Day 4: Friday, May 31st
A day of many firsts!
First day getting our hands dirty at the project site, first day playing with the children of the village, and first time adjusting to the heat and daily schedule for the coming weeks.
After a delicious 8am breakfast at the house, we arrived at the village, ready for work wearing our fishing shirts, hiking boots, and bandanas. We met our dedicated engineering contractor, Kumaresem, who is responsible for the construction of the building. His role includes supplying all the labor/materials/etc and making our design vision a reality. We also met a couple of the regular construction workers, who we would be working alongside daily.
During that morning, the workers were consolidating the soil around the columns (so as to make sure the columns were as strong and stable as possible) and pouring a simple rock/Portland cement layer that would form the bottom of the grade beams.
Ayah and I began helping dig the trenches for these grade beams. We were introduced to a “Swiss Army” type tool used for everything from excavating dirt to mixing concrete. We were immediately teased for our form using the device! Even though we had a difficult language barrier, the PUC team was able to learn by mimicking the motions and actions of the construction workers (and eventually move some dirt around).
After a couple hours of coordinating with Kumaresem and helping dig the trenches for the grade beams, the team walked over to the village area and started to play with the children (who had been excitedly watching the construction!) We supplied jump ropes, a volleyball, and multiple frisbees, all of which were a huge hit. The kids called jump rope, “skipping,” and were eager to have us count how long they could continuously jump for.
We returned back to the house for lunch and our mid-day nap (a feeble attempt to survive the hottest part of the day!) Waking up from that mid-day nap was sweaty and disorienting and somehow made the day seem like two. Some of us had started to get heat rash on our faces and arms. As Ken described it, “you’re learning how to sweat!”
Around 4pm we began our second visit to the site/village. At this point the trenches for the grade beams had been completed and a mixture of rock, sand, and a sprinkling of cement and water poured into them. This PCC mixture is placed under the concrete for added stability.
Our first day of construction ended with a stunning sunset and an overwhelming feeling of excitement for all the new construction methods we would learn and all the work we would get to complete.
Zia Lyle
PUC India 2019
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