We decide to split into two teams today, since stucco is the critical path and we can support this work with a partial group. Villagers ad another stucco guy, so the work goes faster. Twice the progress, but still a long way to go. We are now calculating how far we’ll get before we leave, and one room stucco’ed will be “it”. Carpenters finish the roof with a little extra material that was delivered seemingly overnight. Looks like projects here take about as many trips to the local Home Depot as they do in Colorado, ie 3.5 on average. The difference is that material here comes up the dirt road in a trailer pulled by a large tractor. This rig will never sneak up on anyone, since the unsprung trailer clatters enough to be heard miles away!
Frustrated engineers in the group finally have their chance to contribute to the design, since the headmaster asked us how to put up a ceiling in these classrooms. He bought plywood but had no idea what to do next. Gene, Tom, and Dan came up with an idea and basically ground down the carpenter that was skeptical of its strength. Dan put it over the top by standing on the support member to prove it. So these guys were busy salvaging the material necessary to make their design from the misc woodpiles all over the school yard.
The rest of us knuckle-draggers had our fun moving about 1000 bricks and getting rocks and broken concrete to make roof hold-downs for the exterior. Whatever turns you on …
Our daily outreach consists of visiting the new medical post and the 100 year old home of the founder of the Sabhung school. The house was quite comfortable for local standards, and the post was very nice. But, no water or electricity and few medical materials mean that this facility will wait for power and water before being really used.
We learn that some teachers are not present, and I wonder if maybe community parents or elders could fill in as substitutes. Apparently not a concept in practice in Nepal.
* Nepalis know how to set up these festivals and holidays!
