A little more work done

This week I started getting back to a regular physical workload.  After several weeks of taking computer courses and studying for the tests that accompanied them for my PE license renewal and the ear infection and the flu like symptoms I had last week I have not had a week of just physical work all week for full time days.  This was the week to build myself and this old body back into that schedule.

Before I get started I wanted to thank everyone who has responded to me about last week's blog and the wish list from the week before that one.  I have  placed a permanent tab on my blog along the top for the wish list and will keep it updated as items are taken off the list.  Again if you want to sponsor an item please contact me so I can take it off the list and others will know it has already been sponsored.  While we have had great response, I am personally hoping to get enough items funded I can't get them all done this year and have to roll some over to next year.

First up was the cabinet door in the pre-school with a termite infested door frame (I think we have talked about that before haven't we-probably because this is the 4th one I have repaired).  I will not bore you with the details of the past but talk about the open work table I made (pictured above with Isayah my helper at times).  I have designed it simple so that I can clamp boards to the frame and work on them including being able to clamp them edge up so I can plane the rough surface off.  I am still debating putting a top on it and after doing some work on it I am thinking I will not because it helped being able to step in the center and being closer to the board to continue working the same way I was on the outside lengths.  So far I like it as I can even put an entire door on it or stand one up to work the edge.  So far I have trimmed a door, painted a door and worked on individual boards.  Not a workmate but still pretty handy.  This was made using some of the money from the tool fund supplied by many of our friends.

This picture is a close up showing the difference between the wood that has been planed and before.  I cannot describe how much easier it is to work on the wood at waist level than having to hold it upright on the edge between my feet and bending over to work it.

This is the door frame piece I removed with the visible termite or carpenter ant trails.  

This is the new door frame with a slightly lighter shade of stain present.

While working at the pre-school while school is out for the Harvest season the foundation wall was repaired as well as some of the exterior wall.

Last year's paint job got some abuse from 48 five to seven year olds moving their desks any chance they get not to mention Sunday services from an "active" church.  I did some touch up painting and looks like new again.  

This is the door from the food storage room for both the staff and the pre-school.  The frame was not termite infested but had pulled loose from the wall which is a tougher fix because part of the problem was that it bowed meaning I could not get a grip into anything solid with the anchor screws.  I actually used three different methods to secure it including nails which will give way, the anchor screws that could not get a grip and placing mortar in the gap between the wood frame and the wall that would cover the anchor screws and hopefully hold them. Nails pull loose during dry season which we have just entered.

New framing for the cover doors which will also be rebuilt over the incinerator pit which is where we incinerate (funny how that works) our medical waste.

As we finish up rainy season and have entered into dry season and harvest season the birds and the bees have come out (insert inappropriate joke here).  This is the tree beside the nurse's housing which the birds love and this year has a bee hive also.  

We have had a nasty fight to keep the bees to the tree and not in the nurse's house.  Unfortunately the hive is surrounded by birds nests and to get to it would hurt the birds so we have to wait until they leave the hive and actually try to enter the building.

Also this week we replaced 10 sections of the roof on the medical clinic that the contractor who replaced the roof in 2013 reused from the old roof that were starting to leak.  We also had a the same contractor rebuild our concrete ring around the clean water well.

Talking about the well I was able to help some of the kids who came to get water load up their bicycles for the 30 minute walk back to their house.

I don't often talk about how proud I am of the clean water well put in at the site around 2009 (they struck water after the team I lead there in June of that year left).  Jerry Warren worked really hard to get that well in place with a group from Texas that I think is no longer around.  In Tanzania over 4,000 kids under the age of 5 will die from easily preventable water borne diseases.  While they may still have to travel over an hour walking distance to get to our well, it is a clean water well and has seriously reduced how far they would have had to walk before (add another 3 miles) to a clean water well.

As I finish up I will share with you something common here in Tanzania-cars with speakers strapped to the rough blaring music and ads through town.