Timing is everything…TIA (this is Africa)… and on and on with reasons and excuses about the time delays for the project. My permit runs out mid-November and the new timeline is February. The foundations were a learning experience and we didn’t place them the way they are meant to in order to compensate for a double wall that we used. There was some chipping away at the bricks to make them fit but again with a change in orientation we knew that would happen. Now that we are at the walls we thought it would be much faster and easier, click, click, click like Lego but that has definitely not been the case. The septic tank was built using the CMU (concrete masonry unit) and the rate of construction was 1 builder using the CMU’s to 3 builders using Bamba bricks on the walls. I thought the rate of building was faster and it is but after seeing the rate of CMU building I became worried. So we thought maybe switch to CMU’s and increase the rate of building but what would we do with all the bricks we made and we’re less than 3000 from our target of 18000 bricks. So we thought of various ways to improve the system. Part of the issue is human error, we thought about getting an electric sander or mortar grinder and fixing the bricks to uniform size but that just seemed to risky. I suggested talking to the construction foreman who is using the bricks and in charge for the construction workers onsite and ask his opinion. We told him about electric grinder and he said that it wouldn’t only be a human error problem with the brick makers but with his junior guys. He’s watched them use the bricks and their lack of problem solving with rogue bricks. He’s teaching them how to make the best use of them. He thought that the best way to minimize EVERYONE’S error is to put 5-10mm of mortar between the tops and bottoms of bricks, they’d still click but the mortar would compensate for the angle/slope/dimension and chipping issues. We thought this was a great idea but I had questions, how would they match the bricks from walls with no mortar just brick to mortar walls side by side, the change in height would be an issue, also this would change the wall height, which is not a bad thing but needs to be considered. The wall height will be fine as long as it’s shorter than the existing wall height of 3.5m we’re fine. The foreman will know how to meld in the bricks and mortar so it will work out but I’ll keep a close eye and monitor that just to be sure. So we’ll see what the new speed is and if this changes the new timeline and can we finish this by mid- November. I’m seeing doorways and window spaces that really make the building seem real, standing in the offices and seeing that this will be where someone comes everyday to work, and seeing the furniture and the layout of furniture in each office it’s coming together, VERY SLOWLY but it isJ The concrete slab is finished so we’ll see what mortar Bamba bricks look like tomorrow and Wednesday and see how much faster the pace of construction is. At the current rate of construction the contractor thinks it will be end of February until the project is complete. So hopefully adding mortar will speed up the construction process and speed up our timeline. Construction stops for Christmas December 10^th and comes back January 10^th.

I have some news…wait for it… I am staying until November 14^th, my permit runs out on the 19^th so that leaves me 5 days. The project has taken much longer than planned and I’m sure no one is surprised. The bricks are just not the amazing invention we thought/told they would be. The brick as a design is great but the method is not so great. The machine wears and tears easily if you don’t do the process exactly perfect the bricks don’t come out right and don’t fill properly and so they don’t just click. The manual says that any unskilled person can do this and that is just not true. We’re using seasoned, experienced construction workers and they’re have a tough time and it’s taking much longer then expected. What was meant to take 6 months, we’re now looking at a year. The contractor wants to change materials to a CMU (concrete masonry unit). The septic tank is made using the CMU’s and 1 worker is working at the same place as 3 using our bricks. So we’re going to cost out a new plan if built the library using some of our bricks and some CMU’s.