2012 Photo Report #2: Ceilings

     It was early in August and this was my third week in Buchanan.  The New Jersey team had just returned to the States, and I was now staying at Gabriel's house.  Every day the skies were dark and overcast, and often it was raining just enough to discourage me from going out.  But on this morning the showers had let up a bit, so I decided to venture out along the road and look for a few birds as I walked up to the PROJECT BUCHANAN property.
     Eugene (who is a nephew to Gabriel and lives with the family) wanted to go with me, so I gave him my extra pair of binoculars to put around his neck and I showed him how to focus them.  He had never looked through binoculars before, and so when his eyes suddenly adjusted to the big, close view he was getting through those crystal-clear lenses, I could tell that the moment was almost magical for him.  Eugene had just discovered a totally new world, and I had been there to see it happen!
     As we started walking down that muddy road with all its African sights and sounds and smells, in some strange way I too felt like a boy again.  On this visit to Buchanan I was back in the country where I had been born and raised so many years ago, back where everything was still so much the same.  Yet in another way Liberia also seemed far away, waiting to be rediscovered.  I knew that back in my drought-stricken home state of Colorado this summer, the winds were hot and dry and the plains were parched and brown.  Now, as I stopped for a moment on this muddy road in Liberia--just five degrees above the equator--, the amazing thing for me was the saturation of the greens in this rain-drenched valley, and the absolute stillness of the humid tropical air.

I set up my telescope and in just a few minutes Eugene and I were able to find a good number of common marsh-loving birds, including this Little Bee-Eater (a juvenile).

But now, let's go back a couple of weeks...  Each morning at the work site, it was quite a chore for the team to get out the ladders and all the other equipment that had been locked up for the night in a storage container up the road...

...and to bring down from the attic all the timber that had been stashed up there, for relative safe-keeping, the night before.

After the jalousie windows had been installed (see my last post), the next big job for the team was putting up ceilings.  Here Jason Young is surveying the situation.

The ceiling battens were cut from 2X2s.  Note: Since Jim Purcaro is using a hand saw, we know that this picture must have been taken back when that whole "broken generator" thing was going on (also in my last post)!

The battens were then positioned about 2 feet apart.

Gordon Tiner had to keep one step ahead of the rest of the crew.  Here he is, up under the rafters, checking on the evenness of the trusses and ceiling joists, to which the battens were going to be nailed at right angles.

Thankfully the generator had been successfully repaired, so now Jason was in business with the power saw, cutting each batten to the required length.  Gabriel was there to help.

While Gabriel helped, Jason trimmed off one batten after another, making enough for every ceiling in the house.

Gordon (right) and Jason took many measurements in order to get the ceiling support structure centered correctly.

A full sheet of hardboard measures 8 ft by 4 ft.  But quite often Jason had to measure a sheet carefully and then cut it just right, in order to make it fit.

Looks like the gasoline generator is working just fine!  And don't worry... it's not running indoors or in an enclosed space!  This is the garage-like storage area at the west end of the house, and this photo was taken through the open "doorway" which measures 13 ft wide by 8 feet high.

Joists and battens have been nailed in place, and now Jason and Gordon are putting up the hardboard ceiling.

Here Gordon and Jason are getting some help from Jimmy, the hired truck driver and an all-round handyman.

More help from Jimmy...

...and help from those down below, who are using pieces of lumber to hold the hardboard in position until it has been nailed in place.

It's called team work--and team work works!

Finally, the finishing touches... here Gabriel is helping to hold the final piece of wood stripping in position while Gordon nails it in place.

The stripping covers the joints between the pieces of hardboard and helps to hold the ceiling up, so that it looks nice and level.  The unpainted African wood is also very beautiful.

Here's what part of the finished ceiling in one of the bedrooms looks like.  (Sorry, my camera isn't very wide-angle!)  The walls in this room have been plastered, in order to hide the rough concrete block and give the room a nearly finished appearance.

This is the future dining room area, where the walls and floor have obviously not been finished...

... and this is the future dining room area.  You may have been wondering why there are so many piles of 'dirt blocks' sitting around. These blocks are part of an ongoing "experiment" to see whether local materials, such as topsoil or the mud-like material in termite hills, can be used to make blocks for some of the construction work in PROJECT BUCHANAN.  A special manually-operated press was purchased for this endeavor, but so far the process has not been perfected.  The limited number of dirt blocks that were made have been stored temporarily in these rooms; and for building construction on the project, we are back to using concrete blocks.  Hopefully in the future, some enterprising young man (or men) will want to continue the experimentation, find a way to make the dirt blocks more efficiently, and then perhaps build a profitable small business... or maybe there will be some other ending to this story!

