Up! Up! And away…

March 9th at 9pm I will fly out and the mission will begin. As a case study for finishing my diploma at FAUP (Porto Architectural School), I've decided to volunteer and join A4A (Architects for Aid) in one of their humanitarian architecture projects. The projected on which I've been assigned is the construction of the LCCU (Lesotho Children Counseling Unit) centre in Lesotho. The building has been halted and an assessment, survey and new proposal and program will be drawn up in order that the building might finish to be built. Once this is completed a second trip will be organized and I'll be overseeing the building on site. The objective of this blog is to keep record of the work that is being done, both for the benefit of the members of A4A in London, FAUP to whom I'll also be reporting, my own record as well as friends and family that might want to know what I'm up to. Please comment on any post that you have an opinion, as this will undoubtedly help me in the completion of my thesis. Disclaimer: The information displayed on this site has not been previously edited or checked by any A4A staff and I'm the sole responsible for it's contents. A4A or any of the other involved organizations are not to be hold responsible on any account for what is published on this blog.

Monday, 23 April 2007

Start


This morning I met with Mr. Linakane and his foreman, Ndate Sello Sello, at the site.
It was my understanding form last Friday that they would start on site today but instead I just met the foreman and we had a walk around showing him where the problems were and what we expected to achieve.

Tomorrow 10am they’ll start at least I hope so. Time in our case is not elastic and everyday is precious.

But I did manage to get something started today… “Project Inside View”: I bought a small 35mm photo camera and enough film for the duration of the build. I gave it to the foreman and asked him if everyday he would take one photo of the building or the workers or anything that he chooses.

Like this I’ll have a constant record of life on the site… Will it turn out to be an important contribution or will it just be another failure… Who knows but let’s give it a shot!

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