Building a Community Center in Ghana

Our building is made up entirely of grey blocks. These blocks weight about 40 pounds each and are the size of an elongated, narrow shoebox. Rather than having holes in them, like American cinder blocks, they are solid like a brick.

You make a block by mixing (again ALL BY HAND!) two loads of grey sand, one load of brown sand, a bag of cement and water.

Side note, did I mention what is written on the cement bags? The tag line for this Ghanaian cement company is “The Nation Builder.” I think that is the greatest thing ever! You can often lose site of the fact that concrete is part of almost every form of a country’s physical infrastructure both in the US and in Ghana (and all over the world).

After mixing, mixing and more mixing one/two people using flat, square shovel to gently dump scoops of the mix into a stainless steel block mold. The mold is of course rectangular, has two handles on either side and a loose bottom piece.

When the mold looks mostly full one of the carrying people picks it up and drops it to get the mix to settle. The mold is filled more, then using the flat shovel one person smacks the mix in the mold until it is nice and compressed and flat. Then the two people carry the mold/mix over to the line of finished blocks. The mold is gently turned over and the mold is slid upward, like removing a cake from its pan. The loose bottom piece, which remains on the top of the block is slowly lifted off.

Repeat for about another 300 times. Remember every block is hand made and we are building a monster of a building.

Making the bocks is generally pretty fun. However, the blocks are incredibly fragile. About every 10th block falls apart when you pull the mold away, they have to be covered in banana leaves when it rains because the rain drops will leave depressions in them and goats/chickens are quickly shooed away if any should venture too close to the blocks. Even after they have been drying for a few days, when you go to move them every 5th block just crumbles in your hands.

I don’t think I will ever take a brick or cinder block for granted ever again.