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September 1, 2004 posting, by Chris

This morning was payday in Ndwana. As I sat and waited for a young man to painfully copy his name to acknowledge the four rand (about 80 cents) he received for the bundles of thatch he had collected, I had a chance to reflect on the last month. It has been quite a month. The winter snow of late July gave way without pause to daffodils, azaleas, sweet peas and pansies in August. The days are warm, the evenings still cold. There is new life everywhere – kids and lambs and chicks are everywhere in the village. An already slow drive is even slower with the uninitiated wandering the road.

Today we distributed 500 packages of seed with instructions for planting. This weekend we will plant vegetables at home although we are already eating early planted spinach and lettuce.

Collecting Eucalyptus Poles.

But along with the traditional lift of spring the community is alive with realization that the community centre is more than just another empty promise made by politicians. (We actually gained a lot of credibility when we didn’t desert the village after the general election in April. Many people thought that we were secretly working for the ANC!) This week we paid over 50 community members for their contributions toward the centre. Seventeen people have been employed debarking and transporting eucalyptus poles that a major timber company is cutting for us at no charge. Today is our last day of cutting - tomorrow a forty ton truck will transport 800 poles varying in length from 2-8 metres to Ndawana. These poles will become the rafters and column supports for the centre. Another crew will start to assemble the rafters in about 6 weeks.

Today is also the very last of the thatch cutting. We have assembled over 32,000 bundles of thatch for the roof. The challenge will be to get it on the roof before the big rains come. We have purchased 144 square metres of greenhouse plastic to make a tent for it. The plastic will become a greenhouse next year. And today was the first day for the topsoil removal and dam building crew. To supply construction water and water for the centre afterward we have to dam a stream and pump water 50 metres high and a distance of 1/2 kilometer.

Topsoil Removal.

Crews are selected by neighborhood. There are 12 geographic neighborhoods in Ndawana. With names varying from Newlands to Ngwagwane. One or two people are selected from each area depending on the size of the crew that is needed. We are trying to involve as many different people in as fair a way as possible. By the end of next week we hope to have the building sited and then to be pouring the floor within the next few weeks after that.

And all of this would not be possible without the tremendous support we are receiving from all of you at home. In the last few weeks we have received $25,000 Wild Rose funding for construction materials, a private donation of $25,000 for a tractor and block making machine, $5,000 toward solar power from an AUPE union local and another $5,000 private contribution. For those of you who have seen the video, the lights of the community centre will be burning into the night. This community centre is no longer a vision; it is fast becoming a reality.

Thank you.

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