concreting toilet floor

monday morning and back to work in muhaka (: during our absence, the 1-monthers (who left this morning for the elephant sanctuary) finished bricking up the sides of the pit toilet so our group's task is to get started on the floor and concrete base. to be honest i'm rather pleased we don't have to venture back down the sweaty pit with nipple man (;

our first task is to hack away at the brick structure with machetes to make holes for the planks of wood that are to form the base. i once again am a little over-enthusiastic with a machete in hand and enjoy myself thoroughly pulverizing brick and cement, loose bits of stone flying everywhere.. by the end of it though i'd unfortunately torn a hole in my finger due to the machete handle slipping off and my bare skin repeatedly rubbing against the metal.. not pretty.

we slot the wooden planks into place and, using the cement another group had prepared nearby, start to concrete them into place. we then start sawing steel bars into similar lengths and lay them in a grid over the pit. next, time for corrugated iron sheets and layers of chicken wire, cutting out only the four designated rectangles to be used as the actual toilet holes.. and finally we nail planks of wood together as a sort of frame around the structure in order to designate the boundaries of the toilet block.

now that the base is established, it's time to fetch wheelbarrows of sand, concrete, gravel and water. the water pump we usually use doesn't seem to be working at the moment so we have to walk to the village school to fill up our jerry cans.. the mountain of sand, concrete and gravel is huge and heavy to mix so we take turns and rotate as needed.. then, after placing four bricks over the toilet holes (to stop concrete from pouring into the pit), we tip wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of gravelly cement onto the iron/wire floor. i precariously step on the steel bars, trying not to put too much weight over the hole, and help level it out whilst others make sure the entire wooden frame is filled. by the time our work day is over, the wire is mostly covered up and all that's left is a rectangular block of concrete drying in the afternoon sun. i'm half regretful that i won't be seeing our beloved pit anymore but eager to continue working on this project and build a toilet!!