Wednesday March 9, 2011

plumbing in the lab

We are in India!!!  Hard to believe after two years of planning and postponements...  We arrived here at 2:AM got a few hours sleep and then went to the site to meet all of the key people.   The work site is an amazing place and the hotel is going to be beautiful.  The volumetric mixer (big, modern, cement truck) is there and a SIREWALL office and a lab for soil testing.  

There are families from the village living on site and working there - men and women together building "random rubble walls".  The results are stunning and will compliment our SIREWALLs beautifully.  

Our delivery method on this project will incorporate old traditions with new technology in a way that we've never done before.  From the volumetric mixer to the wall there will be a chain of people delivering our material to the forms for tamping.  Imagine that!


For the brick walls I saw them building yesterday the women carry and the men stack & mortar the walls.  

16 bricks = 88 lbs.

After lunch when Jerry & Meror went into their architecture meeting I walked down to the village with two guides - a local and a translator.  (English-Hindi dictionary on my shopping list) It was fun photographing the people and my guide told me that they enjoyed me too.  Out of many smiling faces this is my favourite portrait.  

One of the men asked if my pictures were going to be published.  He expressed cynicism about NGO's coming and exploiting them - taking their images and never giving anything back to the village.  (India is estimated to have around 3.3 million NGOs according to wikipedia).  I visited the school but it closes at 2PM so missed any action there.  The guide told me that there is not enough room for all of the students in the classrooms so many of them do their lessons in the yard.  I'm going back when school is in session.  If I can contribute anywhere it is going to be there - I'm excited to see what develops. 

A Link for your pleasure...