13. Construction update

So far I have written so much about our day to day and new culture we are experiencing. That is not to say that our construction project is secondary. Recently there have been some political conflicts amongst the Chiefs involved in the village's development. In short, the Chief of the region has expressed his disappointment with our non-profit and our local village chief. Out of a bit of spite and without much warrant the chief of the greater region has insisted we cease our construction work in Abetenim. This is sad for us because we were gaining great momentum and working very hard to create solutions for some things that were open ended when we arrived here. The original design of the "Weft house" is no more. Our perfectly located construction site (adjacent to our house) is also no more. Each day I wake up and view a trench that held so much excitement and possibility. I quickly remember though that the Weft trench isn't the end. We have found another village in need and after following various protocols as to not make the same political mistakes twice, ourselves, the other workshop team, and our fearless community leader have broke ground in Yeboahkrom. Yeboahkrom, a small town about an hour away from our home base is a village with no electricity and no running water, a school building that is deteriorating and no medical clinic. Here's where we come in! We worked hard in the few days of limbo when we weren't sure if original construction could continue but also unsure if construction in Yeboahkrom would be approved. In a handful of days, we designed a straightforward, modular medical clinic that we hope can be constructed in the 8 weeks we have left in the workshop. So finally we are back to work and feeling good. All things considered we are still in high spirits and are motivated to complete with integrity and passion, and excitement. I have felt bittersweet about this process. I was beginning to get attached to the design of the Weft house and felt I contributed to the design strategies and solutions. So naturally I wanted to see it come to life. I have really only had a couple of experiences where I see a drawn space come to fruition. I'm a bit bitter because much of my distaste for the architectural profession is its shackles to politics, policy, and up the ladder red tape. I thought building in a developing world might offer a bit more of a genuine process, for the people by the people kind of thing. In the end it all works out fine. Some time lost and some new costs incurred, but we will build!! The clinic is going well and we already have the first layer of foundation poured. We will start stacking quarry stones this week. Everyone including local labor from Yeboahkrom is all hands on deck. The new site is right along the main road as you enter or exit the village. We get many drive by "thank you!s" a lot of community help and support, and those smiling faces that let us know we are doing great things. I feel really good about this new project and I am excited to share the process with you all.   Here are a few pictures of our first trench days. Now that we have consistany progress I will continuously post more photo updates.  As a group we are keeping a daily log of the process.  Each day someone else draws or writes about the day's events.    Below is my entry for day 4.