Perpendicular as a rock!

The weekend is approaching. During the past week, work has been done on the 56 concrete columns on which the first floor (and the roof) will rest. The woven wire frames, which at the beginning of the week were still sticking up in the air like an orchard of bare trunks neatly in line, are all equipped with wooden molds. These molds are adjusted neatly "in plumb" using stones attached to a string. The cement mixers are working overtime to provide all those concrete pillars. After the molds are dismantled, burlap sacks are wrapped around the pillars and kept moist with water, allowing them to cure nicely.

Midweek, the construction of the walls began. A small army of porters and bricklayers has been busy getting over 2000 cement blocks, weighing 30 kilos each, to their designated places. With ropes between the different pillars, plumb lines, and measuring tapes, the walls are ensured to be straight and perpendicular, as well as ensuring that the doors and windows are placed according to the design. Even more porters come and go with buckets of cement on their shoulders or heads. It's practically all manual labor. Here and there, an enthusiast lays a bit too far and has to remove a row because a window needs to be installed. Fortunately, it hasn't hardened yet and can be adjusted without much effort.

On Saturday, the workers line up to get paid. Rachel, a young lady employed by the project as a storekeeper and people keeper, comes with a book in which everyone has signed their hours worked every day. Unfortunately, it's all too common for contractors to be lax with the timekeeping of their daily wage laborers in order to cut costs. Rachel, who grew up on the hospital compound in Sengerema, is straightforward. She keeps excellent records and has earned the trust of everyone. Mangit, the Indian foreman, went to the bank and comes back with a suitcase full of money. Cash is paid out, although the contractor will later have to pay five percent tax on it. The workers genuinely appreciate this punctual reward for their hard work.