Kedesh Blog 3 - Daily work

I have included some photos taken during the time that I have been at Kedesh which should give you some of the work that I have been doing with the others here. Most of the time I have been involved in laying concrete blocks with Chris, another volunteer here at Kedesh, and Ito and Antonio, who both stayed at Kedesh when they were younger. I suppose that you could say that I have been working as a "brickie". I have learned a lot, is., how to mix a cement for the blocks, laying blocks in straight lines and also keeping each row vertical above the one below it, which is not as simple as it sounds. It has been great fun but also been hard work. Carrying 30 lb concrete blocks up ladders in temperatures over 25 deg is not easy work. Helps to reduce the waist line though.

So here are a few photos taken during the last 3-4 weeks during the building of the rear gable end wall on the new building.

The first job was to clear the tree vegetation that had grown over the top of the ground floor. This was done by Chris and Antonio. There was no problem in disposing of the cut branches and leaves. The cut branches were thrown down to the ground and the goats enjoyed themselves to a tasty snack. The bare branches that were left were chopped up and used for cooking the evening meal. All part of the recycling policy at Kedesh.

Chris and Antonio cutting away branches.

 

Goats eating the leaves

 

Chris and I then worked away at laying the concrete blocks. The photos show the work progressing.

Cementing blocks in place.

One of the two window openings.

Once we reached the height of the top of the windows we had to make our own concrete lintel beams. Both of these were made on site. The next photo shows Ito and Antonio cutting the reinforcing metal bars to the size that we needed. You can see that everything is done manually.

Cutting metal re-bar with a hand grinder.

The next photo shows the cut reinforced metal bar being made into the correct shape and length for one of the two lintels that we needed. In the photo are Heather, Chris, Ito and Antonio.

Making up the metal re-bar for one of the lintels.

The next photo shows one of the two the wooden box being put in place over the window opening ready for the concrete to be mixed and poured. The metal bar shown in the precious photo was placed inside the wooden box. The cement lintel mix was left to set and harden inside the wooden boxes for two weeks.

Putting the lintel box in place.

During this time the wood for the wooden roof trustees were delivered by trunk and unloaded by the boys. There was great excitement the day that the wood arrived. The wood was then cut to size and the wooden tresses made up.

 

Finally, today, Monday July 6th, the first of the four trusses needed to complete the quarters part of the new building was put in place. As you can see, it was all done manually. Cranes to lift the truss into place would have been a luxury. It was a case of " many hands make light work". There are 21 pairs of hands used to lift the truss into place.

Unfortunately, there is an alignment problem that will need to be rectified over the next few days to get the truss to fit properly. That hopefully will be not to difficult to resolve and the truss should be fitted in place in the next data or two.

 

 

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Kadesh Blog 2 - Daily Life

We have had restricted access to the internet for over two weeks up until July 1st which is the reason for the long gap between my first blog from Kedesh and this second one. Hopefully now that we have full access again, I can catch up with my Blogs from Kedesh

I am not going to give a long explanation here of what Kedesh Santuario is and how it is run. You can get all of the information about Kedesh by searching the internet at www.kedeshmozambique.com. You should also be able to find out about the two people who run Kedesh, John Wickes and Heather Prickard. There are also some good video clips on You-Tube. This blog will focus on a brief summary of daily life here at Kedesh.

The day officially starts at 5.30 when we are woken up to the sounds of half an hour of gospel music. Unfortunately we are nearly always awake before 5.30, thanks either to the sounds of the 4.30 heavy goods train passing over the level crossing about 3/4 of a mile from here and making as much noise as possible warning people on the road that it is approaching, or by the cockerel in the tree outside our bedroom window which wakes up between 04.00 and 04.30 every morning and wants the whole world to know about it. A few well aimed stones have been used on occasions to try to curtail its noise I wonder how many people knew that hens sleep in tress during the night. Apparently they used be known as Jungle Fowl, according to my fellow BMS volunteer Ashley, and they stayed in trees during the hours of darkness to escape predators. There will be more about this cockerel in another blog.

We have breakfast outside as there are no dining room facilities yet. These will be available after the new building is completed. Breakfast starts at 06.00 outside with a prayer before everyone eats either a semolina type dish or a dry oatmeal mixed with hot water. Ashley and I nearly always mix in some jam or chopped up banana to give breakfast some flavour. John Wickes then reads a passage from the bible for about ten minutes.

Once breakfast is over, some of the boys head for school. There are not enough schools or school places for all children to attend at the same time so the days are split with children either going in the morning or in the afternoon. The boys that do not go to school in the morning are expected to clean and tidy their living areas and also outside around the accommodation.

