lunedì 16 marzo 2009

Maize and Green Beans

In some areas within the school yard, we have a maize field that we prepared during the rain season as it is a tradition here and we are now harvesting. We had a good harvest and we are eating a lot of maize in these days. We have enough for the next two or three months.


We also have green beans and soon it will be ready for eating.

Oratory Children


The oratory children can be seen in class.

Teachers

Sr Antonietta can be seen with some of the three teachers.

March 2009_Updates

This week has been quite a busy one, with all the workers doing two shifts as some were wroking during the day and and some during the night busy pouring the concrete and they have since finished more than half of the first floor deck.

They will now wait for fifteen days before they remove the shatter boards on the finished part but as from today they will continue to go up with the other columns that are on the side where the deck is ready.

We now have the quotation for the roof trusses ready and we should make the payment and they should be ready after a week. The next thing will be the roof tiles we are still comparing the best bet between buying them from South Africa and locally.

Due to power cuts, we managed to secure a three phase generator for back up and it so happened that on the very same day they started to pour concrete, we experienced a power cut and fortunately we had the generator from friend and we had no interuptions.

All the window frames and door frames for the main entrance to the classroom block were delivered to the site yesterday.

In summary, we are working according to the schedule and plan.

February 2009_Updates

Classroom Block
The construction of the classroom block continues at a very good pace and the contractors are doing great works which will mark a great achievement for Chegutu and the whole community at large.

Two weeks ago we went to South Africa and we managed to acquire the following material :

* Plumbing material (water pipes, drainage pipes, toilet seats, urinaries, basins for washing hands)
* Electrical material
* Reinforcement steel




To date the contractors have put all the concrete footing for all the rooms on the ground floor and they are only left with the toilets as they have to finish to lay the plumbing pipes for water and sewage. Concurrently, the brick layers are busy building with bricks inbetween the columns and they have already done more than fifty percent of the walls from the ground level to the beam of the first floor. with some of the classrooms with door frames already.

We have just finalised on the schedule of all the window frames that are needed and next week we will be getting quotations and we should purchase them as soon as we get the best price.

Donations
In this past few weeks we received the following donations :

* There is an organisation in Germany which is donating a new car for the Congregation and they said they will give €23,000 torwards the purchaing of the new car, we got quotations from South Africa and we sent to them.
* We also received a donation of 1 tonne of mealie meal from the company we bought the bricks for the project.
* Due to the cholera outbreak and the lack of water in the community, UNICEF approached us and we had a meeting with them, they were asking if we could help with water supply to the people who in the neighbourhood and so we agreed to give water but we told them we do not have a pump to pump water for the designated people and so UNICEF donated a new pump and a tank that will be used as a reserve so the people can collect water for domestic use and help curb the cholera outbreak.

January 2009_Updates 2

Classroom Block
The work up to the foundation level has since been completed for the whole classroom block and they are now backfilling with gravel and soil, compacting them as well. Concrete columns are also at an advanced stage, with most of them up to just above the slab level whiles others are well above the window level.

Bricks
All the common bricks are already on site that is 200,000 in total and next week we should have other 44,000 face bricks.

Other Material
We now have the material schedule for all the plumbing works, door frames and other fittings and when we go to collect the reinforcement steel from South Africa next week, we will buy all this material.

Cholera
The situation has greatly improved especially with the aid of UNICEF and other organisations and we have witnessed some patients being discharged from the cholera centres to go back to their homes which was very unusual to happen, but in these past few days we have received a lot of rainfall and since cholera is a water borne diesease, it is most likely that it spreads quickly and then it can be at it peak. We are trying by all means to take into practice all the preventitive measures.

January 2009_Updates

Happy New Year to you all...!

The project of the classroom block is going on and they are almost done with the concrete footing and on the areas where they have already finished to do the concrete footing, the brick work has commenced up to the slab level. The contractors did not close for the festive season hence there is a lot of progress that has been going on as they only stopped working for three days during Christmas.

