Nepal: Mudslinging

Our last building task is "plastering" the interior walls and floors.  This involves mixing concrete (always), applying it to the walls, smoothing, repeat.  In my various journeys, I've seen it done in various ways, with various textures of concrete.  All end up the same--with smooth(er) walls which are cosmetically more attractive.  It's the sort of task that doesn't require much skill or training, just experience.

The Nepal technique of applying the concrete is to use a trowel to sling it against the wall and see what sticks.  (Concrete seems to be universally called "mud" hence the term "mudslinging.")  I've never mastered this, despite various attempts.  Can't seem to get the right flick of the wrist or something.  And this time was no exception--I didn't even try, having been frustrated many other times, watching other people succeed with their flicks while mine either plopped to the ground or never made the wall.

The good news (for us) is that several people quickly developed the right skill.  So mudslinging went very quickly and easily.  Others then learned the smoothing skills, while people like me kept to concrete-mixing, sand bagging, cement bag carrying, and other mule-like activities.

Before we began, though, one of our team members noticed the site didn't have a screed.  This is a long, straight smooth board, used for helping provide a uniform finish to the walls (and eventually, the floor.)  So on our way to the site, we stopped at a likely looking place to buy several.  No luck.  They couldn't quite figure out what we wanted.  Stopped at another place, same result.  Then decided to go next door, to a lumber shop, and buy some scrap pieces that would do the job.  Garry carefully sized up a couple of nice, straight suitable pieces.  The shop owner then hot-wired the sander and sanded them smooth and off we went, screeds in tow.

We made good progress our first day, in part because we mixed up another load of concrete before realizing it would require us to stay longer than planned to use it up.  But given the imperative to use all materials wisely, we stayed later.

Today, our second day of this, we finished up the walls and floors.  Since we were there, we also plastered the front wall of the larger house.  Turns out we are quite efficient overall, so we accomplished all the expected build tasks, plus a couple of extras, and in one less day of building.  So we decided to reward ourselves by giving us a free day.

House dedication will take place on Friday.  This will actually be my first time at a true dedication--I've never before been involved in actually completing a house.  And of course, it will also be our farewell gathering, a particularly emotional and poignant time for everyone--team members and local people alike.

Ten days ago we arrived at the site, which barely had any work done it except for the foundations laid out.  Today, we completed houses for three families--they will move in about a month from now, after the concrete has cured sufficiently.  Kind of remarkable, actually--take a group of 16 inexperienced but very eager people, put them together with a few local people, add some materials and a whole lot of good will, and you end up with new housing for three families, and a total of something like 12 people.  They aren't large houses, and they're nothing like we would tolerate.  But for them, they are a significant improvement in housing.  And along the way, they've learned there are people who care enough about them to come a long way, give their time, effort and money, to help them.

And we get even more, and have a lot of fun along the way.