So the time is finally approaching. Sorry for the delay since my last blog post; as to be expected when working with third world countries, there have been some minor speed bumps along the way. Communication is always in issue as internet and phone service are hard to come by, so phone and email conversations are never consistent. Also, we chose for this project to work with contractors and architects within Nairobi and Meru (as opposed to Denver, the general U.S.) in keeping with the ultimate goal of teaching the community of Meru the concept of self-sufficiency. We decided it was time that we really push to pass the work/knowledge on so that for future projects, the process is already familiar and the people of Meru can make it their own initiative to develop similar communities without the need of third parties from the modern world. However, in doing so, there were again communication issues regarding the budget we had initially decided on, as well we the overall design of the cottages. In my prior blog I made mention to the originally decided upon budget of $20,000/cottage, however we received an estimate back from the first contractor which quoted $90,000, which is obviously unnecessarily expensive. After many conversations and emails we finally found another contractor, and just 3 weeks ago we were given an estimate of $28,000/cottage, all in (not exactly what we estimated but $62,000 closer). This includes furniture, labor, materials, landscaping etc. This was great news and could not have come at a better time. Had we waited any longer, we would have had to postpone the project (which meant my family would not have been able to participate in the construction process). It is so crucial not to rush projects like this and to make sure that every dollar is being spent wisely. As much of a bummer as it would have been for my family not to be able to participate in the building process, they were all very supportive and understanding as to the complexities of planning projects in third world countries. I was thinking about my Ryan and how they have project managers who are on-site everyday managing all of the project details and helping to remedy any issues throughout the process, on buildings that have similar structures to what they have done in the past. So I do have to give the people of IPI and AI a lot of credit for all that they have done to put this project together as smoothly as they have, especially with a design that has not been done before.
All of that being said, the cottage project is finally coming together and is moving forward in the right direction. The date has been set; my family and I are planning to head over to Kenya during the first week of June and are dated to stay for two weeks. We will spend the 3/4 of the trip in Meru, Kenya, where we will be helping construct the cottages outlined in the blue prints below. The cottages will be primarily constructed using “eco-blocks” (http://www.eco-block.com/) which is an environmentally friendly block, that is supposed to be energy efficient and more water/mold/bacteria resistant than other types of building materials.
There are three phases to the building of the cottages. The first is the laying of the foundation; this phase tends to take the longest as you have to lay the individual layers and then wait 24-48hrs for them to dry and then lay the next layers. The second phase includes building out the walls; this phase takes equally as long as laying the foundation since you have to allow enough lag time in between "lays" in order for the walls to dry and stabilize. The final phase is the finishing phase, which includes laying the flooring and setting the roofing. The latter phase is the one which my family and I will be helping with. This phase is one that can be done as quickly as the labor can be completed, so having all eight of us (Mom, Dad, Mo, Mike, Leah, Colin, Mara (his recent fiancé), and myself) working together along with other people in the community will really allow for this phase to move quickly.
Everyone is getting so excited for this trip. All the shots have been gotten and all the tickets have been booked. Now the true countdown begins. This is one of those bittersweet feelings, where the planning phase starts winding down and you just have to wait and see how well things come together. One thing I learned from my initial trip to Africa is that so much of the experience is just being there and you can't focus too much on the original plan, since that will never be the way the trip actually works out. We are outlining the day-to-day itinerary now and I will make sure to upload that as soon as it is finalized (or as much as it can be).