Report 7

We spent the morning in South Africa sorting out the prints! 4 border stamps in one morning not bad!

We then went to do the damage assessment and it was not to our surprise that we discovered that the building was still smoking and nothing was being done to stop it! Some older children (probably not from the centre) were trying but all in the wrong way… We told them not to do it, to take care and to only try and clean out what was not smoking! We would prefer that they weren’t doing it, but they were being helped by an older man, and it was not likely that we could convince them to do it otherwise.

The building is in quite bad condition, however due to it’s structural shape most of the walls can be saved and a temporary shelter be constructed with it. We could lay a flat roof over it, detail already sketched, and shutter up the windows so as to keep the cold out during the winter. But this might prove to be the wrong solution, because although in a tight space the children are better off where they are now (Lydia’s family’s home, where we were assured they could stay for some time) than in the old house! Plus starting prematurely on this might distract people from the construction of the new main building and jeopardise the whole purpose of us coming here. To start on that one now would be also a mistake for no budgets have been agreed and no prices from the builders given, to do it would mean to work on a blind budget and risk escalating costs!

Speaking about architectural terms now, we still believe that thatch should not be abandoned just because of this tragic incident. The fire started in the living room probably because of an electrical short-circuit, and only had these proportions because the roof was untreated grass! And not fire protected thatch!

In my point of view Thatch is still an option, because of the treatments now available, but also because it’s a traditional element that is doing more than just covering an otherwise very hard building to roof. The thatch is the remaining link to the traditional culture of many of the Lesotho houses. It’s true that untreated it is a fire hazard, but treated it is as likely to burn as any other material. We have however revised the scheme and now proposed a fire protected lower ceiling in the area of the kitchen.

Tomorrow we will meet with all the parties involved and hopefully we we’ll come to some sort of agreement on what should be the way from now on!

I’d just like to say that Baba Malephane has been invaluable in helping out both in everyday situations as in this crisis. He has made suggestions that have been spot on and his proposal to try and involve the builders school in the reconstruction of the old LCCU might prove to again the right one.