Next week we should be able to collect the reinforcement steel from South Africa as the company was closed for the festive season and we need to make a plan for the other material that the Engineers need for the plumbing and electrical joints, together with door frames that they said they will need in a few weeks.

The cholera situation has reduced in Chegutu but there are still some cases here and there and in this week some people went and stole from the cholera centre some buckets that were being used by the cholera patients to vomit and as toilets because the patients can hardly move as they will be seriously dehydrated. The buckets were sold in exchange for potatoes in the farms surrounding Chegutu and the people who bought them started to use them to store water for drinking and as of yesterday, many people were infected with cholera and eight people died.

December 2008_Updates

The construction of the school is progressing at a fairly good pace though we have had some challenges to acquire some material especially the concrete stones as many companies have since closed for the festive season and due to electricity problems, however with the little that we got the concrete footing is almost done and the brick work has already been started where the columns are in place.

In the foto, there is the column base and each column base takes an average of 8 bags of cement.

Here, there are some of the Engineers who are working on the project.

We would like to thank you for the support and take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Joyful 2009.

New Classroom Block. November 2009_Updates

The initial setup of the new classroom block started on Thursday when the contractor moved in the school premises.

In the attached foto, the workers can be seen marking the places that mark the columns and the foundation of the classroom block.

We have already received the list of material that they require for the initiation of the project and on Tuesday we will be going to Botswana to purchase the requested material.

In the foto, the workers can be seen digging the columns and the foundation for the classroom block and they said that by mid next week they will finish and will immediatly commence pouring the concrete footing and the columns.

We are therefore racing in this week against time to supply all the required material and the challenge we have is the reinforcement steel that we have to import from Southe Africa. However the contractor has promised that they can supply us with anything that we need and we sign an agreement and then give back when we have our supply since they are a big company they usually keep material.


In the foto, the workers can be seen offloading the river sand at the school and in these days they do an average of between 7 to 9 loads per day and each load in about 4,5 tonnes. To date we now have a total of more than 150 tonnes hence we are not far away from the initial required target of 200 tonnes for the bases and the foundation.

October 2008_Updates

Guest House
The fittings of the guest house have since been put up and they are now left with the floor and wall tiles only then finally painting.

Electricity
we are now online and the whole guest house has electricity and lighting.

Water Project
We managed to connect one of the pumps in one of the boreholes and this has got a yield of about 8,000 litres per hour and still running wet.
In the photo, it is the small pump house where we have connected the first pump.

Classroom Blocks
We are still waiting to finalise on the contractor but in the meantime we are aqcuiring the concrete stones and the river sand.

Challenges
We had a problem with our lorry as it has been down for more than a week, the rear springs were broken and we have since sent them for repairs, we will get them back on Tuesday and the lorry should be back on the road by the end of the week.

Blooming Jacaranda


In this period, the Jacaranda trees start to bloom

August 2008_Updates

Guest House
Plastering of all the rooms has since been completed and the plumbing work has now commenced. To date all the toilet seats have now been fitted in all the bathrooms and all the drainage pipes outside have since been put in place.


We made a trip to Botswana and purchased all the ceiling boards and the ceiling fittings.


Electricity
We have purchased all the material now for the distribution of the electricity inside the school premises and the holes have already been dug, we just need to go and collect the poles.



Classrooms
We had a meeting with the Engineer and he even came to see the land and he said the land is now ready for construction so the builders will soon start to mark the places where they will dig the foundation and the columns of the school block.

The Engineer is now working on the Structural Design of the proposed school building and we have already signed an agreement and a contract that by Friday the 29th he should be done. We will then order the steel from South Africa as soon as we get the actual sizes and quantities from the Engineer.


In the mean time we are busy gathering the river sand and the three-quarter stones to be used for the concrete footing, with our truck we need a total of 200 loads of each.

