level, two room houses with corrugated steel roofs and a utility block. A utility block contains an outhouse and a place to do laundry. No electricity. The first house is ready for its roof. The 2nd and 3rd are still at various beginning stages. I worked on the 2nd house with Mitch, Renee (Aussies) and Debbie (US- from the CA office). Daniel is our team lead. We were masons for the day, building up the walls to roof height. Debbie, Renee and Mitch moved the 40lb bricks over to the house while I helped Daniel mix the first batch of mortar and apply it. There were already about 4-5 layers of bricks down. Debbie handed the bricks up to Daniel and then she and I filled in the mortar between the bricks after Daniel made sure they were level and straight. And that was how the day progressed, building scaffolding using the bricks and long pieces of wood for the higher areas. With the help of the other artisans, we built four walls to roof height and put in a window.

After we left the site, we visited one of the homeowners' current home. Getting there was another amazing feat by our van driver. There was a canal that ran through the neighborhood filled with garbage. We saw children crossing the canal in their bare feet. The family lives in one room in a compound with no kitchen or bathroom. The public toilet is down the street. We decided only a few people would take their cameras and the neighborhood children swarmed them and cheered each time they were shown their pictures.

Never have I been so happy for a shower. By dinnertime, I was feeling run down and nauseous. I I made myself go to dinner to make sure I had something to eat and went to bed shortly thereafter. I woke up this morning and felt like I had been run over by a truck and weak. I decided not to go to the build site for fear that I would feel worse when I got there and I also didn't want to just sit and not be able to help. I feel guilty that I'm not there. I never knew I was so sensitive to the heat. It's frustrating. I'm hoping my strength will return and I can join the group tomorrow.