I would like t start by saying that it was not (entirely) Ntate Linakane’s fault that we did not meet last Tuesday, in fact he did end up coming but someone had told him that I was not here and then forgot to tell me about it…Today we did meet and at the arranged hour! The meeting was really productive and we have agreed on a lot of issues that were still pending. Next Tuesday we will meet again and try and set a date for completion…
But this was not the only thing that went well today. When I visited the site, it seemed like something really special was happening (or maybe I just learnt to expect less, who knows?). The thatcher finally showed up, and had already done a bit of work.
I spoke to him and he explained to me how he will go on about it. It’s quite interesting! The thatcher works with an assistant, whilst he is placing the bundles on top and sowing them down the helper is tightening the sisal rope to assure that the bundles are nicely into place. They start at the eaves (bottom) and slowly make they’re way up to the ridge (top). Once the metal flashing is fixed they will then comb the grass down to finish it. Whilst this is being done the inside is gradually being coated with clean combed grass. In this way a nice thatch finish will be visible from both sides.
The Structure for the roof on block B is also being put up at good rhythm and I’m really less sceptical about it than I was with block A.
And if this was not enough progress for one day, the last slab has finally been cast! (when I left at 3:30pm they only had about 3m2 to finish, so I assume that by the end of the day it would have been finished!)
If the next few weeks go as today there might still be a little bit of hope for this building after all. (it will not be complete unfortunately, but it will be at a stage when I can comfortably move on and not look back too much over my shoulder)
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