Day 12 - A Race to the End

The final day on site got off to an early start for two reasons. Firstly, every available minute would be needed to complete the roof and secondly, the route to the school included the rally point for today’s anti-government demonstrations later in the morning. (To put your minds at rest I should mention that the boys passed through well before anyone gathered and returned well after people dispersed. Although we flew in Blantyre airport, we are not staying nearby and were nowhere near the trouble that developed there.)

Typically the first few pieces of zinc took longer than expected to go up and by 10am the estimated time of completion was about midnight! As time went on though the team on the roof grew more efficient and by lunchtime about half the roof was completed. The work was tortuous though; the heat of the day was searing and the reflection off the zinc only added to the discomfort. To make matters worse about 1100 stubborn zinc screws had to be hammered in to secure the sheets, a gargantuan task that left muscles screaming for relief long before the job was completed. At about 3.30pm the team of local carpenters completed the battens and started to put up zinc sheets too. The school team completed their half of the roof by 5.15pm whilst it was still light enough to take team photo in front of the building. The local workmen were only a few sheets behind and would have finished had they not stopped for the various celebrations that were planned to mark the end of the project. The project just would not have been possible without their help and tomorrow they will put up the last few sheets and ridge pieces. On the way back to the airport on Saturday morning the boys will make a stop at the school to see it with these final pieces in place.

Other jobs were completed today too; the site was cleared to some extent and the entrance to the school was repaired so that people no longer had to walk through the river bed. Also at the end of the day the boys presented the gifts they had brought for the children to the Head Mistress of the school so that she could pass them on to the children. In addition to this a couple of hundred tooth brushes were handed out directly to the children and adults on the site, with the rest being handed over to the Head Mistress again for distribution.

It is amazing to think that so much was achieved in such a short time. There were definitely times when it seemed impossible to complete, but nevertheless, after only 11 days the building in virtually complete and everyone is very proud of the completed building.