Building a Community Center in Ghana

Another great day at the work site!

We came back this morning and found our beautifully dug foundation trenches perfectly intact. While I don’t think we were planning on them going anywhere or the roaming goats/chickens would fill them in, it is the rainy season, and a night of rain certainly could have turned our trenches into a watery mud pit (great for irrigating the banana/plantain/orange fields, not so great for a building!).

Still dry, however, we got to start pouring concrete. Pan after pan and wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow, we dumped the heavy, wet grey mixture of sand, stone, cement, and water into the trenches.

By lunchtime, we were all very ready for a nice break. However, as we all sat munching on our rice, spaghetti, and cabbage, massive grey clouds came rolling in over the rainforest. We quickly gathered all our bags and shoes we had haphazardly discarded on the grass. Huddling (not because we were cold or scared or anything… purely a volume issue), we listened to the rain as it poured in torrents. The children who had followed us from the worksite laughed and shouted as they tried to find shelter under the over hanging roof. For at least 30 minutes, we listened as it rained and rained and rained. Finally, at 1:30, the designated end of our lunchtime, we walked back to the worksite in the drizzling rain (working come hell or high water). I finally got to break out the raincoat I had dragged all the way from the US. As I walked back to the site, people in the village laughed and spoke in Twi as I passed. I imagined I did look kind of funny with the coat stretched over my backpack making me look like I had a camel hump and my hood pulled down low over my eyes. While I did manage to stay dry of rain, I was covered in sweat by the time I got to the site. I don’t care how many “breathable vents” the coat has, wearing plastic in 100, 100% humidity is still pretty awful.

To our dismay, upon reaching the site, we found our beautiful trenches filled with water. We were standing around with the mud up to our knees and discussing how we would bail the water out when we noticed the water was beginning to recede. At the lowest point of the site (where the trenches were four feet deep), the workers had dug out a hole, and the water was flowing out of it. Within a quarter of an hour, the trenches were empty of water.

The workers started a new mix, and we again began to pour the concrete. I guess J was serious when he said nothing was going to prevent us from finishing this building!