Day 9 - A day of rest - well almost!

The boys had been promised a half day today provided certain tasks were completed in good time. Although the project is vast and there is no time to spare it was just not possible to move onto the next stage until the columns were fully set; ideally they would be left for several days but that clearly wasn’t possible in this case and in the end one extra day is all that could be accommodated without compromising the schedule.

This well laid plan was almost thwarted before it began as the bus arrived with a puncture – the driver had already replaced one tyre this week so unfortunately the spare was no better. A couple of boys left in the car to finish off the 3 columns that weren’t quite finished the night before whilst the rest remained behind; in the end they were transported to the site by the hotel’s vehicles whilst the bus was repaired in Zomba, 7km down the mountain road.

The remainder of the boys eventually arrived on site about 1 hour after the advance party and the columns were quickly finished and filled with concrete. The majority of boys cleared the inside of the building of debris, as we were now moving into the clean phase of the project, and then attempted to improve the aesthetics of the brickwork by tidying up the pointing.

Meanwhile a few of the team placed the first two pieces of wood along the length of the columns to provide the support for the trusses. The pieces of gum pole tree were cut into approximately 6m lengths, lifted up and then tied onto the top of the columns. A half lap joint at one end was provided to allow for a strong overlap between the four pieces that would be required on each side. Tomorrow morning, once all the columns have had 24 more hours to set, the remainder of the poles will be put in place, including some temporary cross pieces to hold the structure together whilst the trusses are moved into place – the one significant challenge that remains in the construction of the building.

The work was completed by midday so the promised half day was forthcoming, giving the boys an opportunity to have a BBQ lunch back at the hotel, spend some time in the market and then go either horse riding, a vehicular mountain tour, or just relax in the hotel. This was definitely appreciated by all concerned and gave the boys an opportunity to discover a little more about the area surrounding the hotel. Driving up the hill at lunchtime there were many groups of people walking up the mountain to enjoy lunch at the hotel and enjoy the views – this was a surprise to the boys as they had only seen the hotel in the morning and evening when they were almost the only guests.