     Back to Eugene for a moment... He is 11 years old and, until recently, was more or less fending for himself on the streets of Monrovia.  Not long ago, circumstances within his family compelled a relative to drop him off at Gabriel's house and they took him in.  If he were in school, he would only be in grade one.  Perhaps when I return to Liberia, I can pick up where I left off... which was there on that muddy road with a simple lesson about binoculars and birding.
     When you start out to make a difference, you just never know how much difference you are going to make, or how much more you may be required to make... especially in a country where civil war has had an impact on the children and on their futures.

     And may I add a somewhat humorous postscript?...  For me there was such a contrast between this lush wet habitat in Liberia and the dry treeless plains of eastern Colorado where I have been living for the last 14 years.  But did you notice the other Colorado connection in this photo?
     Many of us are aware that a lot of second-hand clothing, mostly from the United States, is sold in Africa.  But what a coincidence--especially on this day--that Eugene's shirt should be advertising the ski patrol and rescue dogs at the Snowmass ski area in Aspen!  Talk about a contrast in temperatures!

2012 Photo Report #1: Windows & Generators

I know, I know... I should have been on this blog for the last 2 years, keeping you up to date with progress reports on PROJECT BUCHANAN.  So I apologize.
 
But rest assured... this project has not been abandoned!  In fact, I have just returned from my first trip to Liberia since 2010, and I am anxious to share with you some of my latest pictures so you can see what is happening with PROJECT BUCHANAN today.  In short: Over the last 2 years, Liberian contractors have been busy, four different stateside work teams have gone over to help, and construction has been started on three buildings (with one now nearing completion)... well, let me not get ahead of myself in the story!
  
A little more than 2 months ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Buchanan with a 3-man work team that was going over from New Jersey.  Gordon Tiner (the team leader), Jim Purcaro, and Jason Young spent the last 2 weeks of July in Buchanan, where they worked very hard on several PROJECT BUCHANAN construction jobs.  After they returned to the States, I spent another 2 weeks in Liberia doing some project follow-up.
 
So let's get started with the slideshow...

Back in the 1980s, when Paula and I lived and worked down the coast at Po River Beach in River Cess County, Patrick was a student at the Pillar Mission's Oceanview Christian School where we taught.  This summer, while I was in Monrovia, I got to meet Patrick and so many more of my former students.

Now back to July 15th, the Sunday we arrived in Liberia ...  We had left New Jersey more than 24 hours earlier and had changed planes in Atlanta, then we had flown across the ocean eastward to Accra in Ghana and finally, after a long wait there on the ground without deplaning, we had finally left again, back-tracking westward to Roberts International Airport in Liberia.  Though exhausted, we were not at our final destination yet!  Thankfully there were Liberian friends at the airport to meet us, but they had come with a couple of vehicles for our immediate departure to Buchanan. Hours later and after dark, with about 60 miles of washed-out road behind us, we finally arrived in Buchanan at the small guest house where we would be staying for the next 2 weeks.  There we were welcomed by my longtime friend, Gabriel Tequah.  (I would say that it was good to 'see' him, except that it was after dark and actually quite difficult for me to recognize anyone!)  Gabe is a busy man: In addition to his weekday responsibilities as a school principal and his weekend duties as a pastor, he has also been managing PROJECT BUCHANAN for more than a year and is continuing to make every effort to keep the work going forward.

The walls of this first building for PROJECT BUCHANAN were put up by the 6-person Colorado team that went to Liberia with Paula and me in 2010.  In 2011 the roof was put on, and now in 2012 the New Jersey team that I was with was trying to get most of the labor-intensive work finished.  This building will be a residence, as well as a secure location for the storage of building supplies while the rest of the campus is being developed.

One of the first jobs on Gordon Tiner's list was to build concrete steps from the back kitchen door down to ground level at the back of the house.

Here Gordon is checking his measurements and making a few suggestions...

...and now the wet concrete is being shoveled into the wooden forms.

