Monday 30th June
‘Solidarity Reg’
Group 2 left in a blaze of glory with proud salutes and emotional farewells. Kerry had one last tug on her earlobe, Trina threatened come customs officials and Cristina was re-routed by 8 hours via Vilanculos to Maputo.
All in all – a typical day.
Group 3 arrived, this time there were four bags missing…. And one volunteer.
Again….. we’ve come to expect no less of the relevant airlines. After nearly fifteen hours in a torpid state on various aircraft and in duty free lounges, and then being expected to run across the airport to catch the connecting flight, it is a wonder that more were not lost. The reason for this unscheduled activity was that the flight to Inhambane was actually leaving four hours….. early!….. you couldn’t make it up! Out of all this chaos, came the unusual benefit of being able to meet the June group at Inhambane Airport as their flight out was delayed. Inevitable banter and good wishes ensued between the more voluble members of the two groups.
Tuesday 1st July
First day here, and after some first day faffing about, including the sourcing of various clothes for those poor unfortunates without their cases, we were late to the site and had missed the daily rendition of the Mozambique National Anthem. After a hearty breakfast and an enforced rain break, we set about the task of unravelling the June groups joinery efforts on the timber roof trusses. A certain amount of enthusiasm for ensuring the gusset plates were fixed, whether or not in the correct place or orientation, was rather unfortunately evident. After some deliberation, we set about the preparation of an inventory to determine what materials we had been left by the June team, we were able to set up a process that enabled all the gusset plates to be marked and cut out, whilst the timber trusses were primed with preservative and marked up with the requisite nailing patterns. We are hopeful that this will save material wastage and improve fixing and manufacturing times for the roof trusses.
After our walk back to the Cabana a small number of us went for a brief swim in the Ocean, before sundown. We were treated to ‘Frango Mango’ for the evening meal, which we understand, is something of a special treat…followed by a few drinks, and sleeeeep zzzzzzzzz!
Martyn
Wednesday, 2nd July
Marty and the missing bags arrived!
The day on the site started with a very nice breakfast, the team was ready for the second working day on the site. Tasks were very diverse: some people were cutting wood, others were working nailing the trusses for the roof and 3 people joined the local team for helping with the plastering. After having a very nice lunch, we got back carrying on with the tasks but found out two main obstacles: lack of number of hammers and nails. We got a new delivery of nails by the end of the afternoon, which allowed us to finish most of the pieces of wood for the trusses of the roof.
When we got back to Mango Beach we met Marty (the last team member), who just arrived in Tofo and was ready for a swim on the beach. Those who arrived from Newcastle were very happy to have their bags back, all thanks to Marty!
Other highlights of the day were: Beatriz and Cristina communicating in Portuguese with the local workers and children learning the local bitonga . Cristina and Beatriz weren’t able to respond to the locals’ expectations of getting married in Mozambique! We learned how to ‘rebocar a massa’ (floating on the plaster), Nick becoming the expert among us. Cristina also learned not to hang around under the coconut tree to sunbathe, because coconuts are the second cause of death in African countries after malaria.
Thursday 3rd July
Coconut Thursday
We are surrounded by elegant coconut palms and today they certainly made their presence felt. Desperate for containers for preservative first thing in the morning we went foresting for containers. We didn’t find anything much man-made but did come back with coconut shell halves! These were used for the preservative, carrying the large number of nails we were rapidly getting through and a fun lunchtime session with the children in which Beatriz and Stuart introduced them to a simple wet sand sculpturing game using just the coconut shells, sand and a little water. They loved it. On the way home Dick and Beatriz were stopped by a young school boy who then shinned up a tree (you can guess which one) and presented them with a fresh coconut for the group.
Today was also satisfying for finishing two activities. Firstly assembling the 13 wooden roof trusses which both June group and ourselves have been working on. Secondly, removing the excess hardboard from under all the window and door lintels. A hard, tedious job which Dick, Chris, Martyn, Marty and Jamie all excelled themselves on.
Then a lorry arrived delivering 100 bags of cement which was all off-loaded in record time, quickly transformed the appearance of most of the team to that of miners emerging from a pit.
By late afternoon we had run out of supplies and most of us were able to leave early for our first swim while the sun was still up, followed by a relaxing beer in the bar afterwards, watching the sun set over this magical place that is beginning to reveal itself.
