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.

Wednesday, 2 May 2007

Please call Tau…


Tau, is the second in command on site. Last weekend when I went on site I engraved my phone number on the wall and told me to call me if he found any problems.

Today at 10:20am I received the message that is now the title of this post: Please call Tau… The problem was not a small one. The slab in one of the rooms that was to be replaced did not have a mesh, or a DPM for that matter.

Fearing that it was not just a slip, but that it might have been a common practice of the previous builder, I asked them to open up the other big slab. We found a weak spot and at the end of the day I received another phone call saying that it also lacked a mesh and a DPM.

Tomorrow I’ll go on site first thing in the morning and try and decide what to do. I can’t really guarantee that the rest is not the same. Neither can I guarantee by what I’ve seen that the terrain is properly compacted, the slab well cast (and using an appropriate mix) so that we could leave it as it is. As far as I can predict with the next rains the soil on which the slabs are laid might wash away and the problem worsen…

I’ve asked Baba to see if an engineer can come with me on site tomorrow. Let’s do a few tests and see what we can do… But it’s not looking good!

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