Because the climate in Liberia is hot and humid all year round, I wanted the windows of this house to be large (approx. 4' X 6') for good air flow throughout the building.  Large windows are also needed for maximum light during the long rainy season, when the skies are heavily clouded. (There is no electricity at this location to help provide the extra light that may be needed from time to time for normal daytime activities.)

Blowing rain is also a constant problem during the wet season.  In this tropical climate, the best windows to install are the jalousie type, which have adjustable horizontal glass blades.  These windows can be fully opened for ventilation or fully closed when it rains. Either way, they always let in the light.

Considerable work had to be done on the wooden window frames and sills throughout the building, before they would be ready to accommodate the jalousies.  (See the third photo below.)

When finished, each large window will hold a total of 16 blades of glass.  This photo shows the metal glass holder screwed into the 2X4 window jamb on one side.  Only the bottom five glass holders (of 8) are visible here.  Each piece of glass will need to be measured exactly and then cut precisely, if the jalousie levers are to work properly.

Gordon was able to cut and "re-engineer" a regular 8-blade glass holder, so that it would have only 4 blades, thus matching almost exactly the height of the shorter windows in the bathrooms and storage room.  The middle two blades of glass are still 6" wide, but the top and bottom blades will be only 4" wide, a size that is also widely available. The lever is still functional for the bottom three blades of glass.

Before Jason and Jim could install any of the jalousie glass holders, they had to spend several days fitting every window in the house with a central vertical mullion as well as sloping sills that would shed the rain.  The cement work around each window will be finished later by the plasterers (see my next post).  The glass blades will be cut and installed just before occupancy (when there is less chance for vandalism).

In this photo, note the roof's 4-foot overhang.  Even with this much extension, the rain was still blowing into the open windows while the team was trying to work.  In this coastal part of Liberia, total annual rainfall can reach nearly 200 inches (500 cm)!  The wider eaves on the house are needed for protection from the rain, but unfortunately they also diminish the light in the house on dark days such as this.  This is just another reason why the windows need to be large in order to let in as much light as possible.

When the New Jersey team arrived in Buchanan, they were 'fully expecting' that this small generator, purchased locally by Gordon Tiner last year, would still be in 'good working order,' so that they could run the electric saw and other American power tools they had brought along.  This photo should need no further explanation!

Bringing the generator outside didn't seem to help get it started...

...nor did looking at it from a different angle!

Meanwhile... While we stood around wondering what to do next, a  truly skilled carpenter among us decided to pull out his trusted rip saw and get the job done by hand--and in short order!

What you're looking at here is no joke!  This second generator was actually being held together with duct tape!  I kid you not!  But amazingly, it was running!  You see, when it became evident that the red generator needed to be carted into town for some much-needed shade-tree repair, Gabriel came to the team's rescue and brought out his own personal generator (this green one) which, if I understood him correctly, had only recently come back from a near-death experience of its own!  Its only lingering problem was a somewhat disconcerting high-pitched rattle or vibration--like metal on metal--that seemed to be coming from deep within the little beast.  I was guessing that a few internal pieces were running critically low on oil!  However... not to worry!  The shrill sounds were soon muffled when a heavy piece of wood and some proverbial duct tape were applied!

Eventually the red generator was repaired, and it seemed to work well for the team after that.  But there was another nuisance problem.  Most of the generators purchased in Liberia these days put out 240 volts, whereas all power tools from the United States are designed to operate on only 120 volts.  Hence the need for that little black box--a step-down transformer--sitting there on the ground near the generator.  And you're right--we had to buy it locally too!  The first one we got in 2010 burned out almost immediately; this one, apparently, only gets really, really hot!

When we were having this much 'fun' (or was it frustration?), the morning really flew by quite quickly!  Soon it was time for some lunch, out in front of the building.

It was one of our favorite dishes--spaghetti with a delicious Liberian sauce made with canned tomato paste and canned corned beef.  Seriously... it was one of our favorites, which we asked Tabitha, our "camp cook" back at the guest house, to make for us, time and again!

We always started by thoroughly sanitizing our hands with lots of antibacterial soap.  After all, we were in the tropics!  (Actually, I just dipped my hands in a tub of murky lake water and dried them off on my pants!)  Then we would gather 'round--Gordon, Jason, Jim and me (after I had put my camera down)--and just "dig in."  Under the hot sun, even the sort-of-cold bottled water tasted good!