‘Solidarity Reg’
Group 2 left in a blaze of glory with proud salutes and emotional farewells. Kerry had one last tug on her earlobe, Trina threatened come customs officials and Cristina was re-routed by 8 hours via Vilanculos to Maputo.
All in all – a typical day.
Group 3 arrived, this time there were four bags missing…. And one volunteer.
Again….. we’ve come to expect no less of the relevant airlines. After nearly fifteen hours in a torpid state on various aircraft and in duty free lounges, and then being expected to run across the airport to catch the connecting flight, it is a wonder that more were not lost. The reason for this unscheduled activity was that the flight to Inhambane was actually leaving four hours….. early!….. you couldn’t make it up! Out of all this chaos, came the unusual benefit of being able to meet the June group at Inhambane Airport as their flight out was delayed. Inevitable banter and good wishes ensued between the more voluble members of the two groups.
Tuesday 1st July
First day here, and after some first day faffing about, including the sourcing of various clothes for those poor unfortunates without their cases, we were late to the site and had missed the daily rendition of the Mozambique National Anthem. After a hearty breakfast and an enforced rain break, we set about the task of unravelling the June groups joinery efforts on the timber roof trusses. A certain amount of enthusiasm for ensuring the gusset plates were fixed, whether or not in the correct place or orientation, was rather unfortunately evident. After some deliberation, we set about the preparation of an inventory to determine what materials we had been left by the June team, we were able to set up a process that enabled all the gusset plates to be marked and cut out, whilst the timber trusses were primed with preservative and marked up with the requisite nailing patterns. We are hopeful that this will save material wastage and improve fixing and manufacturing times for the roof trusses.
After our walk back to the Cabana a small number of us went for a brief swim in the Ocean, before sundown. We were treated to ‘Frango Mango’ for the evening meal, which we understand, is something of a special treat…followed by a few drinks, and sleeeeep zzzzzzzzz!
Martyn
Wednesday, 2nd July
Marty and the missing bags arrived!
The day on the site started with a very nice breakfast, the team was ready for the second working day on the site. Tasks were very diverse: some people were cutting wood, others were working nailing the trusses for the roof and 3 people joined the local team for helping with the plastering. After having a very nice lunch, we got back carrying on with the tasks but found out two main obstacles: lack of number of hammers and nails. We got a new delivery of nails by the end of the afternoon, which allowed us to finish most of the pieces of wood for the trusses of the roof.
When we got back to Mango Beach we met Marty (the last team member), who just arrived in Tofo and was ready for a swim on the beach. Those who arrived from Newcastle were very happy to have their bags back, all thanks to Marty!
Other highlights of the day were: Beatriz and Cristina communicating in Portuguese with the local workers and children learning the local bitonga . Cristina and Beatriz weren’t able to respond to the locals’ expectations of getting married in Mozambique! We learned how to ‘rebocar a massa’ (floating on the plaster), Nick becoming the expert among us. Cristina also learned not to hang around under the coconut tree to sunbathe, because coconuts are the second cause of death in African countries after malaria.
Thursday 3rd July
Coconut Thursday
We are surrounded by elegant coconut palms and today they certainly made their presence felt. Desperate for containers for preservative first thing in the morning we went foresting for containers. We didn’t find anything much man-made but did come back with coconut shell halves! These were used for the preservative, carrying the large number of nails we were rapidly getting through and a fun lunchtime session with the children in which Beatriz and Stuart introduced them to a simple wet sand sculpturing game using just the coconut shells, sand and a little water. They loved it. On the way home Dick and Beatriz were stopped by a young school boy who then shinned up a tree (you can guess which one) and presented them with a fresh coconut for the group.
Today was also satisfying for finishing two activities. Firstly assembling the 13 wooden roof trusses which both June group and ourselves have been working on. Secondly, removing the excess hardboard from under all the window and door lintels. A hard, tedious job which Dick, Chris, Martyn, Marty and Jamie all excelled themselves on.
Then a lorry arrived delivering 100 bags of cement which was all off-loaded in record time, quickly transformed the appearance of most of the team to that of miners emerging from a pit.
By late afternoon we had run out of supplies and most of us were able to leave early for our first swim while the sun was still up, followed by a relaxing beer in the bar afterwards, watching the sun set over this magical place that is beginning to reveal itself.
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