Thank you

Oratory Children in Church...!

The Oratory children in church for their last school day before they closed for their holiday on Wednesday.

Africa Oggi organisation

www.africaoggi.it

The visitors from Africa Oggi at the river where we collect river sand.




The boys can be seen watering the new lawn that the visitors from Africa Oggi planted and the other plants can be seen to be doing very well.


The Oratory Children can be seen playing volley ball, under the supervision of the Africa Oggi and one of them being a volley ball coach it was an added advantsge to the children as they had a nice afternoon together sharing their experiences.


Africa Oggi at the Lion's park.

Oratory Children..!

In the foto, some of the Oratory children can be seen doing what they know best, the traditional dance whiles.

They have won several competitions with other schools.





Even the Oratory teachers can dance, as can be seen in the attached foto, Mr Mukono dancing along with the children.







They can act very well also, in the attached foto the girl can be seen in a short play about the Girl Child.

July 2008_Updates

Guest House
All the roofing for the guest house has since been completed and they have started plastering the walls in all the rooms. To date, a total of about nine rooms including the bathrooms have have been plastered already.

Electricity
The transformer was mounted and we are now connected, we have electricity now at the site and the only thing that is left is the internal distribution from the sub-station to the various places as we have on the site plan. On Monday we will buy the material required for the distribution.

Classrooms
As the construction of the guest house is nearing completion, we are busy preparing for the construction of the classromm blocks. We now have the list of materials required to build one block and since Monday we have been busy to put in place mostly river sand and the three-quarter stones that are used to make the concrete for the columns. For the whole block, a total of 800m3of river sand and 800m3 of stones are required.

Water Project
We have purchased all the material requred to fit one bolehole and we are just waiting for the distribution of the internal electricity lines and connect the first borehole.

Text Books Donation
We received a very good donation of more than 100 text books for our school children from the Archbishop's office, a BIG THANK YOU...! This donation will see our children through and curb their difficulties of sharing text books.

Visitors From Italy
Saturday nexy week, 02 August will mark a day when we are going to receive three visitors from Italy from the Africa Oggi organisation. The purpose of the visit is to familiarise with us and to get involved with 'hands-on' the school project. We shall keep you updated on their arrival and stay.

This is one of the trees that was planted on the Ground Breaking Ceremony

martedì 10 marzo 2009

June 2008_Updates

Guest House.

The construction of the guest house is going on and the progress is quite good as we are very happy with it. Yesterday the builders started preparing the roof trusses and all the timber required for the roof is now on the site. In this week, they have also built the veranda for the front and the one for the back of the house and all the inside partitions have been completed up to the ceiling level.

Next week Thursday we are planning to go to Botswana to buy the gysers, showers for the guest house and buy some groceries for the house and shopping.

School Registration.

We have began the registration process of the school and we have since completed all the required forms, on Monday we had a meeting with the Director of Education in Harare and he welcomed our project and he appreciated so much. We asked for help from his Ministry and he asked us to put everything in writting and so we have done this, next week we go to submit our requests, the project plans and the completed forms. However he said he will approve the project as there is a serious shortage of schools in the country.

Electricity

We have been to the electricity company and they gave us a quotation for the labour, connection fees and the materials they have to supply. We made the payment and now we will wait for them to start the installation of the new line to our site, which is 1km from the line where they will take the electricity from.

Monday marked the celebration of the Italian day, we went to the Italian Embassy and we had a nice time there with many Italians attending the ceremony and other diplomats from different countries.

Sorry we did not manage to take any fotos as we were busy running around all week as we had a lot of meetings and buying material. We will send you the fotos on Sunday afternoon.

The soccer team


In the foto, there are the boys who work with our truck wearing their new protective clothing (work suits and gum boots).

We have also formed a soccer team, with the builders and the workers and so we play every weekend, Saturdays after work and Sundays after Mass, to try and keep the young boys occupied and to get to socialise and know each other well. Next week we send you the fotos in the play grounds.