For the record... Here's a picture of Tabitha (left) with her husband Sam (right), and their family: Caleb (18, top), Sandi (16, bottom left), and Praise (8, bottom right).  They live in Paynesville near Monrovia.  Back in the 1980s, both Sam and Tabitha were students at Oceanview Christian School in River Cess where Paula and I taught.  Sam is now a seminary graduate and pastors a church in the Monrovia area.  Tabitha is in nurse's training these days, but she always manages to take time off to cater for the stateside teams that come over to help with PROJECT BUCHANAN.  (You really ought to go over some time, just to taste her lightly-seasoned, deep-fried, ocean fish steaks!)

Finally... at the end of every day at the PROJECT BUCHANAN work site, it was Prince who would help gather up our heavy bags of tools and take us in his car, back to the guest house for the night.  Somehow he always managed to squeeze all of us into one trip.  And it was Prince who would bring all of us back to the work site the next morning... and the next and the next.  And all day long, every day, he was there for our convenience--to run an errand into town to get a small tool from one of the shops, to go back to the guest house at noon to bring the lunch when it was ready, or even to take the generator for repairs and bring it back again a few days later.  We paid him for this service, of course!  But more importantly, I got to meet a new friend and learn a little bit about his life, half a world away from mine.  Sometimes we spoke in English and sometimes we spoke in Bassa (which I learned growing up in Liberia)... I told him about my family back in the States and my dream to return to Liberia to help kids get a better education... he told me about his training as a mechanic and how he got his car... one day he proudly pointed out his small auto repair shop along the road when we were driving by... and also, there was that day when I walked over to his house, and he introduced me to his wife and very proudly showed me their newborn baby.

Finally... We're in Buchanan!

It has taken longer than we thought to get to Buchanan!

We left the States as scheduled and arrived in Monrovia, Liberia's capital, 10 days ago as planned.  But before we could leave the city, we needed to meet with PROJECT BUCHANAN folks, determine what materials still needed to be purchased before the Colorado building team arrives (on July 14), and then shop around for what we can afford!  So our time in Monrovia was well-spent.  One very useful little item we were able to pick up was a small modem that plugs into the USB port of my laptop, allowing me to go online via the cell phone service here (for about a dollar an hour).  In fact, that's how I am able to be online right now as I compose this post!

Luther Tarpeh, the Pillar Field Director, was already planning a trip from Monrovia to Buchanan today.  So we were up at 4:30 AM and ready to leave at the prearranged 5:30 AM departure time!  The 90-mile trip (partly over some beautiful newly-paved road, partly over stretches of very rough dirt road) took 3 hours!

We have already been out and about around Buchanan to look for possible accommodations for the 7-person building team.  I think they'll really like what we found... but I'll leave the details as a surprise for next week when they arrive!

Sorry, no photos yet!

...before the Colorado Team Arrives!

NOTE: You can left-click on any picture to enlarge it and to view all the photos in this post as a slideshow!

Sam Walker is currently the Liberian on-site manager for PROJECT BUCHANAN. In recent weeks he has been able to scan a few printed photos and send the scans to me as low-resolution email attachments:

Here Sam is standing with a few Pillar students next to the concrete blocks that have been made for the PROJECT BUCHANAN buildings.

The first building to be constructed is a staff residence which will also serve for storage of building materials and for property security. Here the exterior walls of this 30-ft X 50-ft building were being staked out.

Then trenches were dug (using only hand tools such as picks and shovels) so that the concrete footings could be poured.

Project managers Sam Walker and Jacob Tequah (upper right), along with PROJECT BUCHANAN workers, stopped work for a picture.

Several tiers of concrete blocks were to be laid on the footings, in order to bring the new walls up to floor level. Then a reinforced concrete floor slab was to be poured. After that we are hoping that the building team from Colorado can finish the walls and construct the roof.

Flomo has been directing most of the masonry work.

Here Sam is standing in one of the footing trenches that has already been dug for the second building soon to be constructed: a 100-ft X 30-ft two-story 7-classroom unit.

The building team from Colorado should arrive in Buchanan on July 14. Sam is making arrangements for the team members to stay at this relatively comfortable "rooming house".

Unlike most other homes in Buchanan, this guest house has modern bathroom facilities, as well as electricity for most of the night.

FOOTNOTE:  I am taking Sam a new Coolpix digital camera (folks at Nikon, please take note!).  Hopefully, as PROJECT BUCHANAN moves forward, the progress can be documented in high-quality photographs which you can enjoy.