Thanks to the many generous people and organizations that donated to
my classroom rehabilitation project, we were able to get full funding
well before we'd anticipated!
During the month of March the community was busy getting all of their
contributions to the project ready – sand, wood, water, etc. They
also tore down the remnants of the old roof and got the site ready
for construction.
I spent last weekend in Ambovombe (the regional capital) running
around with my counterpart Josoah trying to organize the purchase and
transport of all of the construction materials. It was no small
order: 156 sheets of metal roofing, 57 iron bars, 44 wooden planks,
and 92 sacks of cement, 6 metal sheets, and 20 kilos of nails. The
purchase of all the materials went smoothly, but the transportation
proved to be a much more complicated issue.
The transport of the materials was being provided for free – the
Chef CISCO (the head of the school district) just needed to provide
the gasoline for the truck. There were some issues at first with the
cost of gas and finding a driver, but with the help of the CISCO we
were able to work it out. After two days of delays, we were back at
the hardware store loading up all of the materials. Me, Josoah, and
the Chef CISCO were all very excited to see the project that we'd
been preparing for so long coming to fruition! It was already night
by the time we made it to Ambondro, but a bunch of local guys were
waiting to help us unload everything.
Now we're almost ready to begin construction. The last few items –
some local wood and gravel – are still being collected. Hopefully
by next week we'll be able to start!
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| Materials loaded up and ready to go |
