Building a Community Center in Ghana

We have a roof! That’s right, with the walls finally finished and sturdy enough to support the weight, we were able to put up the truss.

The roof itself seems like a pretty complex design (at least when you are doing everything by hand and it is a pretty big space). It has to span the main large room and turn at a slight angle as it continues over the office and hallway space. In the large room the roof is on two different levels. To create ventilation (remember the idea of suckulation) there is a large gap between rooflines with the taller roof hanging over the smaller one. Sorry if that is a terrible description.

Regardless of my terrible description on the roof, it is the description of how they got the truss up which is so cool!

About 25-30 feet long, the truss is made up of 2x4s nailed together to look like a 30 foot long rectangle with 2x4s nailed in the pattern of triangles in the center. Not only is the truss pretty large it is also very heavy. To avoid having to carry into the building, the carpenters built it right in the middle of the floor of the large room.

So how do you get this thing up 10 feet with no pulleys, cranes, ladders or other construction tools? With two men standing on the make shift scaffolding along the wall and two men perched on the wooden doorframe at the opposite end, everyone else lifted the truss up one end at a time. They would push it up as far as their arms could reach, then using more 2x4s hammered together to look like a Y, they would hoist it up the rest of way. Meanwhile, the men standing up along the top of the building would be desperately pulling it upward. At one point the giant, heavy truss was resting on the scaffolding, which seems barely attached to the wall. Disaster seemed imminent!

Nonetheless, it was soon perched sturdily (I hope at least) on the top of our building and the Ghanaian workers and J took turns scrambling out to the center of the truss to check its positioning.

Before we knew it the rest of the frame had been put in place and the students took turns climbing up to the top of the roof.

The whole roof was then covered in the same super shiny, silver corrugated roofing sheets that covers almost all the buildings in Ghana. To fit the pieces of roofing into particular spaces, the workers would often have to cut the material in half. While I am not sure why I assumed they would be using some sort of scissors or tool, it true Ghanaian fashion they would eyeball the size they need then just tear it apart like it was a piece of paper. When they hammered the sheets onto the frame it sounded like what I imagine it will sound like when it rains on the metallic roofing.

One of my faviort aspects of the roof is the way it reflects the sun when it hits just right. You stand there looking at the wonderful building that has sprung out of nowhere, when all the sudden the sun comes out and you are blinded by the glittering roof. I know with the weather and from seeing other roofs the beautiful roof will not always look so shinny. All the same, its dazzle just seems to reflect the pride we are all feeling. Sorry, was that a little too corny? :)