May 2008_Updates

Construction Of The Wall.

The greatest news we have is that the construction of the wall has been fully completed today, thus all the 1,2km is now complete. This is a great achievement as the wall is really big and long, things are starting to take shape now.

Guest House.

The construction of the guest house continues, with two sides now complete up to the window level and now the progress will be faster as all the workers are for the mean time going to focus on the guest house only since the wall is now finished.

All the material for the guest house is now in place and next week we are planning to go to Botswana for shopping and to buy just a few fittings left like the door handles, showers, shower handles, electrical cables, lamp holders and electrical sockets and switches.

Land Levelling.

The levelling of the land is at a halt as the bulldozer is still under repairs and also there is still a big dam of water locked from the last rain season in the place where the classroom blocks are marked to be constructed, however we are using this water for the preparation of the mortar for the builders and to water our trees and flowers that we planted.

Material For the School - Classroom Blocks, Administration Offices, etc.

The classroom blocks have two floors as so we need to start buy the deformed steel bars for the reinforcement in the construction of the concrete pillars which are the initial stage. Next week we have a meeting to discuss the way forward with one of the companies that produce them.

Cement.

We had two deliveries totalling to 1,200 bags of cement and our stock levels are quite well as we still have more than 800 bags in store and we have a pending delivery of 620 bags.

Gates.

We are now looking for donors to contribute torwards the purchasing of two sliding gates, one is four metres long and the other is six metres long.

New Developments.

Education is one of the main ministries of the Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows and the primary missions of our Foundress, Blessed Elisabetta Renzi. With this is mind, we have decided to help our employees who do not have enough Ordinary level subjects by proposing to have a Night School which will be run as follows;

* We shall make use of the same premises for the Oratory children.
* Lessons shall start from 17:30 to 19:30 from Monday to Friday then from 13:00 to 15:00 on Saturdays.
* The Oratory teachers will teach all the subjects as overtime and their renumeration will come from the fees paid by the students.
* The charges shall be very minimal so that everyone can afford to study.

Tree Planting

The first tree was planted by the Archibishop and Sr Antonietta, they planted a palm tree.






The second tree was planted by The Director of Housing and Community Services Mrs Melania Mandeya and Father Mukonori.





The third tree was planted by the Italian Ambassador, he planted a Jacaranda tree.





The fourth tree was planted by the Member of Parliament and Father Gwenya.

Groundbreaking ceremony_12th April 2008


This was the choir which was composed of youths from the Parish





Stage






Parish People





The Director Of Housing and Community Services - Mrs Melania Mandeya




From Left to Right :

* The Nuncio
* The Italian Ambassador and his wife
* Mr Beattie




Sr Luisa Speech




In this foto, the Archbishop was giving his speech





Mr Beattie is a very good friend of ours, he has been of great help in our project as he has provided water, machinery, river sand just to mention a few.

Mother Lina and Mother AnnaMaria met him and his wife when they came to Zimbabwe as we had dinner together.

April 2008_Updates

Dear All.

The project is going on very well and the speed has increased also as the rains have stopped now and so we can work all day long.

In the attached foto, as usual the continuos red line depicts the area that has been fully completed and the broken red line symbolises the area that has the pillars and left with filling up the gaps inbetween the pillars which reinforce the wall.

We are still trying to meet our target to finish the construction of the wall by the 12th of April when we have the Ground Breaking Ceremony, a lot of people will be present to witness this event and to date the following have confirmed that they will be present : The Archbishop, the Nuncio, the Italian Ambassador together with his wife, people from the Parish and many other guests. However we will send you as many fotos as possible for this big day to come. The day will start by having Mass at the stand and so in this coming week we will be occupied making the final touches of the arrangements.

We received a delivery of 600 bags of cement and we are going to receive some more 1200 bags, hence in terms of material supplies we are well ahead of the builders.