Still, the thieves come.

Last night I heard some movement outside my window. There was what sounded like a gate latch, and sliding metal across the ground. The old gate has been leaning against the wall right across from my window since we removed it. I thought as I listened, perhaps a child is trying to go out of the main gate, but the sound was too strong. Even if it were, the child would be doing this against the rules. I pulled the mosquito net back, snuck to the window, pulled the curtain, and looked out the open window to see a very dark figure sticking up over the wall, looking down the road. He was using the gate as a ladder to watch for something or someone. As I looked at him and waited for him to move, I thought to myself, “he’s wanting to steal the gate.” Then I spoke to him in a tone that said I was accusing him of something and said, “Hey!” They boy moved in the darkness, and turned to see my face looking at him through the window. There was a pause as he processed what was happening before he very quickly fumbled his way down the gate and ran towards the back of the orphanage where the wall is unfinished. I thought to myself as I stood in the dark, “that had to be a thief.” Still feeling tired, I got back into my bed. It is a good thing that the gate is so close to my window, but still; I should have gone out to see if the thief had stolen anything. This morning as I went to see what was there, the gates remained, but the poles that set the hinges were gone. The clanking that I heard was the boy tossing the poles over the wall and looking for the truck that was coming to fetch the gate. Not only are orphanages in Uganda required by law to have a wall, but they are also required to have an armed guard. To think that that boy risked being shot to steal a piece of damaged metal...

Rita eating her beans and posho

It makes me happy to see our new chickens around. As I mentioned before, Dr. Peter had been keeping some of them until it was safe to bring them to the orphanage. There were 3 hens, and 3 chicks. Dr. Peter had told me there were more, but they had been killed and eaten by animals in the area. it makes me happy to see them scavenging around the orphanage showing their chicks where to find food. 

We ran very low on materials today, so this spurred on another big purchase. I took measurements of the portion of the wall that is still unfinished, and based on previous consumptions of brick, estimated the cost. I ended up handing Felix and envelope of 3.9 million shillings. We are getting 10 loads of brick, 1 rock, 5 sand, and 40 bags of cement. The 10 trips of brick should bring us very close to the end, and the cement about half. We have yet to purchase the razor wire for the top of the wall. Trucks were delivering brick all day, there were six in all, so 4 are remaining of brick. I did not see any sand or aggregate. 

The foundation extending
down to the wetlands. 

Henry brought the poles for putting up the clothes lines. I spent some time digging post holes; with no post hole digger, there is a lot of bending down and scooping out dirt with my hand. The dirt is ridiculously compact here. I fought for every inch. After digging the holes, I placed two of the poles and set them so that they lean back at an extreme angle rather than at a 90 degree angle, this way the tension in the lines will not put as much strain on the poles causing them to bend.. They are not the thickest of gauge. Also, I went back and checked the concrete maybe 4 hours after I poured it and shoved my thumb in up to the knuckle; it was probably the worst batch I have seen yet. Concrete is not supposed to be brown. 

I went down to where all the builders were and spoke to Henry. He was commenting on how the moisture in the ground is too great, and they will have to place another moisture barrier in the wall. I think that is fine, although water just makes cement stronger. If this were a house, then I would be a little more concerned because of mold. 

The wetlands corner as of 3/17

Henry and I have been talking about digging a big hole outside the wall so that we can use the ground water for construction rather than the tank water that is to be used for drinking. Today many of the children were home, which surprised me, and were complaining about not having any water. I did what I could to get them drinking water, but as soon as there is water in the tank, the construction workers suck it up and use it for concrete and mortar. The system works well when the children are at school. Turns out they were chased away from school by the teachers because their school fees were unpaid. I went and complained to Tabitha about this, because many of us in the US pay for their school fees. Seeing them annoyed me very much. So tomorrow I will be talking to Betty to see what the issue is. Back to the Water; I took the opportunity to start digging my hole. I worked digging for nearly an hour before I my head was below ground level, but i dug into so much clay and sand, that the water was not seeping in. Tomorrow we will extend the walls so the ground water that is flowing under the wall into  our hole.