On Thursday morning we arranged with Gaudencia to take us over to where they are making our bricks for constructing the community center. She had contracted with some local brick makers in Nkwazi, another compound outside Ndola. Nkwazi is similar to Kantolomba--very poor, no running water, no electricity, and very little employment. One thing they do have is anthills, hundreds of huge anthills. And anthills are all you need to make bricks.
A giant anthill
The workers make the bricks by hand, scooping moistened mud from the anthills and packing it into a homemade mold. The finished bricks are placed neatly in stacks piled as high as 15 feet. They leave tunnels in the brick piles that they then pack with wood and set on fire. The whole pile is then covered in mud to create a kiln effect and the bricks are fired for three days. We put in an order for 18,000 bricks. They had spent the previous two weeks making the first batch of 8,000. Once these 8,000 are fired, they will begin molding the next 10,000.
Packing the mold.
Removing the brick.
Beginning to stack the bricks.
The stack with tunnels for the fire.
It is truly awesome to watch the process. We projected that the dozens of local children following us around were amused seeing our amazement. We remarked to Gaudencia that it is a pleasure to see that other very poor areas are also benefiting from this project--the order for 18,000 bricks creates a great deal of employment in Nkwazi.
Gaudencia inspecting the stack as it is covered in mud.
Left to right: Troy, Dave, Tracey, Bryn, Tom.
Gaudencia dropped us back at our apartment in time for us to get into our car (the car's last day of use before we turn it over to Friday for the final repairs) and head to the airport to pick up Cheri and Brian, Cheri's grandson. Refreshingly, the flight from Johannesburg was only 25 minutes late this time, and Cheri and Brian emerged from customs looking chipper and ready to jump in.
Cheri and Brian arrive.
We stopped at the apartment for a simple lunch, then went up to the guesthouse where Cheri, Brian and Jen will be staying. Everyone was delighted at the low cost and beautiful setting. Brian reported that his room in Zambia is far nicer than his room in San Francisco, and Jen added that her room is larger than her hermitage.
Outside the main entrance.
In the garden.
Brian enjoying his new room.
After taking a few minutes to settle in, we adjourned to the gardens of the guesthouse to see how our satellite works up here. Success! Assuming we can keep up with blogging in our non-stop schedule, you will be hearing from us regularly.
Dave and Brian setting up the satellite.
Next: back into town to run as many errands as possible before having to give the car over to Friday for repairs. Ndola without our own transportation is a whole different negotiation.
We ate a great dinner together at the apartment, celebrating the first gathering of our whole team, and then returned to our separate abodes for a well-earned night's rest.