Week Four: Mayo Building Workshop hosted by Mayo Women’s Association – ‘Dalu for Development’

Continuing our fourth week of the project training the trainers for low cost, secure, environmentally friendly houses for the Sudan.

This week again started quite toasty with temperatures well into the 40 degrees (Centigrade), and Saturday’s quest for a working mixer extended into the whole week. We had a brief glimmer of hope on Tuesday that one of the ladies' cousin might fix the mixer with a used Chinese motor, but no go. Nevertheless, the 'teamsmanship' continued with cheerful work on what has now become the ‘chef d’oeuvre’ of the class. 

Ustaz Hooman stands on the structure with a steel tamper, and Engineer Mugdba with the white cap waves from the center

 By Monday the crew made use of the new pink 50 cm bags from Afra Plastics Industry and wow did it seem so much faster even though they are still mixing the earth mixture by hand. The building is growing overnight practically and even Bernard from the South is now excited for someone to take the technology to his area of the world.  We showed him pictures of the three-dome dwelling that our partner Engineer Ted Miyaki built in Tonj.  The whole community is catching the vision of this building and they want to take the method to their respective areas in the Nuba Mountains and Darfur as well as South Sudan.

Ustaz Hooman measures the placement of the bags 
with the chain compass, while Leila, 
Abubaker and Mubarak fill the bags

  

Abubaker (from SHPDO), Mubarak (from NOHS),
 and Saifadin (from AECOM/Darfur) admire
their handiwork. 

Mathias left on Sunday to go back to Belgium to visit his grandfather who is ill and for a break. He and Djo have been working steadily in Nepal and the Sudan for the past nine months. 

Djo and Ustaz Hooman pose with the ladies:
Fatima, Lila, and Rihab

Everyone has been asking: ‘when is the business class going to start?’ The former Dean of School of Management at the University of Khartoum is arranging the course. They will get to sit out an extra hour during the day to listen to business classes for two days a week for four weeks. 

Team meets to choose leaders, Sheikh Ahmed translates

 The team met on Tuesday at the end of the day to choose two leaders to guide them with the work on Wednesday morning as Djo would be gone and Hooman was meeting his wife who arrived this week.  We thought that the rest of the buttressing would provide an area where they could test their skills on their own for a day without the expert or the earth builders around.  They chose Mubarak and Abubaker – good choices! 

King of the Mountain 
(Engineer Mubarak)

Wednesday when we all arrived late afternoon we were amazed at how much the class had finished on their own - two layers of the 60 cm bags on the buttressing of one dome and one layer on the other one.  Phenomenal work! We are confident more than half of the class could already independently build and teach others how to build the domes.

Abubaker becomes an expert. 

Pink on pink: The pink/salmon colored bags made for some great photo ops

Lila and Sheikh Ahmed 

Aaron (looks like Djo from back) from For a Purpose assists Ustaz Hooman 

 Wednesday we gained Djo and Mathias’s colleague Aaron Serruys, also from Belgium. After a day’s rest, he joined us on Thursday. Aaron is as exotically tattooed, pierced, and dreadlocked as Djo and Mathias, garnering quite a bit of attention driving to and from work in our project Hilux, and lots of questions about the art work from the team. 

Architect Adam and Djo at going away dinner

The original inspiration for the whole project – architect Adam Chaluspki - returned from a trip home to Poland this week to his work at Downtown Center in Khartoum where he is pursuing 'Forensic Architecture' with Dr. Seif from University of Khartoum. A conversation with Adam at Sweden House with the ARC Peace Sudan folks (and Dr. Osman Elkeir), inspired Homes for Sudan’s director Dr. Marie Besancon to team up with ARC Peace, For A Purpose, SHPDO, and NOHS to try one more time to bring the ‘Superadobe’ building method to the Sudan. Adam and Marie quickly collaborated on some proposals following the enthusiastic encouragement of Adam, who had heard of our earlier efforts at earth-building in the Sudan. USAID/TEPS (Toward Enduring Peace in Sudan) took up the vision.

Aerial view week four with the Homes for Sudan's Director 'Doc', Ahmed Ali, Mohammed Issa, Amjed, and Saifadin

It was the right timing as the stars aligned; USAID/TEPS brought us the Mayo/Dalu ladies organization to host the project along with some funding, and the University of Khartoum’s Faculty of Architecture Dr. Ahmed Abdalla decided to make it a university research endeavor.  While back home in the US, HS4S’s director raised some funds from long time supporters the Stead Foundation, and newer partner, the Seeds For Jubilee Foundation (that is interested in endeavors for the betterment of humanity) has lent support for some of the Sudan projects.

Ahmed Ali, Mohammed Issa, Amjed, and Suliman

Waha from ARC Peace Sudan joins in

Aaron, Waha, and Rashid unfurl the sandbags

  Clockwise from top left: Fatima, Abubaker, Bushara, Ahmed Ali, Mubarak, Saifladin, Djo, Rashid, Adam (team driver), Mujtaba (Engineer from Sudan University), Amjed, Ustaz Hooman, Bernard (hiding), Sheikh Ahmed, Suliman, Lila, Rihab, Abeer, Mohammed Issa, Ahmed Abubaker, Abdlrazeg (teammate from the city council)

Djo left on Tuesday to return to Europe after nine months away working in Nepal, then Sudan. The team took a farewell picture with Djo, but they were not too sad since he is returning at the end of August to help put the finishing touches on the building.