In my last post I wrote "voila" a new building. Well it was not as smooth as that. We had some bricks that just needed baking, but after that we had to look for more argile (clay). There was a spot about 1 km away from the schoolbuilding. So first the brickmaker team was out there, digging up the clay, pressing it into blocks and then letting them dry. Then the women would come and transport the bricks to the school area where they would be baked. They'd carry 6 or 8 bricks at a time which for us would be quite hard but they are used to it, amazing.

Then we changed the strategy; the women would carry the argile, deposit it in a building near the school, so the brickmakers could work inside protected from the rain and the hot sun. Also guarding the bricks would be easier. They'd get some money for each brick or basket of argile so we had lots of women who were willing to do that, as there are many poor.

The kids themselves were happy to help with carrying water needed for the cement.

Here's a little update. So the last time we came to Mushapo was October 2012. Because the building we were supposed to have on our own property wasn't there yet, we opted for renovating one chicken house into 2 "new" school rooms. After supporting the roof, the mud walls were taken down and replaced with baked bricks. Then the temporary supports were removed and voila, a new building which the students have been enjoying now (June 2013) for a couple of months.