 

 

There is a small herd of cattle and a small herd of goats kept at Kedesh. They are kept locked up during the hours of darkness. During the day they are let out to roam over the eight acres of field area that is owned by Kedesh. The boys are assigned shepherding duties, the older boys tend the cattle, and the younger boys the goats. The rotas are two hours each and they are changed every week. The purpose of this duty is to teach the boys how to handle responsibility and how to be part of the team.

Herd of cattle at Kedseh

 

The boys also help Joyce the cook in the morning with preparing the lunch time meal. Joyce leaves after lunch and the older boys who are back from school prepare the evening meal with help from the younger boys who collect the vegetables from the Kedesh gardens, and also twigs and branches to help with the fire for cooking.

The older boys are expected to help with general maintenance around Kadesh.

All of the boys have to do their own washing by hand and hang it out to dry. They are not allowed to wear dirty clothes.

There is usually time for some volleyball or football in the late afternoon before the evening meal.

A movie is shown each evening by John Wickes after the meal except on Friday evenings when we have Bible Study. A super large bowl of popcorn is provided for the boys to eat during the movie. The boys have to make the popcorn themselves.

The day finishes when the movie ends and we are usually all in bed by 9.30 pm. That may sound early to most people in the UK but after working all day outside on the new building, going to bed at 9.30 is something that we look forward to, especially as we know that our resident cockerel is going to be exercising his lungs and vocal cords outside our bedroom window from anytime after 4.00 am.

So that is a brief summary of daily life at Kedesh. I will update all of you with the progress of the building work in my next blog later this week.

 

 

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Kedesh - Blog 1

Kedesh Blog 1

After various unsuccessful attempts to get a Blog Page started, I think that I have finally managed to get going with the help of Ashley Townsend, the third BMS volunteer who is staying here at Kedesh. If this works then hopefully I will be able to make regular blog As I am now in my fourth week here at Kedesh, I will try and condense the first few weeks into a few short paragraphs.

It was three weeks ago on Monday past that I departed from Forres with two trunks full of old work clothes, a large number of DIY hand tools, a sleeping bag and mosquito net, mossie spray, my medication, and a plentiful supply of cereal, packets of Batchelors cup-a-soups, health food bars, chocolate bars and sweets all bought and packed by Christine. It was with a mixture of trepidation, fear and excitement that I set off on an adventure the likes of which I had never done before.

I had serious doubts during the months of March and April about whether I could do this, but with the support and encouragement from my wife Christine I knew that it was something that I was being called to do and it was not for me to reason why. The good wishes and prayers from Rev. Dr. Jon Mckenzie and all of the congregation at the Lighthouse Church in Forres in the weeks leading up to my departure only helped to strengthen my resolve to travel to Mozambique and help at Kedesh Santuario.

I flew on British Airways from Aberdeen to London and then overnight to Johannesburg. From Johannesburg it was a short 1-1/2 flight to the town of Beira. When I arrived at Kedesh I was met by Drew Gillespie (also from Forres) the first BMS volunteer, and John Wickes, who is the driving force behind Kedesh.

I have included a few photographs to let you see my bedroom, my bed, and the showering facilities. Not Marriott Hotel standards, but surprising comfortably once you get used to them. However, I doubt if I will ever get used to taking cold showers. Hot water is a luxury that we do not have here at Kedesh.

Bedroom is on the upper floor

My bed and bedroom furniture!!!

Shower & toilet

During the first two weeks I helped Drew and Chris, who is a long term volunteer here, with laying concrete blocks at the very top of the front gable end of the building. They were good instructors. It was all a bit of a quick learning curve for me - mixing cement mortar for laying the blocks with a shovel ( no cement mixer here ) and laying the blocks in straight line using string as a guide (not as easy as you would think). It is all done by sheer physical effort. Carrying 30 lb concrete blocks and buckets of cement mortar up ladders all day saps the energy out of you in temperatures that can sometimes reach 30 deg C in the middle of the day.

Chris laying concrete blocks.

Drew, Chris & John (short term visitor)

Another bucket of cement mix

At the end of the second week, Ashley and I attended a service at the 1st Baptist Church in Beira with Damian and Annette, two of the full time BMS staff here in Beira. The service was in Portuguese, so we had to rely on Annette to translate. It was a good way to finish off the second week.

Ashley & me outside1st Baptist Church.

If this blog works then I will try and send more of on a regular basis.

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