Day 1 of the build, we find out what we are in for!!

We were up at 6 a.m. this morning but MAC decided to skip the early morning yoga session with the yoga lady who runs a daily period before breakfast. So we went over to the main building at 7 a.m, when the yoga session was just ending and breakfast was soon served. Marcin then gave a presentation about the project and what we would be expected to do today. He had high ambitions. A number of the participants offered advice and comments on the way in which Marcin  proposed to build the house. Various suggestion on the way in which the ‘mortar’ which ties the bricks together should be mixed and also the components of the bricks themselves. There were several people who are either in the construction industry or in the ‘business’ of ecological developments so the discussion was quite lively.

Then, after gathering up all our things such as the cordless drill we had bought for the project our hard hats and gloves.

The walk to the build site takes about 5 to 7 minutes. When we arrived there some wooden formers had been set up as well as a concrete rectangle of a base upon which the bricks would be laid.

We had many issues to work out amongst our selves and with Marcin and Scott’s help. How best to mix the ‘slurry’ which goes to ‘stick’ the bricks together. As an experiment, a tractor with an augur was to be used. A 50 gallon drum was filled with a mix of earth sand and water with a small amount of cement and this was stirred by the augur. This did not mix the mixture very well so we had to assist the stirring process by using a garden fork and spade to pull up the mixture which had settled to the bottom and the sides of the drum. This was heavy work and  and it took quite a long time to get the mixture to be the consistency of ‘ketchup’ which was what was desired. Eventually with the help of the tractor driver, John,  and Joe from Canada, we did get the right level of sloppiness and we were able to commence bricklaying. The courses of bricks have to have some steel mesh inserted and also some wires are set intervals. All this is to help the brick walls ‘knit’ together and make the whole structure earthquake resistant.

After quite a lot of discussion and a very slow start, by lunchtime we had not made a lot of progress which was a bit disappointing. The bricklaying took some time to settle down and the methods to be used tried and rejected until a preferred method was established for each team. The earthen bricks (there were three grades of stabilization 0%, 5%, 10% which represented the amount of cement in the bricks.) The bricks had to be dipped into the ‘slurry’ and then placed in position. The way in which the bricks were placed was called ‘soldiers’ bond’ which is a particular way the bricks are aligned. This meant that the bricks did not always overlap their joins. In addition there were different sizes of bricks and the way in which the corners were aligned was very important. The bricks were placed along the walls against a board which had to be moved up as each course of bricks was laid. This took some time and oftentimes delayed one wall from proceeding while they awaited the adjacent wall to finish and move their positioning board up.

After lucking things almost immediately started to run more smoothly and the bricklaying proceeded apace. In between certain intervals of bricks there had to be small wires laid which would eventually hold the wire mesh which would surround the building. Meanwhile in a large barn-like shed nearby a team of volunteers were doing the carpentry which would be required for the ‘formers which would hold the cement for the lintels above the windows and door. They also provided the various supports to hold up the inside of the building while the bricklaying was taking place.

It was interesting to hear the ‘semi-professional banter between the volunteers who all had various degrees of knowledge and experience and were not shy in voicing them. This did, sometimes, cause there to be conflicting information flying about which confused those not so much in the ‘know’ like me. Never the less it was a great cooperative venture and everyone worked quite well together despite the different approaches which many of them had.

On this the first day of the build the weather was very kind and there was quite a lot of cloud and the temperatures were quite equable and not too hot. I left the site at around 4.30 p.m,. By this time i was quite tired and thought I could usefully use the rest of the daylight in writing this blog. The lighting in the public spaces and our room is not very good so I had to go outside where I could see better. At around this time the mosquitoes come out in force here and although I seem not to be much sought after by them, MAC and others are.

After writing for a while, I returned to our room when MAC returned and we offered our shower to one of our fellow volunteers while was sleeping in a tent on the grounds of the hotel.

Then we went to dinner and after dinner Marcin gave a talk about the open source ethos and how it works and how they are trying to spread the word about the advantages it offers the world and how it might be managed and expanded. This caused quite an interesting discussion and question and answer session. Essentially, open source to succeed needs the ‘corporate mind’ to change and to be more willing to share their developments and inventions with everyone so that everyone can benefit from them. The inspiration for Marcin’s interest in open source came fro his discovering of LINUX while in college. His imaginative mind then took him in various directions and eventually to the idea of cheap and viable housing which could help house the homeless or improve life in under-developed countries.