Aidan the Builder’s Blog

Building a base in Kamuli for Staff and Visitors

September 2010 - Aidan returns

Hello, well finally my time here is up and I'm on my way home to a tory government and drizzle. I would like to say thankyou to everyone who has followed our progress with the building work and supported me with your prayers, it is very much appreciated. At the beginning I went out with a view to building one house for Joy the nurse to live in, but after discussing with my engineer we decided that we could construct two houses simultaneously so that's what we did. When work began in earnest we were employing up to twenty bricklayers and labourers from the village and things really began to move! Despite the usual problems and frustrations that one can imagine for a project of this kind in a remote part of the country, it was a real pleasure to work alongside them; I was very impressed with their standard of work and their behaviour towards me and what I was asking of them, and ended up very good friends with them all.

It wasn't all work mind you, I was very lucky to have the river Nile only a short distance away so I often went for a dip to cool off, and every sunday afternoon I tried to teach our younger lads how to swim - which wasn't entirely successful but very good fun nonetheless! We also started a Helping Hands football team and played the surrounding villages and - despite my input as a fairly inept defender - won the majority of our games.

As the buildings progressed it became clear that various unexpected problems would prevent us from completing the houses before I left but the remaining work is quite minor - plastering and painting etc - and we have left people from helping hands to oversee the work and it should be finished within a few weeks. It would have been nice to leave them entirely completed but if I look back at the work we've managed within five short months of construction it's safe to say that we have done very well and I'm very happy with the standard of work that has been achieved. I hope the houses give many years of trouble free use and enable helping hands to continue the excellent work that it has been doing in these village schools.

Thankyou very much for your support. Aidan.

July 2010 - Wrong Size!

Well, I’ve got one group plastering the ceiling in the staff house (complete with roof) right now and soon the walls will be done too. We’re opting for white paint for more light and it is easier to spot lurking mozzies! We have had our challenges of late though as the metal doors we had ordered eventually arrived but were somewhat shorter than they needed to be. Mmmmmh, it seems things are the same the world over…

The other size issue we had was with bricks. Our supplier has lovely big bricks but no-one else makes them that large so when we ran out he said he had another lot cooling – they turned out to be smaller. In true African style we found out who else had bought bricks from him and made them an offer! We now have enough bricks and they are all the same size!

Another thing we have begun in the staff house is laying electrical conduit in the walls to receive wiring when we are ready to fit it. We have still to decide how to proceed with this one as it seems obvious to use solar energy if we can make that initial outlay and secure the panels well enough. The usual route that everyone expects us to do in the village is to hook up to the mains at great cost and great inconsistency. Not much of a decision when you say it like that!

June 2010 - Reaching Up!

Hey, we start on Joy and Sam’s roof this week. It is good to see the staff house taking shape and we even conquered the art of concrete column making for the veranda. Once the site gets tidied up things will pretty nice! The visitors’ base is rising up too and I know that Debbie has begun to imagine sleeping in it. I wonder how many others will come here.

Went shopping in Kampala for second hand British locks as the local ones seem to break too easily. Found a couple of mortise locks and some barrel locks too – a great day out! I will not tell you how Helping Hands FC did this week against Lwanyama but I can say the whistle blew before their fourth went in the net.

Late May 2010

Well, I have to start with the amazing news that Helping Hands Builders FC thrashed the next village 5 – 1 at the week-end despite my appearance on the pitch for the first half! It is the only match that I have played in where you have to dribble past the cows as well as the opposition. The morning porridge is obviously strengthening the men and morale is high.

For the builders amongst you, we are now up to the ring beam on Joy and Sam’s house and the slab is laid on the visitors’ base. So progress is good. Internal doors are being made and furniture options are being weighed up… it is all done in the village and this whole project has been a real boost for the local economy.

Reality has struck too though. There have been five burials in the village this week and every one of them could have been avoided if earlier action had taken place. I have gone beyond sad and guilty and decided that the single best thing any of us can do is let Helping Hands grow as quickly as can be managed. If children get used to the idea that basic healthcare is simple when they are older they will avoid the fatal trap of just waiting to see what happens.

Earely May 2010

Touch of typhoid was not too good and kept me quiet for a few days but I was soon up and about… cheering one of my new friends at a vitally important football match, taking wheelbarrows for a ride on my motorbike (!) and watching in horror as the barefoot man cut the tree down with a chainsaw from a considerable height. Safety regulations are not quite the same here.

The walls in Joy’s house are springing up quickly and well whilst the foundations of the visitors’ home have been laid. It has been fun with two groups of local men working at the same time. It is a busy site and it has created lots of much needed work. We have pollarded the larger trees so as to keep shade but allow us to build roofs!!!

April 2010

I found him! He is called Joseph Mugote and he was trained in Kampala. He even took soil samples on the site to see the implications for the foundations. Well, there is now a team of us and site clearing has begun.

Found a mother termite. Supposedly very tasty but no-one will cook it for me! Well, it has been removed from where the kitchen will be so that is good. Foundations are now in and the walls can begin…

March 2010

Landed in Uganda. It has been seven years since my last visit. Nothing has changed really, it still took me two weeks to find a motorbike that worked and had a number plate! There is something very special about this place though… and the people.

Now trying to find a good builder. A local man who can help me put together a team…